Chosen from more than 500 international entries from 36 countries, the winning films included:
FIRST PLACE / NARRATIVE
Traces, Sébastien Pins, director
FIRST PLACE / ANIMATION
Gon, the Little Fox, Takeshi Yashiro, director
FIRST PLACE / NON-FICTION
Ashes to Ashes, Taylor Rees & Renan Ozturk, directors
FIRST PLACE / EXPERIMENTAL
Blue Pig, Yaxiong Shao, director
STUDENT AWARD
Tree #3, Omer Ben-Shachar, director
TEXAS AWARD
My Dinner with Werner, Maverick Moore, director
The 2020 National Jury included actor, director and teacher Karen Allen; actor, producer, director and teacher Diane Baker; actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and film historian Jim Beaver; cinematographer Bill Butler; actor Dale Dickey; visual artist and filmmaker Rosson Crow; actor Peri Gilpin; animator and animation supervisor Bill Haller; motion picture sound mixer, writer and director Ron Judkins; filmmaker and teacher Sandra Luckow; actor, producer, writer and director Ralph Macchio; manager, writer, producer and director Chris Roe; actor, author and storyteller Stephen Tobolowsky; and actor Brian Van Holt.
Award-winning films will be screened during the 50th Annual USA Film Festival to be re-scheduled ASAP in 2020 at the Angelika Film Center Dallas.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the long-running USA Film Festival, which has awarded prizes to dozens of now established filmmakers early in their careers including Mark Osborne (More), Don Hertzfeldt (Lilly and Jim), Chel White (Choreography for Copy Machine), Bill Plympton (Your Face), Michael Almereyda (Another Girl, Another Planet), Jessica Yu (Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien), Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket), Marlon Riggs (Tongues Untied), Todd Haynes (Superstar), Alexander Payne (The Passion of Martin), George Hickenlooper (Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade), Alan Taylor (That Burning Question) and John Lasseter (Tin Toy).
In addition to the National Jury Awards, FESTIVAL-AWARDED PRIZES also went to the following short works:
Jury Prize/Narrative category – Alina, Rami Kodeih, director
Jury Prize/Animation category – If Anything Happens I Love You, Will McCormack & Michael Govier, directors
Jury Prize/Non-Fiction category – Mr. Somebody, Brian Wertheim, director
Jury Prize/Experimental category – Blue Reverie, Siting Yang, director
Jury Prize/Student category – Furthest From, Kyung Sok Kim, director
Jury Prize/Texas category – Invaders from Above, Dano Johnson & Kevin Maher, directors
Honorable Mention, Narrative – Bye, Circle, Tae Young Kim, director
Honorable Mention, Animation – The Mechanical Dancer, Jenna Jaillet, director
Honorable Mention, Non-Fiction – Tending Clouds, Joel Sandvos, director
Honorable Mention, Experimental – If We Had Tomorrow, Anastasiya Yevchenko, director
Honorable Mention, Experimental – The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, Elisabeth Tova Bailey, director
Honorable Mention, Student – Irse, Marian Carrasquero & Jean-Philippe Dobrin, directors
Honorable Mention, Student – Unraveled, Isabel Wiegand, Asil Atay, Arden Colley & Kellie Fay, directors
Honorable Mention, Texas – Departure, Stan Wong, director
Performance Award – Gayle Rankin in Kathryn Prescott’s Jane
Performance Award – Rusty Schwimmer in Yaya (Ilya Simakov)’s Keep it Quiet
OFFICIAL SPONSORS
Sponsors of the 50th Annual USA Film Festival include Carol and Alan J. Bernon Family Charitable Foundation, Sidley LLP, Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate, Gaedeke Group, TACA – The Arts Community Alliance, Moody Fund for the Arts, Headington Company, Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District, Mary Fox and Laura Fox, Norma’s Café, SAG-AFTRA, The Downtown Business News, KERA-TV, Alford Media Services and the Angelika Film Center Dallas.
The USA Film Festival is supported, in part, by the City of Dallas Office of Arts & Culture.
The USA Film Festival is supported, in part, by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
The USA Film Festival is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE USA FILM FESTIVAL
A year-round film festival featuring 50 days of programs
The USA Film Festival is a 50-year-old Dallas-based 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the film and video arts. Year-round events include the annual KidFilm® Festival; monthly screenings; special programs and premieres; and the USA Film Festival, held each Spring. Throughout the year, the Festival presents a variety of membership, exhibition, educational, and cultural programs designed to promote equity and equality.
