Jay Duplass and the acclaimed documentary filmmakers behind “Boys State” and “Girls State” emerged big winners at this year’s Nantucket Film Festival.
Awards were handed out Monday at the 30th installment of the intimate island affair. The Duplass-directed “The Baltimorons” took the narrative feature audience award. Written by Duplass and Michael Strassner, the film follows an unlikely connection between a sober man and his emergency dentist. Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s “Middletown,” about a high school class exposed to an environmental disaster in the ’90s, took the documentary feature audience award.
“This year’s festival was a vibrant celebration of cinema and storytelling over the last thirty years. From ground-breaking independent features to thought-provoking documentaries, we are proud to continue to offer the Nantucket audience diverse stories that reflect the tapestry of the island,” said executive director Mystelle Brabbée and lead programmer Anita Raswant.
In the shorts category, “Snow Bear” by Aaron Blaise and Nicholas Burch took the narrative trophy and Charlotte Cooley’s “Last Days on Lake Trinity” scooped the doc recognition. “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” from Shoshannah Stern, received the Marla Mitchell Visionary Award – presented to a female filmmaker who demonstrates vision and innovation. Accompanied by a $5,000 grant, the trophy is named for the first woman inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“East of Wall,” Kate Beecroft’s Sundance player about a rebellious horse trainer, took the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Excellence in Filmmaking Award. The prize is a $5,000 grant recognizing the achievement of a female filmmaker, named in honor of late actor and director Shelly.
A new prize, the Children’s Resilience in Screenwriting Award presented by Shine Global, is given to a film with outstanding storytelling that effectively portrays the resilience and strength of kids. The inaugural was awarded to “DJ Ahmet,” from writer-director Georgi M. Unkovski. It carries a $2,500 grant.
One of Nantucket’s most notable awards categories come via the Tony Cox Screenplay Competition, which recognizes the best unproduced scripts and TV pilots from emerging writers. Alex Murawski received the top prize for “Walking in Iowa.” The Episodic 60 Minute Screenplay Competition nod went to Maxwell Gold for “19 KM From Kyiv.” The Episodic 30 Minute honor went to Devi Snively for “The Temp.” The shorts category was topped by “Hombre” from Chris Martinez. These four awards total $5,000 in cash and several other prizes. The winner of the Feature Screenplay Competition is invited to participate in a month-long writer’s retreat on Nantucket in October through NFF’s sister organization, Almanack Screenwriters.
The feature jury behind the prizes included Katie Silberman (“Booksmart”), critic Allison Wilmore and producer Jeffrey Soros (“Magazine Dreams”). The episode jury counted actor-director Justine Lupe (“Succession,” “Nobody Wants This”), Indiewire’s Proma Khosla and Amazon Studios TV development head Marc Resteghini.
The Teen View Jury Award, selected by a group of Nantucket seventh and eighth-graders as the most inspiring out of all of NFF’s short films, also went to “Snow Bear.”
Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton,” “Andor”) received the festival’s Visionary Storytellers Award from presenter and Oscar nominee Scott Frank, in a ‘Sconset Casino-hosted ceremony led by Michael Ian Black. Emmy winner Joanna Calo (“The Bear,” “Hacks”) received the Special Achievement in Television Writing award.
Alex Gibney, behind lighting-rod documentaries like “Going Clear” and “Citizen K,” received the Special Achievement in Documentary Storytelling, presented by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. Nantucket was supported by Bank of America, White Elephant Resorts, A&E IndieFilms and Delta Air Lines
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