SFF ARCHIVES
As part of our annual Festival, we honor filmmakers for their works, inviting distinguished jurors to review our selections for the year.
These awards include a Narrative Feature Competition for international and domestic narrative films; an Independent Vision Competition specifically for low-budget American films and emerging US artists; and a Documentary Feature Competition that has earned the Festival recognition as one of the "Top 20 Festivals for Documentaries" by All These Wonderful Things. Generous post-production packages are awarded to the winning films in each competition category.
Read on for all of our past honorees.
CLICK HERE to view the 2012 Film Guide
CLICK HERE to view the 2011 Film Guide.
2012 SFF AWARD WINNERS
Sarasota Film Festival/GCC U.N. Women Impact Award
Debra Zimmerman – Women Make Movies
SFF Student Trailer Competition Winner
FEELM by Javier Aparente and Yahira Hernandez
JURY AWARD WINNERS
Narrative Feature Competition Winner
Elena— Director, Andrei Zvyagintsev
Narrative Feature Competition Special Jury Prize for Creative Achievement
Alps -- Director, Giorgos Lanthimos
Documentary Feature Competition
Big Boys Gone Bananas!* — Director, Fredrik Gertten
Documentary Feature Competition Special Jury Prize
Radio Unnameable -- Director, Paul Lovelace
youthFEST Junior Jury Award Best Family Short
Private Eyes -- director, Nicoles Lemay
Independent Vision Prize Winner
The Unspeakable Act, Director, Dan Sallitt
Independent Vision Prize Special Jury Prize for Screenplay
Richard’s Wedding -- Director, Onur Tukel
Independent Vision Prize Special Jury Prize for Performance
Shanon Harper in Welcome to Pine Hill -- Director, Keith Miller
Young Filmmakers Digital Showcase
CHIPS – Director, Gabriela Capestany
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Audience Award Best Documentary Feature
Ethel – Director, Rory Kennedy
Audience Award Best Short Film
Tick Tock Time Emporium -- Director, Morgan Faust
Audience Award Best Narrative Feature
Missed Connections -- Director, Martin Snyder
Audience Award Best In World Cinema
Polisse -- Director, Maiwenn
Audience Award youthFEST Best Short Film
Pizzangrillo – Director, Marco Gianfreda
THE JURORS
Narrative
John Anderson– Chair of New York Film Critics Circle
Steven Gaydos – Executive Editor, Variety
Karina Longworth – LA Weekly Film Editor
Documentary
Joe Neumaier – New York Daily News Film Critic
Thelma Adams – Yahoo Movies Contributing Editor
Clemence Taillandler – Zeitgeist Films
Independent Visions
Michael Dunaway – Editor of Film Section Paste Magazine
Jordon Hoffman – Contributor at SlashFilm, NextMovie and IFC
Keith Uhlich – Film Critic Time Out New York
2011 SFF AWARD WINNERS
The Sarasota Film Festival Master Of Cinema
Christopher Plummer
Sarasota Film Festival/GCC U.N. Women Impact Award
Geena Davis
Producer's Award
Sarah Green
SFF Student Trailer Competition Winner
Natasha Bangert and Minna Choung, Ringling College of Art + Design
JURY AWARD WINNERS
Narrative Feature Competition Winner
Tuesday After Christmas — Director, Radu Muntean
Narrative Feature Competition Special Jury Prize
Old Cats — Directors, Pedro Peirano and Sebastian Silva
Documentary Feature Competition
Better This World — Directors, Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane De La Vega
Documentary Feature Competition Special Jury Prize
Position Among Stars — Director, Leonard Retel Helmrich
youthFEST Best Family Film
The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Lion — Director, Alois Di Leo
Independent Vision Prize Winner
Without — Director, Mark Jackson
Independent Vision Prize Special Jury Prize
The Oregonian — Director, Calvin Lee Reeder
Promising Young Filmmaker
Dick Watson and The Case of the Missing Relative — Mitchell Zemil
Young Filmmakers Showcase Honorable Mention
Monster — Alfonso Duran
Reel Life Studio Jury Award - Best Film
Children of Space — Directors, Colton Bazenas and Eric Gruendl
AUDIENCE AWARDS SPONSORED BY PUBLIX SUPERMARKET CHARITIES
Audience Award Best Documentary Feature
To Be Heard — Directors, Amy Sultan, Roland Legiardi-Laura, Edwin Martinez, Deborah Shaffer
Audience Award Best Short Film
Fatakra — Director, Soham Mehta
Audience Award Best Narrative Feature
to.get.her — Director, Erica Dunton
Audience Award Best In World Cinema
Trollhunter — Director, Andre Ovredal
Audience Award youthFEST Best Short Film
The Auction — Director Gloria Kim
Audience Award Reel Life Studio Film
Angel Eyes — Directors, Tony DeNiro and Hunter Cross
THE JURORS
Narrative
Arianna Bocco – Sr. VP Acquisitions and Production IFC Films
Joe Neumaier – Film Critic and Film Editor, The New York Daily News
Thelma Adams – US Weekly and Author of the new novel Playdate
Documentary
David Edelstein – Film Critic, New York Magazine
Regina Weinreich – Culture Critic
Aaron Hillis – Film Critic, The Village Voice
Independent Visions
Kim Voynar – Movie City News
David Fear – Film Critic Time Out New York
Jay Duplass – Director, CYRUS, BAGHEAD, THE PUFFY CHAIR
