2017 Nashville Film Festival: Complete Winners List
The 2017 Nashville Film Festival has officially come to an end after selecting its winners and honorees Saturday. The rapidly growing competition received over 5,500 submissions this year, and 303 of those films and shorts were selected.
“Some Freaks,” a love story about an overweight girl and a boy with one eye, from director Ian MacAllister McDonald walked away from Tennessee as the grand jury prize winner. Lead actress Lily Mae Harrington (pictured above, alongside Thomas Mann) was also named best actress, while composer Walter Sickert and music supervisor Dan Wilcox were awarded best music.
German heist mockumentary “The Migrumpies” from Arman T. Riahi was the audience award winner. “Play The Devil” by Maria Govan was given an honorable mention in the same category, and also won best screenplay. Pytor Skvortsov from “The Student” was named best actor.
The Nashville Film Festival was first established in 1969, and continues to grow larger with each passing year. This year’s festivities ran April 20-29.
A complete list of winners can be found below:
Narrative Feature Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Some Freaks,” directed by Ian MacAllister McDonald
Audience award winner: “The Migrumpies,” directed by Arman T. Riahi
Honorable mention: “Play The Devil,” directed by Maria Govan
Best actress: Lily Mae Harrington, “Some Freaks”
Best actor: Pytor Skvortsov, “The Student”
Special jury prize for overall film aesthetics: “Flowers of Evil,” directed by Antti J. Jokinen
Best screenplay: “Play The Devil,” written by Maria Govan
Best music: “Some Freaks,” composer, Walter Sickert; music supervisor, Dan Wilcox
Documentary Feature Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Unrest,” directed by Jennifer Brea
Audience award winner: “Augie,” directed by James Keach
Honorable mention: “Quest,” directed by Jonathan Olshefski
Special jury prize for outstanding filmmaking: “Small Talk,” directed by Hui-Chen Huang
Music Films/Music City Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape,” directed by Zack Taylor
Audience award winner: “The Last Songwriter,” directed by Mark Barger Elliott
Honorable mention: “Score: A Film Music Documentary,” directed by Matt Schrader
New Director Feature Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “The Eremites,” directed by Ronny Trocker
Audience award winner: “Bomb City,” directed by Jameson Brooks
Audience award winner: “Girl Flu,” directed by Dorie Barton
Honorable mention: “La Soledad,” directed by Jorge Thielen Armand
Special jury prize for performance: Dave Davis, “Bomb City”
Tennessee First Feature Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Kandyland,” directed by Seth Graves
Audience award winner: “Wild Man,” directed by Jacquie Phillips and Stefanie Black
Episodic Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “The Nest,” directed by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon
Long Form:
Audience award winner: “Long Live Death,” directed by Sebastian Marka
Short Form:
Grand jury prize winner: “Guest Appearances,” directed by Elizabeth Guest
Animated Feature Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Revengeance,” by Bill Plympton
Audience award winner: “Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming),” directed by Ann Marie Fleming
Graveyard Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “A Closer Walk With Thee,” directed by John C. Clark and Brie Williams
Honorable mention: “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children,” directed by Pedro Rivero and Alberto Vazquez
Best actress: Suela Bako, “Bloodlands”
Best actor: A.J. Knight; “A Closer Walk With Thee”
Virtual Reality Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Invasion,” directed by Eric Darnell
Honorable mention: “I, Philip,” directed by Pierre Zandrowicz
Best Original Song Competition
Grand jury prize winner: “Yet to Come” written by John Martin and Jamie Floyd, performed by Stranger Friends, “Dog Years”
Honorable mention: “Wolves” written and performed by Beril Guceri,”The Scent of Rain and Lightning”
Short Film Audience Awards
Narrative short film: “4:15 pm End of the World,” directed by Gabi Virginia Sarga and Catalin Rotaru
Documentary short film: “The Streets Are Ours: Two Lives Cross in Karachi,” directed by Michelle Fiordaliso
Experimental short film: “Reflection of Power,” directed by Mihai Grecu
Animated short film: “Nowhere Line: Voices From Manus Island,” directed by Luka Schrank
Graveyard shift short silm: “Hand Fart,” directed by Stanley Wong and Travis Ashkenasy
Tennessee Horizon Audience Awards
Winner: “Martha,” directed by Taylor Burgess
Runner Up: “Broke Dick Dog,” directed By GB Shannon
2nd Runner Up: “A Funeral for Lightning,” directed by Emily Kai Bock
Spectrum Audience Award
“The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin,” directed by Jennifer M. Kroot
Sponsored Awards
NPT human spirit award: “Swim Team,” directed by Lara Stolman
NAHCC award for best hispanic film: “Dolores,” directed by Peter Bratt
Lipscomb University prize of the ecumenical jury: Menashe
VER award for best cinematography: “Boomtown,” cinematography by David Newbert
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