(left to right): Jim Hickcox (DP) and Caleb Kuntz (DIR) (FLORENCE), Natalie Shea (PROD) and Amanda Gotera (DIR) (MIDDLE WITCH), Tomas Pais (HUNKY DORY), Melodie Sisk (PROD) and Zach Clark (DIR) (LITTLE SISTER) – Photo by Wildman
The Oak Cliff Film Festival announced the award winners for the 5th edition of the film festival June 20th at the festival’s Filmmaker Awards Ceremony held at Small Brewpub in Dallas (333 W. Jefferson Blvd). Zach Clark’s LITTLE SISTER took home the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize and the Ross Brothers’ CONTEMPORARY COLOR was awarded the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize.
Along with having his film receive the Grand Jury Prize, Clark received an AJA Cion 4K Camera. Along with their honor, the Ross Brothers received a full license of Blackmagic Design’s Davinci Resolve Studio, Blackmagic Video Assist Monitor, and a license of Fusion Studio. A Special Jury Prize was also awarded to Tomas Pais for his performance in Michael Curtis Johnson’s HUNKY DORY. Along with the mention, he received an Impossible 1-1 Instant Camera.
The shorts categories winners were led by Truls Krane Meby’s WORLDWIDE WOVEN BODIES, which received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short Film, Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari’s THE DOG, which was named Best Documentary Short Film, Tom Bardnt’s PARANORMAL IDIOT – Grand Jury Prize-winner for Best Late Night Short Film, and Amanda Gotera’s MIDDLE WITCH, which took home the Grand Jury Prize for Best Student Film.
Special Jury Prizes in the Short Film categories included; a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance (in the Narrative Short category) for Lindsay Pulsipher in Yen Tan’s 1985; an Honorable Mention in the Documentary Short Film category for Zack Godshall’s THE BOATMAN; a Special Jury Prize for Cinematic Excellence in the Students Shorts category for Caleb Kuntz’s FLORENCE; and a Special Jury Mention for “Most Totally F’d Up and Impossible to Forget” for Brian Lanano’s GWILLIAM.
In addition to their honors, the winners of the Short Film categories also received the following: Meby (WORLDWIDE WOVEN BODIES) received 3 rolls of Kodak Super 8mm film; Cooper and Canepari (THE DOG) received a G-Technology Hard Drive; Gotera (MIDDLE WITCH) received a Rode microphone; and Kuntz (FLORENCE) received a Wooden Camera rig.
All prize winners receive subscriptions to Film Comment and Fandor.
“This has been a stellar edition of the Oak Cliff Film Festival – our jury’s selection process was not easy,” said OCFF Co-Founder and Technical Director Barak Epstein. “Of course we always say that, but when your jury members tell you there wasn’t a single outlier in the bunch and how much enjoyment they had watching and discussing the films in competition, that’s awesome.”
Jurors for this year’s edition of the Oak Cliff Film Festival included; Indie GoGo’s Aaron Hillis, filmmaker Michael Tully (PING PONG SUMMER, and filmmaker David Lowery (the upcoming PETE’S DRAGON) judging the Narrative Feature Competition; Austin Film Society’s Holly Herrick, The Orchard’s Richard Matson, and Factory 25’s Matt Grady on the Documentary Feature Jury; filmmaker James Johnston (AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS), veteran UPM and line producer Joe Dishner, and filmmaker Geoff Marslet (LOVES HER GUN) on the Narrative Shorts Jury; film critic Chase Whale, Slamdance’s Jerry White Jr., and Dallas Producers Association president Kerry Navarro judging the Documentary Shorts section; and Dallas Video Fest founder Bart Weiss, SMU Department Chair Derek Kompare, and UNT’s Eugene Martin on the Student Shorts Jury.
The 2016 Oak Cliff Film Festival Jury Award Winners
NARRATIVE FEATURE GRAND JURY PRIZE: LITTLE SISTER DIR: Zach Clark
NARRATIVE FEATURE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (Best Performance): Tomas Pais (Michael Curtis Johnson’s HUNKY DORY)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE GRAND JURY PRIZE: CONTEMPORARY COLOR DIRS: Bill Ross, Turner Ross
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE: WORLDWIDE WOVEN BODIES DIR: Truls Krane Meby
NARRATIVE SHORT FILM SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (Outstanding Performance): Lindsay Pulsipher (Yen Tan’s 1985)
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE THE DOG DIRS: Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM HONORABLE MENTION: THE BOATMAN DIR: Zack Godshall
LATE NIGHT SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE: PARANORMAL IDIOT DIR: Tom Bardnt
LATE NIGHT SHORT FILM SPECIAL MENTION (Most Totally F’d Up and Impossible to Forget): GWILLIAM DIR: Brian Lanano
STUDENT SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE: MIDDLE WITCH DIR: Amanda Gotera
STUDENT SHORT FILM SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (Cinematic Excellence): FLORENCE DIR: Caleb Kuntz
About the Oak Cliff Film Festival: The Oak Cliff Film Festival was established in 2012 as a regional film festival in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. The festival has been received national acclaim from prominent sources including The New York Times, Filmmaker Magazine, and Moviemaker Magazine. Led by the Aviation Cinemas team, who took over operations at the Texas Theatre in December of 2010, and backed by the 501 3(c) Oak Cliff Foundation, the Oak Cliff Film Festival features the very best of Oak Cliff’s theater venues, highlights the popular restaurants and bars of the area, and seeks to showcase the best of independent and brave filmmaking of all stripes from Texas and beyond. Learn more at oakclifffilmfestival.com.
2016 OCFF SPONSORS: A partial sponsor list includes Domingo Garcia, GDD Interactive, Kendall Creative, Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, The Joule, The Fairmont, The Belmont, Methodist Health Systems, Prekindle, AJA Video Systems, Lone Star, Stoli, Don Julio, Johnnie Walker, St. Killian Importing Co., Full Clip Craft Brews, Martin House Brewery, CineAlta, Sewell Subaru, Texas Film Commission, Dallas Film Commission, SAG Indie, Dallas Observer, Go Oak Cliff, and many more.
