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Winners Past Editions

2017 Award Winners

Best Feature Film: The Silent War (Director: Mariam Ismailova) 


Best Director: Mariam Ismailova (The Silent War) 


Best Screenplay: Mariam Ismailova (The Silent War) 


Best Short Film: The Broken Mirror (Director: Samira Hamdi) 


Best New Director: Samira Hamdi (The Broken Mirror) 


Best International Film: The Secret of the Cave (Director: Alejandro Hidalgo) 


Audience Award: The Silent War (Director: Mariam Ismailova) 
2018 

2018 Award Winners

Best Feature Film: The Last Voyage (Director: Michael Rivera)


Best Director: Michael Rivera (The Last Voyage)


Best Screenplay: Michael Rivera (The Last Voyage)


Best Short Film: The Lost Memory (Director: Hiroki Nakamura)


Best New Director: Hiroki Nakamura (The Lost Memory)


Best International Film: The Whispering Trees (Director: Fatima Al-Baqer)


Audience Award: The Last Voyage (Director: Michael Rivera) 



2019 Award Winners

Best Feature Film: The City of Dreams (Director: Xueying Zhang)


Best Director: Xueying Zhang (The City of Dreams)


Best Screenplay: Xueying Zhang (The City of Dreams)


Best Short Film: The Silent Scream (Director: Sarah Williams)


Best New Director: Sarah Williams (The Silent Scream)


Best International Film: The River Flows Through Us (Director: Li Yang)


Audience Award: The City of Dreams (Director: Xueying Zhang) 

 


2020 Award Winners

Best Feature Film: The Last Tree (Director: Anya Saperstein)

Best Director: Anya Saperstein (The Last Tree)


Best Screenplay: Anya Saperstein (The Last Tree)


Best Short Film: The Butterfly Effect (Director: Chen Wei)


Best New Director: Chen Wei (The Butterfly Effect)


Best International Film: The Windmill (Director: Arash Latifi)


Audience Award: The Last Tree (Director: Anya Saperstein)

2021 Award Winners

The 414s: The Original Teenage Hackers (12:00)
Directed by: Michael T. Vollmann
Documentary, Short, Crime
Synopsis: The 414s tells the story of the first widely recognized computer hackers, a group of Milwaukee teenagers who gained notoriety in 1983 when they broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a classified nuclear weapons research facility.


The Turkeys of Atwood Avenue (20:00)
Directed by: Gretta Wing Miller
Documentary
Synopsis: Musical chronology of a year with our neighborhood turkeys.


Pass the Canvas (16:30)
Directed by: Samuel Karow
Documentary
Synopsis: An intimate portrait of two people united by artistic passion. Together, Eric and Margot balance life as art-makers and full-time teachers. Within their relationship lies an inspiring account of creative drive and collaboration.
Old-Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper

Club (51:00)
Directed by: Holly L. De Ruyter
Documentary
Synopsis: Supper club restaurants were the hot dining trend in the mid-twentieth century. They provided a place for people to spend their evenings enjoying cocktails, home cooked meals, and high quality food and entertainment. The supper club scene slowly faded from the rest of the country, but kept a strong hold in Wisconsin due to a culture that allowed it to thrive. Around for decades, supper clubs in Wisconsin have been able to hold their own style and traditions. While chain restaurants continue to expand and threaten their future, supper clubs are fighting to survive while continuing to offer the same exceptional dining experience and a personal touch that is not seen in the modern lifestyle of dine and dash. Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club takes you into this uniquely Wisconsin institution.


2022 Award Winners

Acabo de Tener un Sueno (7:00)
Directed by: Javier Navarro Montero
Fiction, Drama
Synopsis: Irene is eight and she has just had a horrible dream.


The Sonatina (8:00)
Directed by: Kate Balsley
Narrative
Synopsis: While working a dead-end job at a thrift store, a young man rediscovers his passion for music.

Burn Out Love (21:00)
Directed by: Glaser Joachim
Comedy, Drama
Synopsis: A young artist tries to adapt the scandalous play Reigen (Roundabout) as a film. The project increasingly becomes a self-experiment. The opportunities and freedom in love and art turn into a curse – everything seems possible and nothing is permanent.


Daffy Strut (8:11)
Directed by: Andrew Megow
Animation
Synopsis: When a large UFO craft shaped like a chess board begins to attack the people of Earth, it is up to The Daffy Strut, a rock band that also moonlights as a group of superheroes to save the day.

Dog Walk (3:00)
Directed by: Kristin Peterson
Narrative
Synopsis: Two young girls start a dog walking business, with a hidden surprise.


Neighslayer (7:30)
Directed by: Jake Bertz
Narrative
Synopsis: Imagine walking in the middle of the night to an odd situation that might be a figment of your imagination. The police are called in to see if they can provide assistance.


Offsides (10:00)
Narrative
Synopsis: A short narrative that deals with homophobia on a football team.


En Kero Irinis (30:00)
Directed by: Nikos Vouteniotis
Drama, Fantasy
Synopsis: International banks allow the citizens of a country ten breaths a day to settle their debt to creditors. Nobody can understand why. Maybe through the eyes of a little girl, the eyes of imagination and poetry we can. How does a little girl, who grew up with the princes of fairy tales, visualize what is happening in her country?


All-nighter (3:00)
Directed by: Robert Doerr
Narrative
Synopsis: The story of a college student pulling an all-nighter. Told through still images and sound effects.


Pechorin (95:00)
Directed by: Roman Khrushch
Fiction, Drama
Synopsis: Based on the Russian classic Mikhail Lermontov novel ‘The Hero of Our Time’. All events shown as they are reflected in the mind of the dying hero as a series of irrevocable mistakes and interpreted anew: it is either reconsideration or repentance. Recollections make the main hero torment himself over his own past pretenses. He despairs over his perfect indifference to everything except himself. The final action of an intelligent and outstanding man is judging oneself without mercy.