Montreal Independent Film Festival is proud to announce the winners of the fall season. The online seasonal fest brings together emerging and established names in the film industry to compete in various categories and be promoted and screened online. The award winners of the season and the official selections can request to promote and screen films on Montreal Independent Film Channel throughout the season. It is our pleasure to announce the winners and the honorable mentions of the fall season of 2021.
Best Narrative Feature Sooyii (Creatures)
Director: Krisztian Kery SOOYII, the Blackfoot word for “creature” or “mysterious being”, takes place in the 18th century in North America. SOOYII follows the story of a young Pikuni Man as he struggles to survive in the face of disease, the loss of his family, old enemies, new discoveries and a rapidly changing world.
Best Narrative short Georgian love story
Director: Eyal Kantor 1930, Georgia is under Soviet rule and a forbidden love develops when Georgie hides a dark secret that threatens her future.
Best Feature Documentary:
The Confession Director: Tomas Blideman He continues to serve as a Christian priest all though he has converted to Islam. In order not to be exposed, Leif makes a drastic decision. He sells everything he has and moves to Morocco.
Best Short Documentary New-Chah-Nulth: Reclaiming Tradition Director: Michael Morash
The Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Nations of Vancouver Island, BC are fighting to decolonize indigenous education. They are integrating language, tradition, and land-based skills into their school curriculum, in order to save their culture from the brink of extinction and offer a different future for the next generations.
Best Independent Film Alone Director: Jose Maria Cicala
Laura Garland lost her husband on the war while she’s pregnant. She lives in a big house which is divided in two. Government pursuits her claiming she must ocupy the whole house, if she doesn’t, they will take it from her. Laura leases the house to Ricky, an outlaw that will bring new trouble in her life. At least she has another plan.
Best Actor:
Pasha Ebrahimi for 8:37 REBIRTH
Best Supporting Actor:
Andy Garcia for Redemption Day
Best Actress:
Katie Borland for We're All In This Together
Best Supporting Actress
Nahéma Ricci for Before El Finâ
Honorable Mention actress The River you step in Astrid Van Wieren
Best Horror Highway 13 Director: Stan Papulkas It’s the fall of 1962, Alex and Glenda have been travelling a long time, totally unaware of the road they are on is referred to as “The Bermuda Triangle of the North“. For the last 100 years, people have been disappearing along Highway 13 in Alberta. What awaits Alex and Glenda may not necessarily be from this dimension.
Best Comedy OUR LAST SUMMER
Director: Vincent Orst Six friends in their thirties leave women and children for a week to relive their first holidays. They will realize that they are not as young as they thought they were or fully mature to claim the rank of adult...
Best Short Animation The Hairy Notion of a Green Afternoon Director: Susanne Deeken
In ’The Hairy Notion of a Green Afternoon’ a mysterious protagonist emerges from elemental energies, leading us on her sensational journey.
Best Short Science Fiction Kairos, Qualitative Time
Director: Carlos Scasso To curtail the spread of revolts against the System, the "Kairós Programme" has been activated. Isacaar, one of the insurgents, will find himself faced with the chance of preserving something more important than his ideals.
Best Web Series/TV Pilot Girl Boxer
Director: Lauren McCann A hard-up-single-mother and former boxer, is lured by the Irish mob into an underground boxing match where questions of right and wrong are challenged when the love of family is concerned.
Best Short Experimental Drone
Director: Behrad Mosh
A mother is watched and spied on by a surveillance drone.
Best Environmental The Fellowship of the Springs Director: Oscar Corral Florida’s artesian springs are a natural wonder of the world. As unique as the geysers of Yellowstone and as mesmerizing as Vernal Falls in Yosemite, these blue jewels surrounding the north Florida landscape are considered a treasure by many who see them. The state contains the largest and highest concentration of fresh water springs on earth. But today, the future of Florida’s springs is uncertain.
Best Female Director of the season Confession Director: Dayna Hanson Dayna Hanson is a writer, director, choreographer, actress and producer. She wrote, choreographed and directed "Voyeurs," a critically acclaimed episode of Season One of HBO's "Room 104" by The Duplass Brothers. Her debut feature film, "Improvement Club," premiered in Narrative Competition at South by Southwest Film Festival 2013. CONFESSION is her new feature film project and a timely and provocative crime/thriller following up-and-coming Assistant DA Jillian as she takes on the case of a young woman Alicia who has accused three men of a sexual assault.
