Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2020 announces award winners with JACINTA and THE VIEWING BOOTH leading the way

The 2020 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival announced the award winning films and filmmakers for this year’s 29th edition of the festival. Jessica Earnshaw’s JACINTA won the jury prize for Best US Feature as well as earning a Special Jury Mention for the Critics Prize, Anabel Rodríguez Ríos’ ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA won the jury prize for Best International Feature, and Lisa Molomot and Jeff Bemiss’ World Premiere of MISSING IN BROOKS COUNTY earned the award for Best Southern Feature. Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s THE VIEWING BOOTH was the recipient of this year’s HSDFF Critics Prize, and Sami Khan and Michael Gassert’s THE LAST OUT won the Matt DeCample Audience Choice Award.

“This year was one for our festival history books and we are exceedingly proud of the safe ways we brought our community together, says Artistic Director, Jen Gerber. “Through virtual talks and a mix of safe outdoor activities, we were reminded of the strength of our film-loving community and this year surpassed all our expectations for audience engagement and connectivity.”

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival put together an incredible group of film industry veterans, influencers, tastemakers, filmmakers, and journalists to not only serve as jury members, but offer their thoughts regarding each of this year’s winning films. 

The US Features Jury included; David Ninh (Director of Press and Publicity, Kino Lorber); Sara Rodriguez (Senior Vice President, Documentary Programming, HBO); and Chloe Gbai (Director, IF/Then Shorts at Field of Vision). Regarding their selection of Earnshaw’s JACINTA for the Jury Prize, they said, “The incredible access to the subjects of this film were vital in showing how the cycles of addiction, drug dependency, and generational trauma firmly grip a loving American family. Devastating and searingly intimate, the subjects in this film stuck with our jury long after it ended.” The US Features Jury also gave a Special Jury Mention to Loira Mimbal’s THROUGH THE NIGHT.

The International Features Jury included; Simon Kilmurry (Executive Director, International Documentary Association (IDA)); Pamela Ryan (Producer, Gigantic Pictures); and Jheanelle Brown (Curator and Educator, Black Radical Imagination & Film Forum). When discussing Ríos’ ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA, the jury stated that they were, “..compelled by the intimate and unforgettable moments that the filmmaker captures, along with the narrative’s impressive backbone: a fraying community that lives on an increasingly polluted lake amidst Venezuela’s own progressively inhospitable political environment. To bear witness to the neighborhood resting on stilts just inches above Lake Maracaibo is striking and awe-inspiring. But this water, Congo Mirador’s lifeblood, is filled with sediment which kills first its marine life, and, over time, the community’s chance for survival. The film dwells in such grey areas, as its passionate and empathetic characters struggle to save their homes…while still fighting bitterly with their remaining neighbors, political rivals. ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA achieves a remarkable feat, captivating the viewer with its characters and incongruous beauty – then jarring its audience back to the realities of modern Venezuela.”

The Southern Features Jury was comprised of; Darcy McKinnon (Filmmaker and Co-Founder of the Southern doc collective ALL Y’ALL); Keith Garlington (Founder, Keith & the Movies); and Scott Tobias (Freelance Critic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Ringer, Vulture, The Guardian). Regarding their selection of Molomot and Bemiss’ MISSING IN BROOKS COUNTY, they said, “We were all moved by this thoughtful and immersive examination of the ongoing US/Mexico border crisis. The film doesn’t get lost in the inflammatory rhetoric or political posturing that in many ways has dominated this important issue. Instead the filmmakers explore the human cost by placing us at the heartbreaking epicenter and putting us into the shoes of those most deeply affected. MISSING IN BROOKS COUNTY is powerful, evocative, stunningly shot and deeply rooted in its South Texas setting.” The jury also issued a Special Mention for Nathan Willis’ RAP SQUAD.

The Critics Prize Jury included; Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo (Associate Producer, Op-Docs at The New York Times); David Fear (Senior Editor and Critic, Rolling Stone); Linzee Troubh, (Development Director, The Atlantic); Vadim Rizov (Managing Editor, Filmmaker Magazine); Jenny Boulden (Freelance writer and Journalist); Logan Hill, (Freelance writer and critic, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and Wired); Katie Rife (Senior Writer, The A.V. Club); Piers Marchant (Film Critic-at-large, Arkansas Democrat Gazette); and Jon Dieringer (Founder of Screen Slate). Regarding their choice of Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s THE VIEWING BOOTH, the jury said that the film was, “a provocative exploration of personal bias, and how these steadfast opinions become rooted in our sense of identity. What could have been a more facile exercise in politicized judgment concerning the Israeli/Palestinian conflict instead becomes a vastly more thoughtful and moving examination of the ways people’s preconditioned belief systems disrupt true engagement with the other side. With its lone setting, inside a darkened media lab, the interplay between the director and their subject provides stark evocation of the difficulty in realizing significant societal change, even as lives hang perilously in the balance. Given the current, highly polemic state of our political discourse, the film becomes an essential watch in the Trump, and post-Trump, eras.” Earnshaw’s JACINTA received a Special Jury Mention to go with its Best US Feature Film award.

