“Donor Unknown” and “Mr. Happy Man” Are Tops with Silverdocs Audiences

After the dust settled at last week’s Silverdocs documentary film festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, the votes were tabulated and it was announced that Jerry Rothwell’s “Donor Unknown” and Matt Morris’s “Mr. Happy Man” took home the audience awards for Best Feature and Best Short, respectively. “Donor Unknown” probes into the lives of several young men and women who realize they all share a sperm donor in common. Little do they know he lives in a van by a Southern California beach. “Mr. Happy Man” also follows an eccentric but loveable beach bum — Matt Morris’s film follows 85-year old Johnny Barnes, who makes it his job to put a smile on the face of all who cross his path in his Bermuda stomping grounds.

For the complete list of Silverdocs jury awards, check out our previous coverage here. For information on the Tribeca Film Institute/Silverdocs Transmedia grant, which had a $5,000 prize split between the six finalists, read more here. Finally, for indiewire’s coverage of the fest’s Guggenheim Symposium honorees, DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, see here.