Best Human Rights There's Still Someone in the Woods Director: Teresa Turiera-Puigbò During the Balkan wars, between 25,000 and 50,000 women were victims of sexual violence. There is no official figure because many victims did not survive or they (still) live in silence. Lejla, Alen, Ajna are children born as a result of rape. 25 years later, they join survivors in their struggle to break the silence and overcome stigma. Has the war ended for all of them?
Best First Time Filmmaker THE VANISHED
Director: Arben Thaçi Far from his hometown Beqir, rather than with his wife he spends most of his time in front of the typewriter machine. Languishing for his homeland and his people, he is no longer at peace with himself, so by writing his memoirs he tries to unveil something important, something he hides from his wife and even himself.
Best Student Film
Trapped
Director: Therese Gotlib
”Trapped” is a psychological drama set in Los Angeles, about a troubled, mentally ill, young woman who personifies her illness into a man and has to choose love in order to move on.
Best Student Animation Together Forever Director: Anna Barantseva Two souls in love seek each other out through trials and tribulations and finally reunite - in a span of one single night.
Best LGBTQ Love in Country Director: Kurt Braun and Richard Gayton
Two gay sergeants fall in love during the intimacy of Viet Nam War combat in 1968. They lead a squad who become aware of their leaders’ relationship. The squad in combat who must maintain unity if they are to capture an enemy operative and survive, but then they are assigned a new officer, who has lost his humanity and will use any means to complete the mission, even the sacrifice of the squad.
Best Music Video
"Jouissance"
Director Christopher Malinowski
Best Experimental Music Video & Best Composer
Kismet
Director Jocelyn Fee Miller
Best Thriller Redemption Day
Director Hicham Hajji
After being awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during a firefight against ISIS, U.S. Marine Captain Brad Paxton (Gary Dourdan) is suffering from the long-term effects of being in a war zone.
Best Director & Best Edit & Best Cinematographer: Kieu@ Do Thanh An (Aaron Donald)
Kieu (or Thuy Kieu): is the name of a famous character in the poetic work "The Tale of Kieu" by the great poet Nguyen Du (1765-1820). "Kieu" or "Miss Kieu" is also a slang, used to refer to girls who are unfortuntate due to the lack of money, wanting to save their family,... have to accept a life of prostitution in Vietnam.
Honorable Mention Director:
Before El Fina
Director Nathan Buck
After the sudden death of her husband, a reclusive artist invites life long friends to her farm in Spain and reveals a shocking plan. before the weekend ends, the friends must reveal secrets from the past that will drive her toward a devastating choice.
Best Feature Script Sathu - Year of the Rabbit Writer Joshua Trigg When an unexploded American bomb endangers the Pha Tang
temple, 'Sathu' their orphan child labourer decides to head north in search of his long lost mother. Catalysed by his new wannabe
photojournalist friend 'Bo', the duo traverse the rich and feral landscape of Laos in search of answers.
Best Feature Script: Betsy and the Emperor Staton Rabin A rebellious teenage English girl befriends the most feared man on earth-- Napoleon Bonaparte-- while he's being held prisoner by the British on the remote island of St. Helena, grows to love him, and risks her life on a daring and dangerous scheme to help him escape. Based on this writer's YA novel from Simon & Schuster; book translation rights sold in 16 languages globally.
Best Short Script The Letter
Writer: Brett Howard Nelson
Honorable Mention Short Script
Writer: Marc Castaldo
Best Youth Artist Esabella anna karena for Death's Curse
Best Canadian Indie: 8:37 REBIRTH
Director: Juanita Peters
Jared Peters and Sergei Radic, two youth from vastly different backgrounds become forever linked in a split second with the four pound trigger pull of a snub nosed 38. Twenty two years later, that single moment still reverberates when Jared Peter is released from prison for the death of Sergei’s father, a convenience store owner.
Honorable Mention Canadian Indie: The river you step in Director Jon Michaelson
When a young First Nations client dies after being committed to police custody, social worker Stevie struggles to keep the troubled people she encounters away from the system she no longer trusts.
Honorable mention Canadian director Woodland Grey
Director: Adam Reider
A man living alone in the deep woods finds Emily, a hiker, unconscious and laying on the forest floor. He brings her back to his home and helps her get back to health so she can leave the forest and get home. After a few tense days coexisting, Emily makes a discovery.
Honorable Mention Canadian feature The Taste of Blood
Director: Allen Kool
Hope a young girl living with the Whalens has formed a romantic attachment to a young man in town. Relying heavily on religion, she is torn between her loyalty to the old couple, and her new found love.
