Indie Memphis Film Festival, presented by Duncan-Williams, Inc., has announced this year’s award-winners. The ceremony was held virtually on the evening of October 26th and awards were presented by festival staff, as well as members of the awards juries. The 2021 festival screened over 170 feature films, shorts, and music videos, with most screenings followed by filmmaker Q&As. 

Jury Award highlights include Best Narrative Feature for Nana Mensah’s QUEEN OF GLORY (winner of $1K cash prize), Best Documentary Feature for Nadia Szold’s LARRY FLYNT FOR PRESIDENT  (winner of $1K cash prize), Best Hometowner Feature for Zachary Barr and Peter Mortimer’s REEL ROCK, BLACK ICE (winner of $1K cash prize), Best Departures Feature for Rhayne Vermette’s STE. ANNE (winner of $500 cash prize), and Best Sounds Feature for Celeste Bell + Paul Sng’s POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHE (winner of $500 cash prize), among others. 

The festival also awarded two yet-to-be-produced short films with Indie Grant prizes: “I Am” (Dir. Jessica Chaney) and “Soil and Clay” (Dir. Emmanuel Amido). These films were chosen by a jury and were each awarded with a $15K total grant ($7.5K cash, $7.5K in-kind filmmaking services). The recipients applied with a project idea and these funds were granted to them to produce their short film, which we hope to see at a future festival.

The Festival Awards, decided by Indie Memphis Festival staff, include the Ron Tibbett Excellence in Filmmaking Award for ONE OF OURS (Dir. Yasmine Mathurin) and the Craig Brewer Emerging Filmmaker Award for FERNY & LUCA (Dir. Andrew Infante), among others. 

Finally, the Audience Awards, tallied from audience ballots, went to QUEEN OF GLORY (Dir. Nana Mensah) for Narrative Feature, LARRY FLYNT FOR PRESIDENT (Dir. Nadia Szold) for Documentary Feature, ELDER’S CORNER (Dir. Siji Awoyinka) for Sounds Feature, NORTH BY CURRENT (Dir. Angelo Madsen Minax) for Departures, and REEL ROCK: BLACK ICE (Dirs. Zachary Barr + Peter Mortimer) for Hometowner Feature, among others.