The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival has released its list of winners at the 10th annual festival, and they includes Los Frikis and Porcelain War.
The festival, which is dedicated to first and second-time filmmakers, took place in Middlebury, Vermont from Aug. 21-25, 2024.
Los Frikis, directed by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, won the Best Narrative Feature prize. It follows the story of a group of Cuban punk rockers in the early 1990s who intentionally injected themselves with HIV-positive blood in order to live peacefully in the remote sanatoriums of communist Cuba.
Porcelain War, directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, won the Best Documentary Feature prize and the Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film. It follows husband-and-wife artists Slava and Anya, their dog Frodo, and friend Andrey during the Russain invasion of Ukraine. When the Russians invade Ukraine. They choose to stay behind and fight, joining a special ops unit on the frontlines while Anya makes delicate porcelain art amid constant bombardment.
Other festival highlights include Rachel Seed’s documentary A Photographic Memory about researching the mother she never knew, which won the Ralph Steiner Prize for Poetic Cinema, and Hasan Oswald’s Mediha, a documentary about a brave Iraqi-Yazidi teenager who survived being abducted and held in captivity by ISIS, which won the Hernandez/Bayliss Prize for Triumph of the Human Spirit.
See the full 2024 winners list below.
Also Read: Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival Goes Back to Its Roots for 10th Anniversary
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival 2024 Winners List
Best Narrative Feature
Los Frikis — directed by Michael Schwartz, Tyler Nilson
Best Documentary Feature
Porcelain War — directed by Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Best Narrative Short
“A Good Day Will Come” — directed by Amir Zargara
Best Documentary Short
“Oasis” — directed by Justine Martin
Audience Award – Feature
My Place Ozerna — directed by Karina Bedkowska
Audience Award – Short
“The Quilters” — directed by Jenifer McShane
AICEF Prize for Cross Cultural Filmmaking
New Wave — directed by Elizabeth Ai
Hernandez/Bayliss Prize – Triumph of the Human Spirit
Mediha — directed by Hasan Oswald
Clio Visualizing History Prize
Never Look Away — directed by Lucy Lawless
Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking
The Quietest Year — directed by Karen Akins
Shouldice Family Prize for Best Vermont-Made Film
Petal Fall — directed by Adam Benay
Thaddeus Stevens Prize for Social Engagement
Running for the Mountains — directed by Julie Eisenberg, Babette Hogan
Ralph Steiner Prize for Poetic Cinema
A Photographic Memory — directed by Rachel Seed
Kate Hearst Prize – Human Connectivity
By My Side — directed by Vicki Topaz
Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film
Porcelain War — directed by Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Swift House Prize for Best Depiction of the Arts
Robert Shields: My LIfe as a Robot — directed by Mark Bonn, Christine Seibert Bonn
Jeanine Basinger Prize for Best Student Film
Washed Up — directed by Thomas Bayne
Honorees
Impact, Imagination and Excellence
Oliver Stone
Outstanding Writing and Directing
John Patrick Shanley
Excellence, Imagination and Flair in Costume Design
Paul Tazewell
Excellence and Impact in Documentary Filmmaking
Bess O’Brien
Sustained Boldness in Documentary Filmmaking
Andy Mitchell
Main Image: A still from Los Frikis