SpIFF is excited to announce the 2024 Jury Award winners!

Northwest Shorts

Northwest Features

Narrative Shorts

      • Left Handed was gorgeous!  I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. The story unfolded in such a delicate, devastating way. The directing was so confident! (Rachel Lee Goldenberg)

Narrative Features

Documentary Shorts

    • Powerful, personal, authentic. A strong balance of artful and real. Creative and flowing in a very enjoyable level of personal immersion. Loving but complex. The filmmaker has an inspiring way of drawing impact and strong connection from pieces separated by time, format/quality, and opportunity in a way that found cohesion among the eclectic and everyday moments. The stitching was impressive, not just in the sense of finding beautiful threads, but also in the sense of sewing a hope that the stitches lead toward healing. (Megan Kennedy)
    • This film made me cry, laugh, and feel all the feels! First documentary film for this director? It was AMAZING. I look forward to seeing what comes from this storyteller next. This was the film I revisited for the triumphant beauty of the community moments, and it was the story I most enthusiastically related to my family after the jury experience. This piece struck every chord for me: A story that needed to be told well-honored, a strong thread to past and future, a nod to challenges and a celebration of triumphs, and human all the way.  (Megan Kennedy)

Documentary Features

  • Golden SpIFFy - Richland
    • This film is a comprehensive look at the Central Washington city of the same name. Not only does it focus on the area’s geography, but it gives a good sense of its population, from the indigenous tribes who first settled in the area to the people who live there now. More important, though, the film expounds on the city’s larger legacy, tied as it is to the nuclear facility that provided plutonium for the atomic bomb that leveled Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II. All in all, it’s a captivating study of a city that embraces its historical relevance, which -- without it -- likely would have left it as just another ranching community perched near the banks of the Columbia River. (Dan Webster)

Animated Shorts

 

FESTIVAL AWARDS

Most Promising Filmmaker

  • Noah Zoltan Sofian and David Norman Lewis for Fantasy A Gets a Mattress 
      • An inspiring ode to up-and-coming Seattle-ites who run up against every obstacle in the book (and then some) yet continue to pursue their dreams. Fantasy A is the heart and soul of the film, and the production. The writing is superb ("Either it'll be here any minute, or I JUST missed it!" "My life is more real than yours."), the fantastical nature of Fantasy's day-to-day life lead[s] to surprises and humor, and in Fantasy A, we have a hero we can root for. I want to extend gratitude to the filmmakers for including an autistic lead character as the hero. We very rarely see ourselves represented on screen this way, and Fantasy A teaches us that all of our dreams, whether big or small (to be a rap star, to get a mattress) are valid. I will never forget the final, wonderful shot of Fantasy A pushing his mattress across the bridge. Thank you for giving us a hometown hero! (Misty Shipman)
      • Drew Ayers: A magical realist hero's journey through the underrepresented parts of Seattle. Filled with larger-than-life characters and absurdist situations, the film also manages to ground itself in the genuine warmth and love of Fantasy A and his supporting crew. The filmmakers' deft tonal balancing and expressive style make me excited to see their future productions. (Drew Ayers)
  • Taietsarón:sere 'Tai' Leclaire for Headdress
      • A hilarious short film with technical prowess, creativity, and witty, catchy dialogue. For Native people, it provides representation on the complicated responses that we have to acts of settler violence, however mundane. While it doesn't get into the sacredness of the headdress, assuming the audience to know that already, it does offer insight as to how our differing identities intersect as we respond to aggressions in our daily lives. Headdress was one of the highlights of our film festival and we extend gratitude to Tai, in all Tai's forms (whether Bougie, Goth, Queer, Corporate, or Yet to Come) for sharing their storytelling with us. (Misty Shipman)
      • It takes the complex issue of cultural appropriation and explores it through humor and self-expression. The film disarms its audience through its hilarious dialogue and performances as it guides us to consider the small ways in which oppression operates in our everyday behaviors. Tai Leclaire has a unique voice and strong perspective, and I'll be eagerly awaiting his upcoming projects. (Drew Ayers)

Thank you to our jury members for this year!

SpIFF 2024 Jury Members:

Northwest Shorts

James Pakootas

Champ Ensminger

Stimson Snead

Jen Derwingson-Peacock

 

Northwest Features

Alex Dew

Angela Schwendiman

Devante Smith

Jen Derwingson-Peacock

 

Narrative Shorts

Don Hamilton

Champ Ensminger

Jessica Earle

Rachel Lee Goldenberg

Red S

 

Narrative Features

Alex Dew

Devante Smith

Red S

 

Documentary Shorts

Dan Webster

Megan Kennedy

Wendy Levy

 

Documentary Features

Dan Webster

Wendy Levy

Angela Schwendiman

 

Animated Shorts

James Pakootas

Jessica Earle

Jiemei Lin

 

FESTIVAL AWARD (Programmers’ Selection)

Most Promising Filmmaker

Drew Ayers

Pete Porter

Misty Shipman

Olivia Evans

Frances Grace Mortel

 

Learn more about our jury and senior programmers this year:

https://spokanefilmfestival.org/meet/jury2024/

https://spokanefilmfestival.org/meet/programmers/

 

Please join us in congratulating the SpIFF 2023 Award Winners!

SpIFF 2023 Audience Awards:

Feature: CIRCUS OF THE SCARS

Virtual Feature: HUMANITY STOKED

Mid-lengths: KUMARI: A FATHER'S DREAM

World Shorts: ARCHIBALD'S SYNDROME

Best of the NW: UNCRADLED

US and Canada Shorts: IN THE EVENT OF MY DEATH

Animation - VARKEN (PIG)

NW DOCS (Virtual): DIASPORA RECIPES

English language Shorts (Virtual): BEFORE DAWN, KABUL TIME

 

 

SpIFF 2023 Jury Awards: 

Best Animated Short: FLOWING HOME

Best Northwest Short: KUMARI: A FATHER'S DREAM

Best Documentary Feature: SAM NOW

Best Narrative Feature: NO NO GIRL

Best Northwest Feature: MOUNTAINSIDE

Best Short: BEFORE DAWN, KABUL TIME

Most Promising Filmmaker: Abel Bos (BUG)

 

Thank you to everyone who served on a SpIFF Jury in 2023:

Rebecca Cook

Olivia Evans

Peter Green

Juan Mas

Matt McCormick

Dan Nailen

Yasi Naraghi

Malcolm Pelles

Karl Schaefer

Dan Webster