June 20, 2023 (Provincetown, Mass.) – The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) announced today the winners of this year’s PIFF Audience Awards, the John Schlesinger Awards, and Short Film Jury Prizes.
PIFF Audience Awards
The Audience Awards are voted on by in-person festival attendees.
PIFF Audience Award / Best Narrative Feature: FAIRYLAND, directed by Andrew Durham
PIFF Audience Award / Best Documentary Feature: LAKOTA NATION VS. UNITED STATES, directed by Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli
John Schlesinger Awards
These juried awards are presented to a first-time narrative and documentary feature filmmaker. The awards include a cash prize of $1,000 to each filmmaker generously provided by Michael Childers.
John Schlesinger Narrative Award: Savanah Leaf (EARTH MAMA)
Film programmer Sheryl Mousley, Narrative Schlesinger Juror, said: “EARTH MAMA is a beautifully accomplished first film – human resiliency combined with natural elements tell of the struggles of motherhood in today’s world.”
John Schlesinger Documentary Award: Kristen P. Lovell and Zackary Drucker (THE STROLL)
Filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman, Documentary Schlesinger Jurors, said: “The Stroll invites its audience into a world most of us have only known from the outside, and does so with empathy, style, and beautifully imaginative storytelling.”
Juried Short Awards
The 2023 shorts jury consisted of a skilled group of film and art professionals. Jude Dry is a writer for IndieWire with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ film, representation, and sexuality. Jude is also an actor and filmmaker, and their debut short film Monsieur Le Butch won Best New England Short Film at PIFF 2022. Sharon Polli is the Executive Director of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and has dedicated her professional career to advancing artistic voices and creating opportunities for emerging and mid-career artists, performers, and media makers. PJ Raval is a queer, first-generation Filipinx American award-winning filmmaker whose work examines social justice issues through the voices of queer and marginalized subjects. Named one of Out Magazine‘s “Out 100,” Raval’s feature credits include Trinidad and Before You Know It.
The Provincetown International Film Festival is an Academy Award-qualifying festival. The short films that received Best Narrative Short, Best Queer Short and Best Documentary Short awards will now be automatically eligible to enter the Short Films competition for the concurrent season of the Oscars.
Best Animated Short: AIKĀNE, directed by Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson
Best Documentary Short: MNM, directed by Twiggy Pucci Garcon
Best New England Short: READ ‘EM AND WEEP, directed by Jeffrey Hoyt
Best Queer Short: CAMPFIRE, directed by Austin Bunn
Best Narrative Short: MOTHERLAND, directed by Christina Yoon
Special Jury Prize: Y, directed by Matea Kovač
As previously announced, Bruce LaBruce was presented with the 2023 Filmmaker on the Edge Award in conversation with filmmaker John Waters; Billy Porter was presented with the Excellence in Acting Award by film critic B. Ruby Rich; and Megan Stalter and Julio Torres both received the Next Wave Award in a panel with comedian Judy Gold. Additional guests included Fenton Bailey,Eugene Hernandez, Jordan Firstman, Carson Kressley, Taylor Mac, Parker Posey, Sebastián Silva, Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott. The festival opened with Hannah Pearl Utt’s CORA BORA and closed with Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s THEATER CAMP. PIFF 2023 ran June 14-18 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.