The 47th Cleveland International Film Festival held its closing awards ceremony on Saturday, April 1, at KeyBank State Theatre. Here’s a list of this year’s award winners. Want to check out these winners? CIFF47 Streams takes place now through April 9, 2023 online. Hundreds of films will be available on demand. Tickets and passes are now on sale atclevelandfilm.org.
FEATURE FILM AWARD WINNERS
Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award for Best Film
Sponsored by the Callahan Foundation
1946: THE MISTRANSLATION THAT SHIFTED CULTURE,
directed by Sharon “Rocky” Roggio (USA
$15,000 cash prize
Reel Women Direct Award for Excellence in Directing by a Woman
Presented with generous support from Deborah Bachman Ratner
Christine Yoo (for 26.2 TO LIFE; USA)
$10,000 cash prize
George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition
Endowed by The George Gund Foundation
PAMFIR, directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine, France, Poland, Chile)
$10,000 cash prize
Nesnadny + Schwartz Portrait Documentary Competition
MAY THE SCHWARTZ BE WITH YOU Director’s Award
Presented with generous support from Nesnadny + Schwartz
JOONAM, directed by Sierra Urich (USA)
$10,000 cash prize
New Direction Competition
JOYLAND, directed by Saim Sadiq (Pakistan, USA)
$10,000 cash prize
Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Competition
Endowed by The George Gund Foundation
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL, directed by Mstyslav Chernov (Ukraine)
$10,000 cash prize
Global Health Competition
Presented with generous support from Mark Smith and Janet Rosel Smith
NURSE UNSEEN, directed by Michele Josue (USA)
$7,500 cash prize
American Independents Competition
Presented with generous support from Mike and Nicki Cancelliere
PLAYING THROUGH, directed by Balbinka Korzeniowska (USA)
$7,500 cash prize
Local Heroes Competition
Presented with generous support from Lauren Rich Fine and Gries Financial Partners
WE ARE THE TROOPERS, directed by Jonathon Kimble (USA)
$7,500 cash prize
Ad Hoc Docs Competition
Presented with generous support from Tom and Anita Cook
CHOP & STEELE, directed by Ben Steinbauer and Berndt Mader (USA)
$7,500 cash prize
International Narrative Competition
Presented with generous support from Tom Piraino and Barbara McWilliams
MY SAILOR, MY LOVE, directed by Klaus Härö (Finland, Ireland)
$7,500 cash prize
FilmSlam Student Choice Award for Best Feature Film
Presented with generous support from Overdrive
JUNETEENTH: FAITH & FREEDOM, directed by Ya’Ke Smith (USA)
$2,000 Cash Prize
SHORT FILM AWARD WINNERS
Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film Overall
Sponsored by Char and Chuck Fowler
One Small Visit, directed by Jo Chim (Canada)
$1,000 Cash Prize
Best Animated Short Award*
Sponsored by MP Star Financial
It’s a Gray, Gray, World, directed by Seyed Mohsen Pourmohseni Shakib (Iran)
$1,000 cash prize
Best Documentary Short Award*
Sponsored by Jules and Fran Belkin
A Chocolate Lens, directed by Gabriel Veras (USA)
$1,000 cash prize
Best Live Action Short Award*
Sponsored by Jules and Fran Belkin
Girl No. 60427, directed by Shulamit Lifshitz (Israel)
$1,000 cash prize
FilmSlam Student Choice Award for Best Short Film
Sponsored by Overdrive
Foreign Uncle Directed by Sining Xiang (China, USA)
$1,000 Cash Prize
In addition, CIFF47 presented its fifth DReam Maker Award to award-winning filmmaker, director, and co-producer of the CIFF47 film 1946: THE MISTRANSLATION THAT SHIFTED CULTURE: Sharon “Rocky” Roggio.
The Festival also celebrated the third year of its Groundbreaker Award. CIFF47 recognized two pioneering filmmakers whose work has proven to lift up marginalized voices. This recognition comes with a $5,000 cash award to support the filmmakers’ future work. The Festival presented its Groundbreaker Award to Vivek Bald and Alaudin Ullah, co-directors of the CIFF47 film IN SEARCH OF BENGALI HARLEM