“Murina” and “Ascension” scored top honors out of the 2021 Hamptons International Film Festival. Already winners in the festival circuit, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s “Murina” and Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” took home the prizes for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature, respectively.

“Murina” marks Kusijanović’s feature debut. Set on a Croatian island, the coming-of-age pic tells the story of a teenage girl who finds herself drawn to her controlling father’s business associate. The film screened in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section and took home the Camera d’Or award.

“Never do anything that is not important in the face of death. That is my advice to any director,” Kusijanović shared in an interview with us.

Shot in 51 locations across China, “Ascension” explores the country’s industrial supply chain. It was named Best Documentary Feature at Tribeca this year, and Kingdon landed the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award .

“I was always interested in pursuing multiple creative fields, but ultimately I landed in filmmaking,” Kingdon told us. “I think this is because filmmaking is inherently collaborative and therefore holds one accountable to others. This type of accountability is helpful for me. I think it’s very difficult to be self-motivated.”

Olive Nwosu’s “Egúngún” (“Masquerade”) netted the prize for Best Narrative Short Film and Eliane Esther Bots’ “In Flow of Words” won Best Documentary Short Film. The former tells the story of a young woman who returns home to Nigeria in search of healing, and the latter is an experimental portrait of three interpreters of the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague.

Head over to Deadline to check out the rest of the fest’s winners, which include Andrea Arnold’s “Cow” and Nana Mensah’s “Queen of Glory.”