NON FICTION FILM
  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Galleries
    • 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
    • Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
    • 2019 SXSW Film Festival
    • SXSW 2018 Gallery
    • 2019 Sundance Film Festival
    • Outfest 2018 Photo Gallery
    • Outfest 2017
    • Sundance 2018 Photos
    • 2017 LA Film Festival
    • 2017 Cannes Film Festival
    • Tribeca Film Festival 2017
    • SXSW 2017 Gallery
    • 2017 Berlin Film Festival
    • Sundance 2017 Gallery
    • 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival
    • Cannes Film Festival 2016
    • SXSW 2016 Gallery
    • Berlinale 2016 Gallery
    • Sundance 2016 Gallery
  • Filmmaker Gallery
  • About
  • Contact

LA Film Festival awards: top honors go to 'Liyana,' 'Skid Row Marathon'

6/22/2017

Comments

 
One story comes from  Swaziland, the other from downtown L.A.
Picture
The 2017 LA Film Festival wrapped up eight days of programming with the announcement of competition and audience awards. I didn't quite see every documentary in the lineup, but I did watch all of the winners.

​The competition jury named Liyana best documentary, a film by Aaron and Amanda Kopp that blends nonfiction and animation to depict the experience of a group of orphans growing up in Swaziland. Jury members included Katherine Fairfax-Wright, Paul Federbush and Matt Holzman. 

Skid Row Marathon, directed by Mark Hayes, won the audience award for documentary. It also won the LA Muse award for documentary, an honor reserved for independent films that are "quintessentially Los Angeles." Skid Row Marathon revolves around Craig Mitchell, a judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County who formed a running club to help people people living on Skid Row stay clean and sober.

Jury members for the LA Muse Awards included Susan Burke, Juan Iglesias and Kimrie Lewis-Davis.
Picture
A still image from "Skid Row Marathon," directed by Mark Hayes and produced by Gabriele Hayes and Doug Blush. Photo courtesy Owls Media
Picture
A still image from "Liyana," directed by Aaron and Amanda Kopp. Photo courtesy Shine Global/Intaba Creative
The LA Muse jury also awarded a special mention for "excellence in storytelling" to Billy Mcmillin's documentary The Classic, which focuses on an intense football rivalry between two East L.A. high schools: the Garfield Bulldogs and the Roosevelt Rough Riders. 

The award for short documentary went to Black America Again, directed by Bradford Young. The film is described as "a visual celebration of the beauty, strength, perseverance and spirit of the Black community in these troubling times, inspired by Common's Black America Again [album]."

Jury members for the shorts competition included Kim Adelman, Jonni Cheatwood and Naomi Ladizinsky.

Related coverage: Liyana directors on the subjects of their award-winning documentary: 'These kids are so cool. Complicated, interesting, inspiring.'

Skid Row Marathon
revolves around judge who upholds the law, but believes in second chances. Just don't tell him, 'He's an extraordinary person'

The Classic director Billy McMillin on 'rooting for both sides' in his film about a high-stakes high school football rivalry

Comments

    Author

    Matthew Carey is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. His work has appeared on Deadline.com, CNN, CNN.com, TheWrap.com, NBCNews.com and in Documentary magazine.

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Galleries
    • 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
    • Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
    • 2019 SXSW Film Festival
    • SXSW 2018 Gallery
    • 2019 Sundance Film Festival
    • Outfest 2018 Photo Gallery
    • Outfest 2017
    • Sundance 2018 Photos
    • 2017 LA Film Festival
    • 2017 Cannes Film Festival
    • Tribeca Film Festival 2017
    • SXSW 2017 Gallery
    • 2017 Berlin Film Festival
    • Sundance 2017 Gallery
    • 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival
    • Cannes Film Festival 2016
    • SXSW 2016 Gallery
    • Berlinale 2016 Gallery
    • Sundance 2016 Gallery
  • Filmmaker Gallery
  • About
  • Contact