The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Short Film was Joanna Vasquez Arong’s TO CALM THE PIG INSIDE(ANG PAGPAKALMA SA UNOS), with a Special Jury Mention going to Yung Chang and Annie Katsura Rollins’ PANDEMIC 19, which made its World Premiere at HSDFF. The Shorts Jury included; Cindy Choung (External Relations Manager, Chicken & Egg Pictures); Jeffrey Bowers (Senior Curator, Vimeo); and Angela Tucker (Filmmaker and Emmy-nominated Producer). The jury’s statement described Arong’s winning film as, “a haunting portrait of a seaside town in the Philippines torn asunder by a typhoon. Shot in gorgeous black and white, the director brilliantly juxtaposes the lyrical against the tragic and the truth against the folkloric. Arong’s ability to ground international tragedy in the personal and find beauty in bleakness is a testament to her artistic voice.”

The Hot Springs Matt DeCample Audience Choice Award went to HSDFF alumni Sami Khan and Michael Gassert’s feature film, THE LAST OUT, while Yung Chang and Annie Katsura Rollins picked up another recognition for their newest short PANDEMIC 19, as the Audience Choice Award for a short film. In partnership with PBS Reel South, Bronson Crabtree’s short, HISTORY IN PIECES took home the Reel South Award.

During a year of isolation and the challenge of executing virtual events, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival hosted an array of talks, workshops, and private industry events alongside the line-up of 110 films. These included Industry Roundtables for 28 HSDFF films and exclusive networking events for alumni, industry representatives, jurors, and filmmakers. Roundtables featured representatives from Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Films, Gigantic Pictures, The Film Collaborative, Kino Lorber, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Participant Media, and more.

Networking events saw attendees from across the U.S., Australia, the Philippines, France, Austria, Mexico, the United Kingdom and more. “One of the hallmarks of HSDFF is our commitment to fostering meaningful experiences for our filmmakers, said Jessie Fairbanks, Director of Programming. ‘In the challenging atmosphere of 2020, we created a series of robust industry events to address the lack of physical networking and discovery, ensuring our filmmakers made new connections and received real time feedback on their films.” These intimate, filmmaker-only events are just some of the ways HSDFF pivoted this year to fulfill its mission as a celebration of documentary filmmaking and non-narrative storytellers.

If there was a common theme regarding the success of this year’s Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, it would be that the dynamic conversations on film and on the films’ subjects that HSDFF is known for still were as lively, fascinating, and as invigorating as ever this year even with the move to virtual presentations. Talks with Career Achievement Award honorees Alex Gibney and Dawn Porter, Impact Award honorees Iyabo Boyd, and Diane Quon, documentary filmmaking panels headed by Mark Monroe, Kirsten Johnson, Gordon Quinn, and others, and HSDFF’s Speakeasy Series with David and Christina McLarty Arquette, and the return of HSDFF alum Sam Pollard did not disappoint and created a consistent audience presence throughout the film festival.    

HSDFF took its gala screenings to the drive-in at Hot Springs Mall with crowd-pleasing evenings built around the presentations of Mary Wharton’s JIMMY CARTER, ROCK & ROLL PRESIDENT, Laura Gabbert’s OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES, and Julia Reichart and Steve Bognar’s 9-TO-5: THE STORY OF A MOVEMENT. Additional organized social distanced in-person events like HSDFF’s Inspiration Hike, Yoga at the Arlington Lawn, and Slow Roll Bike Ride got local film fans away from their laptops and TVs to safely add outdoor social experiences and enjoyment in between virtual film viewings.

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival also underlined its emphasis on educational offerings and initiatives, as well as putting together programs to address mental and emotional health. The festival’s 2020 “Survival Guide: Mental Health and Creative Healing in the Midst of a Crisis” addressed issues that face not just filmmakers and film professionals, but everyone at this time. Beth Pickens led a workshop to consider how 2020 intersects with the filmmaker’s life, art, and career. Storytelling workshops were popular, and HSDFF also hosted a roundtable including leaders from other Southern film festivals on better practices going forward.

For more information on the Hot Springs Documentary Film festival, please visit: hsdfi.org.

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The 2020 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Award Winners:

Best US Features Film

JACINTA

Director: Jessica Earnshaw

US Features – Special Mention

THROUGH THE NIGHT

Director: Loira Limbal

Best International Features Film

ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA

Director: Anabel Rodríguez Ríos

Best Southern Features Film

MISSING IN BROOKS COUNTY

Directors: Lisa Molomot, Jeff Bemiss

Southern Features Film – Special Mention

RAP SQUAD                                                                        

Director: Nathan Willis

Critics Prize

THE VIEWING BOOTH

Director: Ra’anan Alexandrowicz

Critics Prize – Special Mention

JACINTA

Director: Jessica Earnshaw

Best Short Documentary Film

TO CALM THE PIG INSIDE (ANG PAGPAKALMA SA UNOS)                   

Director: Joanna Vasquez Arong

Short Documentary Film – Special Mention

PANDEMIC 19

Directors: Yung Chang, Annie Katsura Rollins

Reel South Award (In partnership with PBS Reel South)

HISTORY IN PIECES

Director: Bronson Crabtree

Matt DeCample Audience Choice Award – Feature

THE LAST OUT

Directors: Sami Khan, Michael Gassert

Matt DeCample Audience Choice Award – Short

PANDEMIC 19

Directors: Yung Chang, Annie Katsura Rollins