2015 Woodstock Film Festival Maverick Awards

Group of people on stage at the Woodstock Film Festival, holding awards, with a screen displaying the Woodstock Film Festival logo in the background.

HONORARY MAVERICK AWARD

Photograph of Atom Egoyan receiving the Honorary Maverick Award in 2015, with images of him speaking at a podium and being presented the award at an event.

With fifteen feature films and related projects, Atom Egoyan has won numerous prizes at international film festivals, including the Grand Prix and International Critics Awards from the Cannes Film Festival, two Academy Award® nominations, and numerous other honors. His films have won twenty-five Genies - including three Best Film Awards – and a prize for Best International Film Adaptation from The Frankfurt Book Fair. Egoyan’s films have been presented in numerous retrospectives across the world, including a complete career overview at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, followed by similar events at the Filmoteca Espagnol in Madrid, the Museum of The Moving Image in New York, and the Royal CINEMATEK in Brussels. He was recently presented with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award and the 2015 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.

His body of work – which includes theatre, music, and art installations – delves into issues of memory, displacement, and the impact of technology and media in modern life. Among his films are the groundbreaking Exotica, the multi award winning The Sweet Hereafter, Felicia’s Journey (starring Bob Hoskins), Where the Truth Lies (with Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth), Devil’s Knot (with Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth), and the opening night film for the 2015 Woodstock Film Festival, Remember, starring Christopher Plummer.

HONORARY FIERCELY INDEPENDENT AWARD

A man speaking at a podium labeled 'Woodstock Film Festival' during an event in 2015. He is wearing a dark jacket and has a beard.

Guy Maddin is an installation and internet artist, lecturer at Harvard, writer and filmmaker, the director of eleven feature-length movies, including innumerable shorts, My Winnipeg (2007), The Saddest Music in the World (2003), and the closing night film for the 2015 Woodstock Film Festival, The Forbidden Room (2015). He has also mounted around the world over seventy performances of his films featuring live elements - orchestra, sound effects, singing and narration.

Twice, Maddin has won America's National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Experimental Film, with Archangel (1991) and The Heart of the World (2001). He has been bestowed many other awards, including the Telluride Silver Medal in 1995, the San Francisco International Film Festival's Persistence of Vision Award in 2006, and an Emmy for his ballet film Dracula - Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002). Maddin is a print journalist and author of three books. He is also a member of The Order of Canada & The Order of Manitoba.

GIGANTIC PICTURES AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE

A man with glasses and a beard signing a framed poster at a Woodstock Film Festival event.

OLIVER’S DEAL
Directed by Barney Elliott

Jury:

William Horberg
Mary Stuart Masterson
Jonathan Gray

Honorable Mention:

IT HAD TO BE YOU
Directed by Sasha Gordon

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

Sponsored by Films We Like

INCORRUPTIBLE
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely

Three people standing together at an event, with a woman in the center holding a glass award. The men on either side are wearing glasses, and all are smiling. The backdrop features logos of companies and the Woodstock Film Festival.

Jury:

Alan Berliner
Sara Bernstein
Simon Kilmurry

Honorable Mention:

THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL
Directed by Holly Morris, co-directed by Anne Bogart

HASKELL WEXLER AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BOB AND THE TREES
Cinematography by: Chris Teague and Danny Vecchione
Directed by Diego Ongaro

Group of five people smiling at a photo event with backdrop logos, one man holding a trophy.
“The excellence of quality makes judging Woodstock’s Cinematography more and more difficult every year. Professional cinema image taking should integrate, serve, interest, and enhance the story. I judge Cinematography not just for a story well told, but for what the story is. Two Cinematographers, Chris Teague and David Vecchione, are my enthusiastic choice for their work on the film BOB AND THE TREES.

I hope this award will encourage you to keep up the good work”
— Haskell Wexler

ULTRA INDIE AWARD

LAMB
Directed by Ross Partridge

Three people, two women and one man, standing together at an event with a step and repeat backdrop featuring logos and text, including

The Ultra Indie award is presented to an outstanding film with a budget of less than $200K. The films nominated raise the art of low budget filmmaking to a higher level and we are proud to partner with Gray, Krauss, Stratford, Sandler, Des Rochers LLP to reward the best of these ultra low budget selections from the 15th Annual Woodstock Film Festival.

Jury:

Larry Fessenden
Leah Meyerhoff
Lori Singer

Honorable Mention:

BOB AND THE TREES
Directed by Diego Ongaro

WORLD CINEMA AWARD

MEET ME IN VENICE
Directed by Eddy Terstall

Three people standing in front of a backdrop at an event, one holding a trophy. The backdrop features logos of Woodstock Film Festival, Markertek, Gigantic Pictures, and others. To their left, there is a colorful poster of a wedding cake with a film reel on top.

New in 2015, the World Cinema Award recognized the jury’s choice for best foreign language film made by a director outside the U.S.

