Ana Asensio’s “Most Beautiful Island” has been named the winner of SXSW’s Grand Jury Award in the narrative feature competition, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Asensio’s film, which she also wrote and stars in, “is a chilling portrait of an undocumented young woman’s struggle for survival as she finds redemption from a tortured past in a dangerous game,” according to its official synopsis.
“I wanted to write a story that I felt — and feel — close to so that I could make the events and the emotions as authentic as possible,” Asensio explained in an interview with Women and Hollywood. “‘Most Beautiful Island’ was inspired by a combination of real experiences that I and other foreign females encountered in New York City when we first arrived.”
Miao Wang, Nanfu Wang, Ceylan Özgün Özçelik, and Noël Wells also took home honors for their feature films. Miao Wang’s “Maineland,” a coming-of-age documentary about a Chinese boy and girl trying to settle into new lives in Maine, won the jury award for Excellence in Observational Cinema. Nanfu Wang received two honors for “I Am Another You”: the jury award for Excellence in Documentary Storytelling and the LUNA Chicken & Egg Award. The doc follows a young man who chooses to leave a comfortable life for homelessness.
Özçelik’s “Inflame,” an exploration of the limits of memory, received the LUNA Gamechanger Award.
Wells’ “Mr. Roosevelt” won the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, which recognizes a movie with Texas content, according to THR. The film is about a recent college grad (Wells) who returns home to Austin, Texas, SXSW’s location. “The Austin community is really such a magical place,” Wells said of the festival. “To be able to share my movie with the city, which in many ways is my clumsy love-letter to it, feels like a vulnerable thing to do, but also, exactly what should be happening. I think Austin will understand the movie in a way other places probably wouldn’t.”
SXSW also recognized short films from Renata Gasiorowska (“Pussy”) and Atheena Frizzell (“Better Late Than Never”). The Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship was presented to Leigh Johnson. Tarra Riggs’ performance in “DeKalb Elementary” was also celebrated.
The SXSW Film Awards were announced Tuesday night in a ceremony hosted by “SNL” cast member Sasheer Zamata, THR reports. The Audience Awards and VR/AR Virtual Cinema Awards will be announced this Saturday, March 18, the last day of the fest.
All of the female SXSW Film Award winners are below. List adapted from The Hollywood Reporter.
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: Most Beautiful Island
Director: Ana Asensio
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Special Jury Recognition for Excellence in Observational Cinema: Maineland
Director: Miao Wang
Special Jury Recognition for Excellence in Documentary Storytelling: I Am Another You
Director: Nanfu Wang
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: DeKalb Elementary
Actor: Tarra Riggs
ANIMATED SHORTS
Special Jury Recognition: Pussy
Director: Renata Gasiorowska
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Winner: Better Late Than Never
Director: Atheena Frizzell
SXSW SPECIAL AWARDS
SXSW LUNA Gamechanger Award — Narrative
Winner: Inflame
Director: Ceylan Özgün Özçelik
SXSW LUNA Chicken & Egg Award — Documentary
Winner: I Am Another You
Director: Nanfu Wang
SXSW Louis Black “Lone Star” Award
Winner: Mr. Roosevelt
Director: Noël Wells
SXSW Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship
Presented to: Leigh Johnson
