Mammoth Lakes Film Festival: Jury Members, Including MovieMaker’s Tim Rhys, Announce 2018 Award Winners

The fourth annual Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) announced this year’s juried and audience award winners on its closing night at the Sierra Event Center in Mammoth Lakes Sunday, May 27, 2018. From May 23-27, MLFF screened over 70 films, 63 of which were featured in its competition categories.

“This year’s festival exceeded our expectations on many levels. We welcomed more filmmakers, audience members, and media than in any of our other three years,” noted Festival Director Shira Dubrovner. “Against the backdrop of our beautiful city, we were honored to host such an artistic collection of films that continues our commitment of bringing dynamic storytelling to our appreciative community.”

Here’s the full list of Juried and Audience Awards:

Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature ($1,000 cash prize, $10,000 Panavision Camera Rental Grant and $10,000 Light Iron Post Production Package): My Name Is Myeisha
Jury Award for Best International Feature ($500 cash prize): Tower. A Bright Day (Special Mention: Vidar the Vampire writer/director/actor Thomas Aske Berg)
Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature ($1,000 cash prize): White Tide (Special Mention: Buddha.mov)
Jury Award for Best Narrative Short ($500 cash prize and $5,000 VER Rental Grant): Shadow Animals (Special Mentions: Babies and In A Month)
Jury Award for Best Documentary Short ($500 cash prize): David and The Kingdom
Jury Award for Best Animation Short ($500 cash prize): Cocoon, Cocoon (Special Mention goes to Nevada)
Special Jury Award for Bravery ($500 cash prize): Minding the Gap
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature ($1,000 cash prize and $5,000 Panavision Camera Rental Grant): Rock Steady Row
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature ($1,000 cash prize): Crime + Punishment

Narrative Features Jury: Tim Rhys (MovieMaker Magazine), Nicole Sperling (Vanity Fair) and Rachel Winter (Producer)
Documentary Features Jury: Allison Amon (EVP Sales & Development, Bullitt), Lindsey Bahr (Associated Press) and Peter Baxter (Filmmaker; President/Co-Founder, Slamdance)
International Features Jury: Shalini Dore (Variety), Alonso Duralde (The Wrap) and Vincent Spano (Actor)
Shorts Jury: Ana Souza (Sundance Film Festival) and Scenery Samundra (Tru Thoughts, NTS Radio) MM

Featured image photograph by Matt Winkelmeyer.