SILVERDOCS Announces Festival Winners

SILVER SPRING: AFI-Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS Documentary Festival has announced its award winners, with winning filmmakers receiving more than $70,000 in combined cash and prizes.

The SILVERDOCS sterling award for a U.S. feature went to October Country, which documents the story of a working-class family coping with poverty, teen pregnancy, foster care and the horrors of child molestation and war. Directors Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher receive $10,000 cash. The prize for a world feature was given to Mugabe and the White African. Directed by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, the film is told through the lens of a 74-year-old white farmer, and spotlights Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe’s controversial land seizure program, which intended to re-distribute white-owned farmland. This was also for a $10,000 cash prize.

The short film recognized was 12 Notes Down, directed by Andreas Koefoed. 12 Notes Down documents 14-year-old choir performer Jorgis. After his voice starts changing, he decides when and how to make an exit from choir. The filmmaker will receive $5,000 cash. A special jury mention went to Salt, directed by Michael Angus and Murray Fredericks, which chronicles photographer Murray Frederick’s journey into the remote salt flats in South Australia.

The award for best music documentary, presented by Gibson Guitars, went to Riseup. The film, directed by Luciano Blotta, follows three Jamaican musicians as they fight for a place in the overcrowded reggae field. Gibson Guitars will present a Gibson Les Paul Studio to the winner. The SILVERDOCS cinematic vision award went to Old Partner. Directed by Lee Chung-ryoul, the doc captures the relationship between an old farmer, living in a remote South Korean village, and his 40-year-old ox. Chung-ryoul receives $2,500 cash and $4,000 of in-kind services from Alpha Cine.

The SILVERDOCS witness award, presented in honor of Joey R. B. Lozano, is given to the best documentary about human rights violations or social justice issues. This year, accolades went to Good Fortune by Landon Van Soest. It examines two multi-million dollar international aid projects in Africa that may actually be undermining the communities they seek to help. The filmmaker has been awarded $5,000 cash. The award winner for the Animal Content in Entertainment (ACE) grant went to Cinema Chimp by David Grabias. The feature-length documentary explores the ethical debate over using non-human primate “actors” in the entertainment industry. The director will receive a $25,000 grant.

The Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East named writer-director Nicole Opper as winner of the WGA Documentary Screenplay Award for her film Off and Running. The project is a story of race, identity and family, focusing on Avery, an African-American teenager adopted by Jewish lesbians. The award comes with a prize of $1,000 and the winner will be granted one-year free membership in the WGAW Nonfiction Writers Caucus or WGAE Nonfiction Writers Committee Membership.

Sky Sitney, the event’s artistic director, said, "We are thrilled to celebrate the best that cinema has to offer and congratulate all of this year’s award winners. We also thank our jurors who have had to wrestle long and hard in selecting winners among so many great films. We are pleased to recognize October Country with the esteemed Sterling U.S. Grand Jury Prize. The beautifully crafted film takes us on a complicated and surprising journey for one family over the course of a year. We are equally excited that the Sterling World Feature Award goes to Mugabe and the White African, which takes us on a riveting journey inside Mugabe’s regime through the lens of a white farmer in Zimbabwe."