Cesar Chavez Berlin Film Festival - H 2014
Shawn Christensen’s Before I Disappear was named the audience award winner in the narrative feature competition at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Based on Christensen’s Oscar-winning 2012 short film Curfew, Disappear stars the writer-director as a man, hitting a low point, who is asked to look after his 11-year-old niece.
In the documentary feature competition, the audience award winner, also announced today, was Diana Whitten’s Vessel, a portrait of abortion activist Rebecca Gomperts.
Diego Luna’s Cesar Chavez, a drama about the famed labor organizer, which Lionsgate and its Pantelion Films are releasing theatrically March 28, took the audience award in the narrative spotlight category.
The audience awards follow the previously announced 2014 Jury Awards, which included Grand Jury winners Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers’ Fort Tilden for narrative feature, and Margaret Brown’s The Great Invisible for documentary feature.
Over the course of nine days, the 2014 SXSW Film Festival is screening a total of 133 features and 113 shorts. A complete list of the audience award winners follows.
2014 SXSW Film Festival Audience Award Winners:
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Before I Disappear
Director: Shawn Christensen
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Vessel
Director: Diana Whitten
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: DamNation
Directors: Ben Knight and Travis Rummel
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: Cesar Chavez
Director: Diego Luna
VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Yakona
Directors: Anlo Sepulveda and Paul Collins
MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: Exists
Director: Eduardo Sánchez
EPISODIC
Audience Award Winner:Silicon Valley
Director: Mike Judge
SXGLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: The Special Need
Director: Carlo Zoratti
FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: The Case Against 8
Directors: Ben Cotner and Ryan White
SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Audience Award Winner: Big Significant Things
Designer: Corey Holms
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Audience Award Winner: True Detective
Designer: Patrick Clair for Elastic
