Outfest, the world’s premier LGBT film festival, has drawn its 2013 edition to a close, handing out its awards to a slew of well-received titles. Top of the bunch were Test, which won the Grand jury award for U.S. dramatic feature, while Born This Way took home the Grand jury award for documentary feature, and It’s All So Quiet won the Grand jury award for international dramatic feature.
Test, directed by Chris Mason Johnson, is described as ‘a poignant, powerful story of friendship and hope in a time of crisis, set in the San Francisco modern dance scene of 1985 in the early years of the AIDS epidemic: when headlines threatened a gay quarantine and when nobody knew for certain how the disease spread.’ Born This Way concentrates on the difficult of gay life in Cameroon, while the Dutch movie It’s All So Quiet focusses on a middle aged farmer, living with his old and bedridden father, as he tries to find truth in life.
Also doing well was Bridegroom, which took home the Audience award for documentary feature. Bridegroom the the documentary that came about after Shane Bitney Crone released a 10-minute Youtube video detailing how he was shut after his boyfriend’s death by his homophobic family. It became a cause celebre and was watched by millions. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason has since turned the sad tale into a feature-length documentary.
We’re also looking forward to seeing Geography Club, which won Audience award for first U.S. dramatic feature, which looks like it should be a lot of fun.
Take a look at the full list of winners below:
Special programming award for freedom
“Deepsouth,” directed by Lisa Biagiotti
Special programming award for artistic achievement
“Animals,” directed by Marçal Forés
Special programming award for emerging talent
Diego Ruiz, writer-director-actor
Audience award for documentary short
“Facing fear,” directed by Jason Cohen
Audience award for dramatic short
“Wini + George,” directed by Benjamin Monie
Audience award for documentary feature
“Bridegroom,” directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Audience award for dramatic feature
“Reaching For the Moon,” directed by Bruno Barreto
Audience award for first U.S. dramatic feature
“Geography Club,” directed by Gary Entin
Grand jury award for experimental short
“She Gone Rogue,” directed by Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst
Grand jury award for documentary short
“Performing Girl,” directed by Crescent Diamond
Grand jury award for dramatic short
“Going South,” directed Leesong Hee-il
Grand jury award for documentary feature
“Born This Way,” directed by Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullman
Grand jury award for international dramatic feature
“It’s All So Quiet,” directed by Nanouk Leopold
Grand jury award for actress in a feature
Guinevere Turner, “Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf?”
Grand jury award for actor in a feature
Bill Heck and Marcus DeAnda, “Pit Stop”
Grand jury award for screenwriting
Chris Mason Johnson, “Test”
Grand jury award for U.S. dramatic feature
“Test,” directed by Chris Mason Johnson