Marley Morrison’s Sweetheart among winners at Atlanta’s LGBTQ Film Festival Out on Film wraps up 2021’s hybrid edition with Filmmaker Awards announcement

Marley Morrison’s Sweetheart among winners at Out on Film presented by WarnerMedia announced the filmmaker awards for the recently concluded 34th edition of the Oscar ® qualifying, Atlanta-based LGBTQIA+ film festival. 

Marley Morrison’s Sweetheart was a jury favorite, winning Best Narrative Feature and Best Ensemble. T.J. Parsell’s Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music won both the Jury’s favor for Best Documentary, as well as the Audience Award for Best Documentary, and filmmaker Lauren Hadaway announced herself with Jury nods for both Best First Feature for her film The Novice, as well as capturing the Best Director prize. 

Sharing the Jury Prize for Best International Feature were Kun-Young Park’s A Distant Place and Henrika Kull’s Bliss. 

Also sharing their Audience Awards were Peter Reebane’s Firebird and Nathan Hale Williams’ All Boys Aren’t Blue (best Narrative Feature Film), and Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati’s Mascarpone (Best International Film).

William T. Horner and Stacey Worlfel’s Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way was the Runner-Up for the Best Documentary Audience Award.

Out on Film Festival Director, Jim Farmer, said, “This year’s award winners spanned styles, genres, and inspirations, as we recognized the work of both veteran filmmakers and relative newcomers with our awards. It really was an inspiring mix and rightly deserved group that received both jury and audience nods this year.”

Highlights included an outdoor concert with the subjects of Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music – Dianne Davidson, Bonnie Baker and Cidny Bullens; a 30 year Anniversary screening of Madonna: Truth or Dare, which included a Zoom conversation with Kevin Stea; a screening of All Boys Aren’t Blue, with a Q&A with director Nathan Hale Williams and author George M. Johnson, as well as a book signing afterwards; a filmmaker party with a world premiere dance choreographed by Emmy Award winner Frederick Taylor; a conversation with Atlanta filmmakers Deondray and Quincy Gossfield and the screening of two of their films – Smoke, Lilies and Jade, and Flames, and the world premiere of Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way, sponsored by GLAAD.

Additional jury awards included; Mat Johns’ Inertia (Best Drama Short Film) as well as a Special Award for Excellence in Cinematography for Flames’ Director of Photography: Edward Martinez. The Jury Prize for Best Screenplay went to My Fiona’s Kelly Walker.

This year’s Out on Film jury included; producer Christopher Racster (Cured, Spork), actor/director Doug Spearman (From Zero to I Love You, Hot Guys With Guns), film critic Edward Adams (Atlanta Film Critics Circle), journalist Rich Eldredge (Atlanta Magazine, Eldredge ATL), Kat Setzer (Director of Programming, Image + Nation Film Festival), Lisa Rose (Festival Director, Queer Screen – Mardi Gras Film Festival), Andria Wilson (Director, ReFrame), actor Lisa Cordileone (Freelancers Anonymous, The Virgin of Highland Park) and Joe Bilancio (Program Director, Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival).

Additional audience awards include ties between Faraz Arif Ansari’s Sheer Qorma and Luciana Bitencourt’s As Simple as That for best Narrative Short Film, and Stuart Ruston’s Together Again and Richard O’Connor’s My Aunties for Best Animated Short Film. Best Comedy went to Wes Hurley’s Potato Dreams of America, and Best Comedy Short went to Matt Porter’s Flex, while Roberto Pérez Toledo ‘s Before the Eruption won Best Trans Short Film, and the Audience thought C.J. Arellano’s Griffica delivered the scares for Best Horror Short. Quinlan Orear’s Over My Dead Body won Best Local Short Film, and Lyrik London’s Black Boi Majik, and Deondray Gassfield and Quincy Le Near’s Flames tied for the Runner-Up spot in that category. Denis Theriault’s I am Syd Stone won Best Web Series.

Following an almost exclusively virtual edition last year, Out on Film returned to theaters highlighted by the Opening Night Southeastern Premiere screening of Rebane’s Firebird, and the Closing Night world premiere of William T. Horner and Stacey Woelfel’s Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way. The latter screening also featured Out on Film’s first team-up with GLAAD, which cam onboard to celebrate that film and others as an appreciation for the film festival’s work and standing in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Additional world premieres included; Out on Film alumni Jan Miller Corran’s Along Came Wanda, Antony Hickling’s Down in Paris, aand Jade Winters’ One Four Three, as well as the art installation of Matthew Terrell’s “The Hate Shield Project”. Amanda Bearse’s virtual acceptance of the 2021 Trailblazer Award was a hit, as was the care taken to record thoughtful Q&As and talks on film with the vast majority of this year’s filmmakers.  

Farmer added, “While we enjoyed great success last year with our virtual presentations, there is still nothing like being live and in-person with our filmmakers and enjoying their work on the big screen with our film fans here in Atlanta. Adding that to the virtual presentation has continued our growth as a film festival and it was gratifying to hear the appreciation and enthusiasm from our filmmakers following this year’s edition. We’re already looking forward to 2022.”

For information on Out on Film, please go to: outonfilm.org.

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The 2021 Out on Film Award Winners:

Jury Awards

Best Narrative Feature

Sweetheart (Director: Marley Morrison)

Best Documentary

Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music (Director: T.J. Parsell)

Best International Film (TIE)

A Distant Place (Director: Kun-Young Park)

Bliss (Director: Henrika Kull)

Best First Feature  

The Novice (Director: Lauren Hadaway)

Best Drama Short Film

Inertia (Director: Mat Johns)

Special Award for Excellence in Cinematography – Short Film

Flames (Director of Photography: Edward Martinez) 

Best Director

Lauren Hadaway (The Novice)

Best Screenplay

Kelly Walker (My Fiona)

Best Ensemble

Sweetheart

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Audience Awards

Best Narrative Feature (TIE)

Firebird (Director: Peter Reebane) 

All Boys Aren’t Blue (Director: Nathan Hale Williams)

Best Documentary

Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music (Director: T.J. Parsell)

Best Documentary Runner-up 

Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way (Directors: William T. Horner, Stacey Worlfel) 

Best International Film

Flee (Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen) 

Best International Film Runner-up 

Mascarpone (Directors: Alessandro Guida, Matteo Pilati)

Best Comedy

Potato Dreams of America (Director: Wes Hurley) 

Best Narrative Short Film (TIE)

Sheer Qorma (Director: Faraz Arif Ansari)  

As Simple as That (Director: Luciana Bitencourt) 

Best Comedy Short Film

Flex (Director: Matt Porter)

Best Horror Short Film

Griffica (Director: C.J. Arellano)

Best Animated Short Film (TIE)

Together Again (Director: Stuart Ruston) 

My Aunties (Director: Richard O’Connor)

Best Local Short Film

Over My Dead Body (Director: Quinlan Orear) 

Best Local Short Film Runner-up (TIE)

Black Boi Majik (Director: Lyrik London)

Flames (Directors: Deondray Gassfield, Quincy Le Near) 

Best Trans Short Film

Before the Eruption (Director: Roberto Pérez Toledo) 

Best Web Series 

I am Syd Stone (Director: Denis Theriault) 

Marley Morrison’s Sweetheart among winners at Atlanta’s LGBTQ Film Festival Out on Film wraps up 2021’s hybrid edition with Filmmaker Awards announcement