Buscemi, Rossellini and Breslin Win Big at Seattle Film Festival
steve Buscemi, isabella Rossellini, abigail Breslin, and Jon Jacobs Win Top Acting Honors as Bella Thorne, ‘The Stranger’s Case’, ‘Go for Grandma’, and ‘Shape of Red’ Earn Grand Jury Prizes
The Seattle Film Festival concluded its 9th annual event with a five-day celebration of indie cinema and a spectacular awards show gala captured by Getty Images. Under the direction of festival directors William Wayne and Michael Rey, now in their second year, the festival has expanded its film screenings both online and theatrically, presenting over 450 unique films this year. The Seattle Film Festival ran from June 26-30 in partnership with the Bruce Lee Foundation, Aegis Living, eoFlix and Motivo Media.
Festival Winner Highlights:
With acclaimed filmmakers flying into Seattle from around the globe, The Seattle Film Festival’s impressive growth was further highlighted by important films such as The Strangers’ Case, a compelling drama from the Middle East that won the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film. Producer Ryan Busse accepted the award, and the film’s director, Brandt Andersen, and actress Yasmine Al Massri also received accolades for their work. The film, which addresses the Syrian migrant crisis, was praised for its profound thematic insight.
Isabella Rossellini won Best Supporting Actress for her role in award-winning director Vladislav Kozlov’s Death of the Sheik, which also received the Grand Jury Award for Best Director. Japanese filmmaker Yukiko Mishima celebrated the US premiere of Shape of Red and received the Festival Directors’ Prize, honoring her as an elite filmmaker. Star Satoshi Tsumabuki, a recent Academy Award winner in Japan, won Best International Actor for his role in Shape of Red.
Amy Madigan and Austin Schoenfeld in Go for Grandma
Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos) took home the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Jon Bass’s hilarious New York comedy, Carole and Grey. Bella Thorne won the Grand Jury Award for Best Director of a Short Film for Paint Her Red. Justine Lupe (Succession) and Amy Madigan (Field of Dreams, Gone Baby Gone, Pollock) starred in the fantasy short Go For Grandma, which took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film. Recent high school graduate Lucian Nakazato-Patterson received the Best Screenplay award for Go For Grandma.
In Fidelity took home the Best US Feature Film and Best Ensemble, featuring a cast including Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), Cara Buono (Stranger Things), Dennis Haysbert, Eve Austin, and Illeana Douglas. The uncharted romantic comedy was directed by Rob Margolies (Bobcat Moretti, Immortal, and Yes). Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) won Best Actress for a Feature Film in Michelle Danner’s The Italians. Aimee Graham received the Emerging Filmmaker Award for her directorial debut, The Allnighter, starring David Koechner and James Russo, a film about family and the defense mechanisms they subconsciously create.
The Quincy Jones-produced King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones, directed by French documentarian Harriet Marin Jones, won Best Director for a Feature Documentary. Chinese director Tanxuan Shi’s Livestream took home Best International Short Film. Sarah Hanner received Best Director for the US Short Film Blackfish. Armenian screenwriter Sahag Gureghian’s Motel Room took home awards for Best LGBTQ Film, along with acting honors for Tammy Kaitz and Sebastian Rosero. Passenger C won Best Docu-Drama and Best Actor in a US Feature Film for actor Jon Jacobs. Director Mark Polish, the festival’s last Grand Jury winner, returned to win Best Web Series for his animated show Insects In The City.
Additional Festival Accolades:
Canadian cinema also made a mark at the Seattle Film Festival: Samuel T. Scofy’s documentary Run For Noah, 14-year-old student filmmaker Jason Park’s And… Action!, Tori Watt’s Henderson, which won Best Director for an International Short Film, and star Lesli Brownlee’s win for Best Actress in a Short Film.
Producer Linda Woo accepting the inaugural Bruce Lee Trailblazer Award for Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story
Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, honored Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story, a documentary about the life, work, and advocacy of pioneering Chinese American photographer Corky Lee with the Bruce Lee Trailblazer Award. INFINITY! by Benjamin To, a musical depicting the famous Japanese American ballroom dance duo during World War II, won Best Musical. Director Michael Afendakis’ documentary feature film, We Rise, took home two awards. Larry and Terry Ziegelman won Best Sci-Fi Short Film for Broken Vessels, while the feature film Roswell Delirium, directed by Richard Bakewell and produced by Anthony Michael Hall, won Best Sci-Fi Feature Film.
Former ESPN reporter Kenny Mayne took home the Seattle Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary Short Film for his nostalgic Seattle-based documentary short, Wiffle Ball, starring Ken Burns and Ken Griffey Jr. War Tails, produced by Dan Fine and directed by Olha Byrledianu, won the Seattle Filmmaker Feature Film Award. The film addresses the influx of abandoned dogs and cats in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. The Sugarman, produced by Bryan Boyd and directed by Michael Husain, won Best Sports Documentary Short Film. The Sugarman chronicles the journey of Seattle’s Olympic Gold Medalist Sugar Ray Seales, who lost his eyesight along with his boxing career only to find one last shot with the help of a surgeon.
Northwest filmmaker Luke Zwanziger’s horror short film Vines won three awards, including Best Horror Short Film. Seattle filmmakers from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment won Best Animated Short Film for Spare Parts. Seattle director Christine Caruso won Best US Documentary Feature for Corky, a story centered on the world’s longest-held captive orca.
Special Olympic Gold Medalist Devon Adelman accepted the trophy for the Seattle Documentary short How Do You See Me? Northwest filmmaker Nikola Lakic won for Unega/Tales of the Guardians, a documentary feature about rehabilitating Great Pyrenees Mountain Dogs. Seattle director Galen Andrus won two awards for his neo-noir Movie Night, and local director Michael Rognlie’s horror short film The Need also won. Andy Yardy’s documentary feature Last Lap, which centered on Seattle running legend Doris Brown Heritage, was an Audience Choice Award winner.
Other audience favorites during the Seattle Film Festival included Vote for Lola, Booked, Driven Out, Frontline, Gamer, It Happens at Night and Superior Subject.
