Harlem Film Festival 2021 announces filmmaker awards after ushering NYC back into the theater
The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) announced the award winning films and filmmakers for this year’s virtual edition. Voodoo Macbeth was named Best Narrative Feature, with Tarabu Betserai Kirkland’s 100 Years from Mississippi taking the award for Best Documentary Feature. Ílker Savaskurt’s Reflection (Ákis) was cited as Best World Film (Narrative) and Rebecca Heidenberg’s Queens of the Revolution took the prize for Best World Documentary.
Harlem International Film Festival Program Director Nasri Zacharia said, “Our 16th edition marked the return to in-person, in-theater screenings in New York City, and our hybrid approach allowed us to continue to invite audiences throughout the state of New York to the unique blend of global cinema and local films that we have built a reputation celebrating for a decade and a half now. Harlem emphatically is a center, magnet, and inspiration for the arts, and we embrace our role in that vital and vibrant legacy.
The 2021 Harlem International Film Festival Jury included: Vernon Reid (Grammy-Winning Founder of the Iconic Band Living Colour); Paul Eckstein (Writer/Producer of the EPIX series Godfather of Harlem); Christine Swanson (Director of NAACP Image Award-winning The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel); Jamal Joseph (professor and former chair of the Columbia University film division); Allison Vanore (Emmy winning producer); Indrani Kopal (award-winning filmmaker & professor and a past winner of the Festival’s Mira Nair Award); Moon Molson (award-winning filmmaker and film professor); and Frank Yan (Co-Director of the CineCina Film Festival).
Additional film and filmmaker awards went to; Glenn Osten Anderson’s Coogan’s Way, which won the Audience Award;Khitam Jabr’s Summer in Hindsight (Best Experimental Film); Takeshi Yashiro’s Gon, the Little Fox (Best Animation); Richard Neumann’s Skyrocket (Best Music Video), Thomas Goggans’ Praize (Best Webisode); and Brian Andrews’ Hominidae (Best Virtual Reality).
Leading the individual awards, Avril E. Russell won The Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker for her work on All on a Summer’s Day, and Joseph E. Austin II won Best Narrative Director for Sundays in July, while Abby Ginzberg won Best Documentary Director for Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me. Acting awards were received by Inger Tudor (Best Actress) for Voodoo Macbeth, and Elijah Canlas (Best Actor) for Kalel, 15.
The Harlem International Film Festival’s commitment to celebrating and promoting the work of local filmmakers this year yielded wins for; Anne Via McCollough’s Full Circle (New York Vision Award); Daniel Peddle’s The Drop Shot (Harlem Spotlight Award); and Arielle Edelman’s First Move (Uptown Award).
Awards for Short Films went to; Cole Swanson‘s Baby for Best Short Film – Narrative; Carol Devoe’s Anthony Crawford: The Man the South Forgot for Best Short Film – Documentary; Hans Augustave’s Before I Knew for Best Short Short; and Maya Jai Pinson’s I’m Ready for Best Youth Short Film.
Hi screenwriting competition winners included; Rodgers Wilson’s “Ella, Witnessing” winning Best Feature Screenplay and Ericka Gomez’s “Survival as a Ghostwriter” winning Best Short Screenplay.
This year’s edition of the Harlem International Film Festival marked a big return to theaters with an Opening Night gala double triple feature presentation at the AMC Magic Johnson 9 complete with red carpet entrances including appearances by former Congressman Charles Rangel, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, the iconic Lisa Lisa, and Barry Shabaka Henley. The event emphatically kicked off the film festival, whose virtual component was quickly expanded to run an additional week due to the enthusiasm of the film festival’s audiences.
THE 2021 HARLEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS
FILM AWARDS
Best Narrative Film
Voodoo Macbeth
Directors: Dagmawi Abebe, Roy Arwas, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Agazi Desta, Tiffany Kontoyiannis, Zoe Salnave, Ernesto Sandoval, Sabina Vajraca
Best Documentary
100 Years from Mississippi
Director: Tarabu Betserai Kirkland
Best World Film
Reflection (Ákis)
Director: Ílker Savaskurt
Best World Documentary
Queens of The Revolution
Director: Rebecca Heidenberg
Audience Award
Coogan’s Way
Director: Glenn Osten Anderson
Best Experimental Film
Summer in Hindsight
Director: Khitam Jabr
Best Animation
Gon, The Little Fox
Director: Takeshi Yashiro
Best Music Video
Skyrocket
Director: Jake Armstrong
Best Webisode
Praize
Director: Thomas Goggans
Best VR (Virtual Reality)
Hominidae
Director: Brian Andrews
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker
Avril E. Russell(All on a Summer’s Day)
Best Narrative Director
Joseph E. Austin II(Sundays in July)
Best Documentary Director
Abby Ginzberg (Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me)
Best Actress
Inger Tudor (Voodoo Macbeth)
Best Actor
Elijah Canlas (Kalel, 15)
HARLEM AND NEW YORK SHOWCASE AWARDS
New York Vision Award
Full Circle
Director: Anne Via McCollough
Harlem Spotlight
The Drop Shot
Director: Daniel Peddle
Uptown Award
First Move
Director: Arielle Edelman
SHORT FILM AWARDS
Best Short Narrative
Baby
Director: Cole Swanson
Best Short Documentary
Anthony Crawford: The Man the South Forgot
Director: Carol Devoe
Best Short Short
Before I Knew
Director: Hans Augustave
Best Youth Short
I’m Ready
Director: Maya Jai Pinson
Hi SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
Best Feature Screenplay
“Ella, Witnessing”
Writer: Rodgers Wilson
Best Short Screenplay
“Survival as a Ghostwriter”
Writer: Ericka Gomez
Feature Screenplay Finalists
“Bad Love Strikes”
Writer: Dr. Kevin Schewe
“Destiny of Tar and Feathers“
Writer: Harold L. Brown
“The Forge”
Writer: Howard W. Robertson
“The Harlem Butcher”
Writer: Jay Zellman
Short Screenplay Finalists
“Bongsan Mask Dance”
Writer: Andy Choi
“The Flow”
Writer: Paige Wood
“What it Means to be Free”
Writer: Willow Lautenberg
