On Sunday, April 30, 2017, the USA Film Festival announced the winners of the 39th Annual International Short Film & Video Competition. The awards program took place on Closing Night of the 47th Annual USA Film Festival in Dallas.
Chosen from more than 600 international entries, the First Place Winning Films included:
FIRST PLACE / NARRATIVE
Minh Tâm, Vincent Maury, director
FIRST PLACE / ANIMATION
The History of Magic: Ensueno, Jose Luis Gonzalez & Dano Johnson, co-directors
FIRST PLACE / NON-FICTION
Little Potato, Wes Hurley & Nathan M. Miller, co-directors
FIRST PLACE / EXPERIMENTAL
Gibberish, Nathalie Biancheri, director
STUDENT AWARD
Promise, Tian Xie, director
TEXAS AWARD
Owen, Kelly Pike, director
The 2017 National Jury included writer/director/producer John Putch, writer/director/actor Christina Beck, actor/producer and teacherDiane Baker, actor DeVaughn Nixon, artist and short filmmaker Rosson Crow and animator/writer/producer and voice actor Jorge Gutierrez.
This year marks the 47th Anniversary of the Festival, which has awarded prizes to dozens of now established filmmakers early in their careers including Mark Osborne (More), Don Hertzfeldt (Lilly and Jim), Danny Leiner (Time Expired), Chel White (Choreography for Copy Machine), Bill Plympton (Your Face), Michael Almereyda (Another Girl, Another Planet), Jessica Yu (Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien), Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket), Marlon Riggs (Tongues Untied), Todd Haynes (Superstar), Alexander Payne (The Passion of Martin), George Hickenlooper (Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade), Alan Taylor (That Burning Question) and John Lasseter (Tin Toy).
In addition to the National Jury awards, Festival Awarded Prizes also went to the following Official Selection and other short works:
- Jury Prize – Minor Turbulence, Jared Houseman, director
- Performance Award – Sharon Lawrence in Home, Russell Simpson, director
- Honorable Mention, Student Film — Ambience, Ji Hyun Kim, director
- Honorable Mention, Narrative – The Whole World, Julián Quintanilla, director
- Honorable Mention, Narrative – The Language of Ball, Ramon Rodriguez, director
- Honorable Mention, Narrative – Zaar, Ibrahim Nada, director
- Newcomer Award – Jackson Smith in A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud., Karen Allen, director
