The first Alexandria Film Festival “Best of Fest” award was presented in 2007 to War Dance, codirected by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine. Andrea Nix Fine came to the festival, took questions from the audience and returned the following day to receive the award. War Dance was nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary the following year. It did not win, but the couple’s short film Innocente won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2013. Their film LFG, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, is now streaming on HBO Max.
Julia Reichert, often called the godmother of the U.S. independent film movement, is a four-time Academy Award-nominee and Oscar-winner for her documentary American Factory, Barak and Michelle Obama executive producers. Julia and her husband and filmmaking partner Steven Bogner participated in the 2020 Alexandria Film Festival, winning the “Best of Fest Award” for their film 9 to 5: The Story of a Movement. Sadly, Julia passed away in 2022 and is mourned by AFF, the entire filmmaking community, and everyone who cares about equality and justice.
That same year, the Alexandria Film Festival honored Director Roko Belic with its “Joe Cantwell Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking,” for the film Trust Me, produced by Joe Phelps, and edited by Michael Fallavollita—himself an AFF alum. Belic was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film Genghis Blues in 1999, and is at work on a new feature we hope to screen in 2024. Check it out this advanced peek: https://vimeo.com/804167412
Paula van der Oest is an Academy Award-nominated director and screenwriter for her film ZUS & ZO (2001). Van der Oest participated in the 2021 Alexandria Film Festival, presenting her film Love in a Bottle, which won the AFF “Special Jury” award.
Michael Fallavollita won the AFF “Special Jury” award in 2017 for his film Tale of the Kite. He also edited many Steven Spielberg films including the Academy Award winning Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park, as well as the AFF award-winner Trust Me. Fallavollita also was selected to participate in the Alexandria Film Festival-Alexandria Symphony Orchestra collaboration Homegrown in 2021. Did you miss it? Here’s a sample: https://vimeo.com/644863334