Jury:

Claude Dal Farra
Lucy Barzun-Donnelly

CARPE DIEM ANDRETTA AWARD

WAFFLE STREET
Directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms

Group of five people celebrating at an event, holding yellow balloons and a trophy, standing in front of a branded backdrop with logos including Toyota and music-related sponsors.

The Carpe Diem Andretta Award will honor longtime area resident Vincent “Jay” Andretta III, who passed away in December 2014. The Glenford resident will be remembered as a successful businessman, a driven, avid athlete and a loving, dedicated husband, father, son and great friend to many including the Woodstock Film Festival. Jay’s favorite quote was Carpe Diem (Seize the Day). His life was a testament to the phrase. The Carpe Diem Andretta Award will be presented to a film that best exemplifies living life to the fullest through character and story development in a full length narrative or documentary film.

TANGERINE ENTERTAINMENT JUICE AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE FEATURE DIRECTOR

THERE SHOULD BE RULES
Directed by Linda-Maria Birbeck

Two women holding an award trophy at a film festival event, with logos and text in the background.

The Tangerine Entertainment Juice Fund is a donation-based initiative focused on changing the landscape for women filmmakers. In keeping with Tangerine's commitment to outreach, the Juice Fund provides an opportunity for community involvement in directly supporting women directors and outlets for their films.

The Juice Fund is created and sustained entirely by individuals and companies wishing to help increase the number of women feature film directors and the frequency with which they work. The Juice Fund will be used to instigate concrete change in three ways; rewarding, mentoring, and building community.

JAMES LYONS EDITING AWARD - FEATURE NARRATIVE

OLIVER’S DEAL
Edited by J.L. Romeu & Roberto Benavides
Directed by Barney Elliott

Person riding a horse in a grassy plains area, accompanied by a llama, with mountains in the background.

Jury:

Michael Berenbaum
Meg Reticker
Sabine Hoffman

Honorable Mention:

TOUCHED WITH FIRE
Edited by Paul Dalio & Lee Percy
Directed by Paul Dalio

JAMES LYONS EDITING AWARD - FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL
Edited by Michael Taylor, Richard Howard, and Mary Manhardt Smith
Directed by Holly Morris

Four elderly women sitting on a bench outdoors, wearing headscarves, with a chain-link fence and trees with fall foliage in the background.

Jury:

Katherine Barnier
Chad Beck
Sabine Hoffman

Honorable Mention:

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED
Edited by Paul Hamilton
Directed by Judy Rymer

MARKERTEK.COM AWARD FOR BEST SHORT NARRATIVE

STANHOPE
Directed by Solvan 'Slick' Naim

A smiling young man holding an award in one hand and a marker in the other, standing next to a colorful illustrated board at an event.

Jury:

Nancy Collet
Mary Stuart Masterson
Benjamin Scott

Honorable Mention:

WELCOME (Bienvenidos)
Directed by Javier Fesser

MARKERTEK.COM AWARD FOR BEST SHORT NARRATIVE

ALL ABOUT AMY
Directed by Samuel Centore

Three people smiling at the Woodstock Film Festival, two men on either side of a woman, with festival logos and banners in the background.

Jury:

Hugo Perez
Cynthia Kane
Jedd Wider

Honorable Mention:

NANEEK
Directed by Neal Steeno

MARKERTEK.COM AWARD FOR BEST STUDENT SHORT

AGAINST NIGHT
Directed by Stefan Kubicki

Four people standing together, one holding a trophy, at an awards event with a backdrop featuring various logos and sponsors.

Jury:

Marjoe Aquilling
Isil Bagdadi
David F. Schwartz

Honorable Mention:

TOUCHED WITH FIRE
Edited by Paul Dalio & Lee Percy
Directed by Paul Dalio

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

FIVE MINUTE MUSEUM
Directed by Paul Bush

Two head mannequins, one resembling a young girl with a red hood and cloak, and the other resembling a man in a toy soldier hat with medals.

Jury:

Signe Baumane
Linda Beck

Honorable Mention:

RELIGATIO
Directed by Jaime Giraldo

AUDIENCE AWARD - FEATURE NARRATIVE

GOOD OL’ BOY
Directed by Frank Lotito

Three people smiling in front of a movie poster. The group includes a man wearing a black blazer, a boy in a pinstripe suit, and a woman with glasses and a black hoodie with a peace symbol.

AUDIENCE AWARD - FEATURE NARRATIVE (Tie)

LEFT ON PURPOSE
Directed by Justin Schein

A young man standing behind multiple microphones at a press conference, with an American flag in the background.

SHE’S THE BEST THING IN IT
Directed by Ron Nyswaner

Two elderly women sitting on a sofa, dressed in whimsical costumes. One wears a multicolored jester hat and a red shawl, the other wears a large red hat with pink polka dots and glasses.