SLIFF 2012 Announces Winners of Audience Choice and Juried Competitions

Nov. 19, 2012 - PRLog -- The 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival concluded on Sunday, Nov. 18, with a closing-night party at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, announcing a slate of audience-choice and juried-competition winners.

During the fest’s 11 days (Nov. 8-18), SLIFF also honored filmmakers Ross McElwee (Maysles Brothers Lifetime Achievement Award in Documentary), Joe Dante (Lifetime Achievement Award), Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern (Women in Film Award), and Beau Willimon (Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Award).

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

Best Narrative Feature: “The Sapphires,” directed by Wayne Blair

Best International Narrative Feature: “Quartet,” directed by Dustin Hoffman

Leon Award for Best Documentary Feature: “The Entertainers,” directed by Michael Zimmer

JURIED COMPETITION AWARDS

New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Filmmaker Award (The Bobbie)

Winner ($500 cash prize): “Faith, Love and Whiskey,” directed by Kristina Nikolova

Special Jury Citation: “Sun Don’t Shine,” directed by Amy Seimetz

St. Louis Film Critics’ Joe Pollack Awards

Best Narrative Feature: “Barbara,” directed by Christian Petzold

Special Jury Citation for Acting in Narrative Feature: Rachel Mwanza, lead actress of “War Witch”

Best Documentary Feature: “Uprising,” directed by Fredrik Stanton

Special Jury Citation for Documentary Feature: “We Are Wisconsin,” directed by Amie Williams

Alliance of Womens Film Journalists’ EDA Awards

Best Narrative Feature: “Sister,” directed by Ursula Meier

Special Jury Citation for Narrative Feature: “Found Memories,” directed by Julia Marat

Best Documentary Feature: “Seeking Asian Female,” directed by Debbie Lum

Special Jury Citation for Documentary Feature: “The World Before Her,” directed by Nisha Pahuja

Interfaith Awards

Best Narrative Feature: “War Witch,” directed by Kim Nguyen

Best Documentary Feature: “The Second Execution of Romell Broom,” directed by Michael Verhoeven

Special Jury Citation for Documentary Feature: “Stories from an Undeclared War,” directed by Dennis Rice

Midrash Award

Winner ($500 cash prize): “Seeking Asian Female,” directed by Debbie Lum

Short Film Awards

Best of Fest Short: “Pitch Black Heist,” directed by John Maclean

Best Local Short: “Paper Hallways,” directed by Cody Stokes

Best Short Short: “Colosse,” directed by Yves Geleyn

Best International Short: “Friend Request Pending,” directed by Chris Foggin

Best Animated Short: “Luminaris,” directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella

Best Live Action Short: “The Voorman Problem,” directed by Mark Gill

Best Documentary Short: “Female,” directed by Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre

Special Jury Citation for Documentary Short: “Boomtown,” directed by Torben Bernhard & Travis Low

The more information on the winning films, visit the Cinema St. Louis Web site (www.cinemastlouis.org).

For detailed information on each award -- including award descriptions, other films in each competition, and jury members – visit the Awards section of the St. Louis International Film Festival site: www.cinemastlouis.org/2012-sliff-awards.