WS Chronicle

The RiverRun International Film Festival has announced its 2020 Jury Award winners, which were held virtually this year in light of COVID-19 and the cancellation of the festival. Eighteen jurors made up the main film juries and three jurors participated in the Pitch Fest competition. The jurors represented all aspects of the film industry and are leaders in their respective fields in film.

“One of the first things we decided after we wrapped our heads around not having a festival this year was that we should reach out to our jury members and see if they would still be able to take part virtually, given the new situation everyone was facing,” said Mary Dossinger, program manager for the RiverRun International Film Festival. “We had incredible jurors from all areas of the film community set to come to Winston-Salem and we very much wanted to still highlight the incredible work of our filmmakers in some way. Almost all of the jurors responded with a resounding yes and we got to work sending them the films and introducing them to one another. We are so thankful to them for being a part of RiverRun 2020 and hope to still get them all to our Festival in the future.”

2020 Award winners

Re:vision Independent Feature Competition:

Best Film: De Lo Mio, Directed by Diana Peralta

Peter Brunette Award for Best Director: Maša Nešković, Asymmetry

Best Cinematography: Djordje Arambasic, Asymmetry

Best Screenplay: Sasha Collington, Love Type D

Best Editing: Christopher Donlon and Sara Newens, Freeland

Best Actress: Krisha Fairchild, Freeland

Best Actor: Mcabe Gregg, Teenage Badass

Documentary Features:

Best Documentary Feature: I Am Not Alone, Directed by Garin Hovannisian

Best Director: Sam Ellison, Chèche Lavi

Honorable Mention: Anbessa, Directed by Mo Scarpelli

Narrative Shorts: 

Best Narrative Short: Tattoo, Directed by Farhad Delaram

Special Jury Award: Wonder, Directed by Javier Molina

Best Student Narrative Short: Terminal, Directed by Kim Allamand

Special Jury Mention: Nighty Night, Directed by Matt Porter

Documentary Shorts: 

Best Documentary Short: Exit 12, Directed by Mohammad Gorjestani

Best Documentary Short: Ashes to Ashes, Directed by Taylor Rees & Renan Ozturk

Animated Shorts:

Best Animated Short: Petty Thing, Directed by Li Zexi

Special Jury Award for Outstanding Film: Sous la Glace, Directed by Luce Grosjean, Ismail Berrahma, Flore Dupont, Laurie Estampes, Quentin Nory & Hugo Potin

Special Jury Award for Experimental Film: Medium Rare, Directed by Luca Cioci

Special Jury Award for Design Integration: The Kite, Directed by Martin Smatana

Special Jury Award for Best Student Film: Blieschow, Directed by Christoph Sarow

Special Jury Award for Outstanding Craft: Fata Morgana, Directed by Daniella Bokor & Leanna Berkovitch

Pitch Fest:

FIRST PLACE: Painting Your Room in My Heart, Director: Yuqi Lu, Wake Forest University

SECOND PLACE: Clickbait: Stop the Traffic, Director: Madison Rae Reitz, University of North Carolina at Wilmington