The award winners selected from the jury, Festival audience and BFF Foundation are as follows:
Best of the Fest – Blood Road
Audience favorite Showcase Film. Determined by Audience ballot.
Blood Road – Austria
Director: Nicholas Shrunk
To gain closure over the death of her father, a fighter pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam War, professional mountain bike athlete Rebecca Rusch and her Vietnamese riding partner pedal 1,200 miles of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to locate her father’s crash site while experiencing the impact war leaves on families, countries and cultures.
Cast: Huyen Nguyen, Rebecca Rusch
Audience Spotlight – A Happening of Monumental Proportions
Audience favorite Spotlight Film. Determined by Audience ballot.
A Happening of Monumental Proportions - (USA)
Director: Judy Greer; Screenwriter: Gary Lundy
During the course of one day, a group of students at a school in Los Angeles find themselves caught up in a plot of sex, lies and dead bodies.
Audience Short – Deep Storage
Audience Favorite Short Film. Determined by Audience ballot.
Deep Storage - (Australia) US Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Susan Earl
Two loners find love in the most unromantic of places.
Cast: Miles O’Neil, Alice Ansara, James Lawson, Dawn Klingberg
Audience Episodic – Lost and Found
Audience Favorite Episodic Film. Determined by Audience ballot.
Lost and Found -- (USA)
Director & Screenwriter: Haroula Rose
When Stella and Ian host their “unwedding", all kinds of uncomfortable truths are unearthed for this group of friends. What is intended to be a healthy way of breaking up in fact raises all kinds of issues for this group of thirty-something’s in their own relationships, especially when Stella's unruly mother Lourdes appears unexpectedly.
Cast: Melonie Diaz, William Janowitz, Jennifer Lafleur, Terence Nance, Avi Rothman, Peter Thomson, Laura Lee Botsacos, Nick Thurston, Ethan Gold, Haroula Rose
Audience Documentary – Woman on Fire
Audience Favorite Documentary. Determined by Audience ballot.
Woman on Fire -- (USA)
Director & Screenwriter: Julie Sokolow
Brooke Guinan is the first openly transgender firefighter in New York City. As a third-generation firefighter, Brooke has a passion for heroism that runs in her blood.
Audience Narrative – Parkers Anchor
Audience Favorite Narrative film. Determined by Audience ballot.
Parkers Anchor -- (USA) World Premiere
Director: Marc Hampson; Screenwriters: Ryan & Jennica Schwartzman
When her plans for marriage and a family fall apart, Krystal finds herself back in her hometown, re-evaluating her life. Krystal soon discovers that you're never starting over, every step of the journey seems destined in hindsight.
Cast: Jennica Schwartzman, Amy Argyle, Christopher Marquette, Ryan Schwartzman, Penny Johnson Jerald, Michael Beach, Sarah Colonna, Brandon Keener, Claire Donald, Peter Weidman, & Deborah Smith
Best Jury Narrative – The Sun at Midnight
Jury award for Best Competition Narrative. Determined by Jury.
The Sun at Midnight - Director: Kirsten Carthew Cast: Devery Jacobs, Duane Howard, Mark Anderako, Sarah Charlie Jerome, William Greenland, Shayla SNowshow, Jaclynn Robert
Shot at the Arctic Circle The Sun at Midnight tells the story of an unusual friendship between a hunter obsessed with finding a missing caribou herd and a teenage rebel who gets lost while on the run.
Best Family Film – Saving Sally
Best Family Film in a Competition Narrative Film. Determined by Jury.
Saving Sally - (Philippines/France)
Director: Avid Liongoren; Screenwriters: Charlene Sawit-Esguerra, Carlo Ledesma, Avid Liongoren
A teenage comic book artist who secretly sees unpleasant people as cartoon-like monsters struggles to save his eccentric best friend (and love of his life) from her abusive foster parents—but she becomes involved with an older man who happens to be a monster too.
Cast: Rhian Ramos, Enzo Marcos, TJ Trinidad, Peejo Pillar
Best Documentary – Served Like a Girl
Jury award for Best Competition Documentary - Determined by Jury.
Served Like a Girl - (USA)
Director: Lysa Heslov; Screenwriters: Lysa Heslov, Tchavdar Georgiev
Five women veterans who have endured unimaginable trauma in service create a shared sisterhood to help the rising number of stranded homeless women veterans by entering into a competition that unexpectedly catalyzes moving events in their own lives to bring them full circle in a quest for healing and hope.
Best Ensemble – Let Me Go
Best Ensemble in a Competition Narrative Film. Determined by Jury
Let Me Go (UK) World Premiere
Director & Screenwriter: Polly Steele
The film is set in the year 2000 following not only Helga and Traudi’s journeys but the next two generations and how Beth, Helga’s daughter and Emily her granddaughter are confronted with the unraveling of the darkest of family secrets.
Cast: Juliet Stevenson, Jodhi May, Lucy Boynton, Karin Bertling, Stanley Weber
Highest Diversity Score – Looking at the Stars
Determined by analysis through the Bentonville Film Festival Foundation
Looking at the Stars - (Brazil/Nicaragua/USA)
Director: Alexandre Peralta; Screenwriters: Alexandre Peralta, Melissa Rebelo Kerezsi
Looking at the Stars is an intimate glimpse into the lives of the extraordinary ballerinas at the world’s only ballet school for the blind—the Fernanda Bianchini Ballet Association for the Blind.
Impact Award – Paula Doufat of STEP
Selected by BFF based on contribution to Festival & Mission
In addition to the support of Walmart, AMC Theatres and Lifetime, the expanded partnership support from Starz offered filmmakers in the 2016 BFF Film Competition even greater distribution opportunities. Carmi Zlotnik, managing director at Starz said, "Starz is pleased to partner with the BFF. The festival has already made an impact, and we are proud to participate in a bigger way this year. We are dedicated to supporting new voices and emerging storytellers.”
Man in the Mirror Award – Mully
Recognizes those that are dedicated to overcoming odds and changing the conversation. It is dedicated to the individual or organization that provides extraordinary inspiration or outstanding opportunities to women and diverse groups.
Mully - (USA)
Director and Screenwriter: Scott Haze
Mully depicts the extraordinary rags-to-riches story of Charles Mully, whose meteoric rise from orphaned poverty in Kenya leads him on an unimaginable journey of selflessness.
BFF Jurors ranged from industry professionals to corporate executives and were led by Rosie O’Donnell in the Documentary competition and Hazel Joyer-Smith in the Narrative competition.
Narrative Jurors: Hazel Joyner-Smith (Head Juror), Tom Hoehn, Kelly Leow, Louis Martin.
Documentary Jurors: Rosie O’Donnell (Head Juror), Tani Sylvester Rachel Derrico, Melissa Gute.
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