The Alexandria Film Festival announced its slate of 12 award winners last night at an awards ceremony that concluded its 19th annual festival. The festival drew record attendance to venues across the city of Alexandria. More than 60 films were screened – half of which were made by filmmakers in the DMV (District, Maryland, Virginia). Additionally, 70 percent of the films had premieres at this year’s festival including 15 world and U.S. premieres and 14 DMV – premieres.
“What made our awards ceremony extra special this year was the number of filmmakers who were present and won awards,” remarked Jill Ray, chair of the festival. Half of this year’s awards went to local filmmakers. (Links below provide more information on each winning film.)
Best of the Region - “The Other You” directed by Shoshana Rosenbaum
Best Animated Short - “Reverse” directed by Kaustav Mukherjee
Best Short Documentary - “Gun Show” directed by Richard Chisolm
Best Comedy - “Welcome to America, Brian Wong!” directed by Kevin Nibley
Best Cinematography - “Sitka’s Hidden Wonders” directed by Ben Hamilton
Independent Spirit Award - “Pretty Ugy” directed by Andrea Palombella
Special Jury Prize - “No Choice” directed by Nate Hilgartner
Best Foreign Language Film - “Comparsa” directed by Vickie Curtis and Doug Anderson
Best Emerging Filmmaker Award - “The Woman with a Name or Two” directed by Andrew Chi Nguyen
Best Narrative Short - “Baby Brother” directed by Harold Batista
Audience Award - “Kemba” directed by Kelley Kali (note: Kali previously won a Best of Fest award in 2021 for her film “I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)”)
Joe Cantwell Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking - “Tiananmen Tonight” directed by Michael Streissguth and Bestor Cram
Best of Fest - “Igniting the Spark - The Story of ‘Magic: The Gathering’” directed by Kelly Slagle and Brian Stillman
Best of Region Award “The Other You” - Kimberly Skyrme, producer/casting director; Shoshana Rosenbaum, director; Jill Ray, AFF chair; Robin Noonan Price, producer; Chris Colligan, AFF vice chair. Location: Ted’s Montana Grill, Alexandria, VA. Photo by Randy McCracken
Audience Award “Kemba” - Chris Colligan, AFF vice chair; Kemba Smith, film’s subject; Kelley Kali, director; Jill Ray, AFF chair. Location: Ted’s Montana Grill, Alexandria, VA. Photo by Randy McCracken
The Alexandria Film Festival is made possible with support from the Alexandria Commission for the Arts and the City of Alexandria, as well as the generous support of individual donors and corporate sponsors including: Adobe; Alexandria Gazette Packet and Connection Newspapers; Alexandria Hyundai; Alexandria Living Magazine; Alexandria Times; Bad Ass Coffee; Briar Tek; Burke & Herbert Bank; Conte’s Bike Shop; Continues Arcade; Charter Up; Hadeed Rug Cleaning; Hotel Heron; Jet’s Pizza; Jim Connolly/Long & Foster Real Estate; Law Office of Deborah Matthews; Matt & Tony’s All Day Kitchen and Bar; Old Town Crier; Patagonia Old Town, St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub; Ted’s Montana Grill; Union Sandwich Co.; Virginia Tech; Visit Alexandria; Wegmans; and The Zebra.
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About the Alexandria Film Festival
The Alexandria Film Festival brings high-quality short and feature-length films of all genres, filmmaker panels, and arts presentations to the port city of Alexandria, Virginia and the greater DCmetro-area.The festival highlights the talents of local, national and international filmmakers in an acclaimed travel destination within eyesight of the nation’s capital. For more information visit www.alexfilmfest.com.