All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
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All Is Well, Drought, Beasts of the Southern Wild Take Prizes at Los Angeles Film Festival
