Slamdance 2012 Awards Announced

"Welcome to Pine Hill"

Keith Miller's Welcome to Pine Hill was awarded the grand jury award for feature narrative, and Jens Pfeifer's No Ashes, No Phoenix won the grand jury award for feature documentary at the 18th annual Slamdance Film Festival Thursday. The closing-night awards ceremony was held at the Treasure Mountain Inn.

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“What a great way to end Slamdance's 18th festival -- by celebrating the films our excellent jurors and incredible audiences have awarded these emerging filmmakers,” said Slamdance co-founder and president Peter Baxter. “This year's narrative and documentary competitions are stronger than ever, and these filmmakers represent the vanguard of true independent filmmaking.”

Below is the full list of winners:

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Audience Award for Feature Documentary: GETTING UP by Caskey Ebeling

Audience Award for Feature Narrative: BINDLESTIFFS by Andrew Edison

GRAND JURY AWARDS – NARRATIVE

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Feature Narrative: WELCOME TO PINE HILL by Keith Miller, “for its poetic and emotionally honest depiction of one man's final journey in life, crafted from a true spirit of humanity and community."

Special Jury Award for Bold Originality: HEAVY GIRLS by Axel Ranisch, “for its joie de vivre, an incredibly life-affirming film that is presented with a unique vision and an amazing cast."

GRAND JURY AWARDS – DOCUMENTARY

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Feature Documentary: NO ASHES, NO PHOENIX by Jens Pfeifer, "for its adeptly piercing and cinematic look at a basketball team's impassioned struggle not for glory, but to just avoid losing."

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Short Documentary: THE PROFESSIONAL by Skylar Neilsen, for "an honest and natural portrayal of work-as-life, and the slowly disappearing craft of an American working man."

GRAND JURY AWARDS – SHORT FILMS

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Animation: VENUS by Tor Fruergaard, "for its creative use of claymation characters to explore sexual adventure and its lighthearted, touching and memorable story."

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Short Film: I AM JOHN WAYNE by Christina Choe, "for its unique storytelling, cinematography and performances, including the brilliant use of a real horse in an urban environment."

Special Jury Prize for Experimental Short: SOLIPSIST by Andrew Huang, "for its unique blend of live action footage of the human body, puppetry and computer animation that creates a colorful and insightful fantasy world."

Honorable Mention for Best Ensemble: I'M COMING OVER by Sam Handel, "for its extraordinary ensemble which creates a world that extends beyond the film's 25 minute length."

SPECIAL & SPONSORED AWARDS

Spirit of Slamdance Sparky Award: HEAVY GIRLS (Dicke Mädchen) - Axel Ranisch, Heiko Pinkowski, Anne Baeker.

The Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography: FAITH, LOVE AND WHISKEY by Kristina Nikolova, "for shooting every single frame of this picture in a way that is not only pleasing to the eye, but also strongly supportive to the story being told."

Panasonic AF100 Award for ‘The Five Flavors of Filmmaking’ Competition: JOSH GIBSON, director of the short film Kudzu Vine.