SXSW 2018 Winners List: ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘People’s Republic of Desire’ Claim Top Jury and Special Awards
Juried prizes were presented tonight at the 25th annual SWSW Film Festival. Jim Gaffigan, in Austin to represent the Miranda Bailey-directed ensemble comedy “You Can Choose Your Family,” presided as host. The venue was the Paramount Theatre, a 103-year-old landmark just blocks from the Texas Capitol.
SXSW will continue screening films through Saturday, when most of the festival’s audience awards recipients will be announced. The exception is for the headlining films, such as “A Quiet Place,” “Blockers,” and “Ready Player One” — those verdicts follows on March 19.
This year’s line-up comprised 256 total features and shorts, culled from 8,183 submissions. Best narrative feature “Thunder Road” was adapted from the namesake, one-take short that won a Grand Jury award at Sundance in 2016.
Lena Dunham’s “Tiny Furniture” (2010) and Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Short Term 12” (2013) are among the best-known past jury victors at SXSW. IndieWire’s Dana Harris helped choose the Louis Black “Lone Star” honoree, named after the festival’s co-founder.
Read on for the full list of winners.
Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
Narrative Feature Competition
Winner: “Thunder Road”
Director: Jim Cummings
Special Jury Recognition For First Feature: “The New Romantic”
Director: Carly Stone
Special Jury Recognition for Writing: “Jinn”
Director/Screenwriter: Niljla Mu’min
Documentary Feature Competition
Winner: “People’s Republic of Desire”
Directors: Hao Wu
Special Jury Recognition for Best Cast: “This One’s For The Ladies”
Director: Gene Graham
Special Jury Recognition for Best Feminist Reconsideration of a Male Artist:
“Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable”
Director: Sasha Waters Freyer
Short Film Grand Jury Awards
Narrative Shorts
Winner: “Emergency”
Director: Carey Williams
Special Jury Recognition for Acting:
Actor: Shirley Chen from “Krista”
Documentary Shorts
Winner: “My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes”
Director: Charlie Tyrell
Midnight Shorts
Winner: “Milk”
Director: Santiago Menghini
Animated Shorts
Winner: “Agua Viva”
Directors: Alexa Lim Haas
Special Jury Recognition: “Jeom”
Director: Kangmin Kim
Music Videos
Winner: “Second Hand Lovers”
Director: Oren Lavie
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: “Territory”
Director: The Blaze
Texas Shorts
Winner: “An Uncertain Future”
Director: Iliana Sosa & Chelsea Hernandez
Texas High School Shorts
Winner: “The Night I Lost My Favorite Jacket”
Director: Jenna Krumerman
Special Jury Recognition: “CCISD Strong”
Director: Sofia Rasmussen
Independent Episodics
Winner: “Beast”
Director: Ben Strang
Special Jury Recognition: “She’s the Ticket”
Director: Nadia Hallgren
SXSW Film Design Awards
Excellence in Poster Design
Winner: “The Gospel of Eureka”
Designer: Matt Taylor
Special Jury Recognition: “A Little Wisdom”
Designer: Adam Zhu
Excellence in Title Design
Winner: “Counterpart”
Director: Karin Fong
Special Jury Recognition: Godless
Director: John Likens
SXSW Special Awards
