Stranger Things” & “Bhopali” Among Top Winners at 17th Slamdance Film Festival

by Brian Brooks (Updated 18 hours, 33 minutes ago)

Photo by indieWIRE

The 2011 Slamdance Film Festival concluded Thursday night with Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal’s “Stranger Things” winning the event’s Best Narrative Film prize, while Van Maximillian Carlson’s “Bhopali” took Slamdance’s Best Documentary Film award in both the jury and audience categories. “Simon Arthur’s “Silver Tongues” won the audience prize for Best Narrative Film.

There are three competitive divisions at Slamdance: Grand Jury, Audience Awards and Special Sponsored Awards provided by Kodak, Panasonic, Dos Equis and Good Health. In addition this year Slamdance adds a theatrical distribution award to best feature and short film, offering an alternative to the traditional US theatrical system. Theatrical showings of the winning short and feature program, along with selections from the Grand Jury and Audience Award winning films will be screened in several domestic venues throughout the year, including the IFC Center in New York and 14 Pews in Houston.

Slamdance’s feature competitions are limited to first-time filmmakers working with production budgets of $1 million or less. In addition, this year Slamdance donated 10 percent of its Park City box office proceeds back to the filmmakers.

“Not every filmmaker is going home with a Sparky award but like never before it seems everyone is a winner at Slamdance,” commented Peter Baxter, Co-founder and President of Slamdance in a statement. “By coming together as a community, each of our filmmakers has been empowered by what Slamdance has created this week and in the long run I think this experience will be most useful and rewarding.”

The 17th Slamdance Film Festival winners with descriptions and credits provided by the festival.

Grand Jury Awards:

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film

Winner: “Stranger Things,” written and directed by Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal

Special Jury Mention: “Without,” written and directed by Mark Jackson

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film
Winner: “Bhopali,” directed by Van Maximillian Carlson
Special Jury Mention: “Fordson,” directed by Rashid Ghazi

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Animated Short
Winner: “Bottle,” written and directed by Kirsten Lepore

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Short
Winner: “Bird,” written and directed by Petr Stupin
Special Jury Mention: “Son of None,” written and directed by Todd Looby
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Short
Winner: “Oaks,” directed by Charles Wittenmeier
“Audience Awards:

Audience Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film
Winner: “Silver Tongues,” written and directed by Simon Arthur
Winner also receives $3500 in Legal Services from Pierce Law Group
Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film
Winner: “Bhopali,” directed by Van Maximilian Carlson
Winner also receives $3500 in Legal Services from Pierce Law Group
Spirit of Slamdance Sparky Award
Winner: “Shunka,” directed by CJ Gardella

Sponsored Awards:
Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography
Winner: “Shunka,” directed by CJ Gardella
Winner also receives 10,000 feet of Kodak film for the filmmaker to make their next feature
Panasonic AF100 Award for Best “Road To Park City” Short Film Award
Winner: “The Road to Park City is Paved with Artists,” written and directed by Kevin Brennan and Doug Manley
Director of Photgraphy, Louis Holland
Slamdance / Adobe Re-cut Competition Award
Winner: Nelson Vunda

Slamdance Theatrical Release Offer Award
Feature Winner: “Superheroes,” directed by Michael Barnett; written by Michael Barnett & Theodore James
Short Winner: “Hello Caller,” directed by Andrew Putschoegl; written by Tom Lenk