On the heels of a successful in-person event that welcomed such stars as Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, Liev Schreiber and “Dopesick” creator Danny Strong, the 2022 Sun Valley Film Festival, which ran from March 30 to April 3, announced its juried film award winners.
Best narrative feature film went to “Linoleum,” directed by Colin West. “Holy Emy,” helmed by Araceli Lemos, received a special mention. Ron Howard’s “We Feed People” netted the fest’s audience award.
The winners were announced during the Idaho fest’s annual awards bash, which took place at Whiskey Jacques on Ketchum’s main drag of town, and was hosted by filmmaker Bobby Farrelly (“Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary”) and comedian Hayes MacArthur, with a musical performance by the Nude Party.
Voting jury members at the fest included Jo Addy (global film and entertainment director of Soho House), Eric Bress (award-winning writer, director and producer), Trevor Groth (film financier at 30WEST) and producer Heather Rae (“Frozen River,” “Outer Range”).
Other awards went to “Mama Bears,” directed by Daresha Kyi, which won best documentary feature film; “Karmalink,” directed by Jake Wachtel, which took the narrative category in the One in a Million Awards, which honors feature-length stories made for under $1 million; and Rita Baghdadi’s “Sirens,” which won the documentary category in the One in a Million Awards. “Last of August,” directed by Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian, won the SVShorty Award, with a special mention going to “Starfuckers,” directed by Antonio Marziale. Aidan Brezonick’s “Meridian” nabbed the Gem State Award, for the best short film made in Idaho.
Jared Stern, screenwriter Zach Baylin (“King Richard”) and Trevor Groth served as judges and mentors of the High Scribe Award contest, which went to “Shooting at Ballerinas,” written by Hank Isaac.
The Future Filmmakers Forum, which showcases students filmmakers on the rise, honored “The First 200 Honest Words of My Life,” directed by Ella Janes; “Pho,” helmed by Ethan Chu; and “The Hole,” directed by Piotr Kazmierczak
The festival saw attendance rise this year with the sold-out opening night screening of the Hemingway drama “Across the River and Into the Trees,” starring Schreiber, and standing-room-only Coffee Talks with Harrelson and Poehler, who also received the fest’s Vision Award. Strong received the Pioneer Award presented by Variety, Nathalie Dougé was the recipient of National Geographic’s Further Award, and the Rising Star Award went to the cast of “Outer Banks”: Madelyn Cline, Jonathan Daviss, Rudy Pankow, Austin North, Drew Starkey and Carlacia Grant.
Beginning this summer, the Sun Valley Film Festival will expand into year-round storytelling through a monthly series of events including cocktail talks, dinner and a movie, the score, world premieres and works-in-progress.
“This growth has been under development for more than two years and because of a patron’s initiative and our relationship with the Argyros Performing Arts Center, we’re able to launch this incredible opportunity and make it a staple of the Valley,” said SVFF founder and executive director Teddy Grennan, and festival director Candice Pate.
“We are excited to create additional programming outside of the Sun Valley Film Festival.”
From Variety US