Copyright Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: NewFest announced today the winners of the Jury Awards, Audience Awards and Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Awards for the 37th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The NewFest37 jury comprised leading LGBTQ+ film creatives, filmmakers, artists, agents, activists, journalists and entertainment professionals. Audience awards were voted on by in-person attendees of the festival. “This year’s 37th annual festival featured 131 projects and demonstrated that queer cinema is fully alive and more expansive than ever,” NewFest Director of Programming Nick McCarthy and Senior Programmer & Jury Manager Murtada Elfadl said in a statement. “We thank our esteemed jury of film industry professionals for their diligent brilliance — and celebrate all audience members who showed up in record numbers and used their voices to vote on the Audience Awards. We salute the winners for upholding the enduring legacy of community spirit and trusted quality film at NewFest37. We’ve received effusive feedback on the full slate of films, so to all the filmmakers — in the immortal words of the band Hot Chocolate — ‘everyone’s a winner, baby, that’s no lie.’ Congratulations, and vive le queer cinéma!” NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff added, “This year’s award-winning films reflect the boldness, imagination, and refusal to shrink that define our community. From audacious features to visionary shorts, these storytellers are not only pushing the craft forward — they’re reminding us that queer cinema has always been a site of resistance, connection, and joy. We’re honored to celebrate artists who are expanding what’s possible on screen and off.” Winners include Annapurna Sriram’s Fucktoys, the surrealist black dramedy debut that also clinched SXSW’s Special Jury Award in the Narrative Feature Competition at its premiere in March and trans-centered teen comedy She’s the He, which picked up two awards. Come See Me in the Good Light, from Ryan White, also claimed two awards. As part of NewFest’s Black Filmmakers Initiative, which was created in support of the Black Lives Matter movement to create more opportunities for queer Black artists, the Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Grants are awarded to three emerging Black LGBTQ+ filmmakers whose short-form work centering on Black LGBTQ+ leads have shown an outstanding quality of capturing the LGBTQ+ experience through the language of cinema. The full list of winners and special mentions can be found below: JURY AWARD WINNERS: Grand Jury Award for U.S. Narrative Feature: Fucktoys, written, directed by and starring Annapurna Sriram Special Mention: She’s the He, directed by Siobhan McCarthy Grand Jury Award for International Narrative Feature: Love Letters, directed by Alice Douard Special Mention: Dreamers, written/directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor Grand Jury Award for Documentary/Nonfiction Feature: Come See Me in the Good Light, directed by Ryan White Special Mention: Niñxs, directed by Kani Lapuerta Grand Jury Award for New York Short Film, presented in partnership with The Gotham Film & Media Institute: Rainbow Girls, directed by Nana Duffuor Special Mention: Baba, I’m Fine, directed by Karina Dandashi EMERGING BLACK LGBTQ+ FILMMAKER AWARD WINNERS: Matthew Jacobs Morgan, Lisbon Nana Duffuor, Rainbow Girls Elle Clay & Leilah Weinraub, Seek No Favor AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS: Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature In Transit, directed by Jaclyn Bethany Runner-Up: She’s the He Audience Award for Best Documentary/Nonfiction Feature Come See Me in the Good Light Runner-Up: A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint, directed by Oriel Pe’er Audience Award for Best Narrative Short Rainbow Girls Runner-Up: Flash Sale, directed Autumn Boxley Audience Award for Documentary/Nonfiction Short Hustleween, directed by Samara Pérez Santiago Runner-Up: Echoes: The B Side, directed by Mars Storm Rucker Teen Choice Audience Award for Best Teen Short Film A Friend of Dorothy, directed by Lee Knight Runner-Up: Dandelion, directed by Fiona Obertinca NewFest37 ran from Oct. 19-21 throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and online. Programming highlights included the New York City premiere of Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut The Chronology of Water; world premiere of Drew Denny’s animal world documentary Second Nature, narrated by Elliot Page; and a screening of the first episode of Netflix’s Boots, featuring a discussion with star Miles Heizer and showrunners Andy Parker and Jennifer Cecil. Founded in 1988, NewFest is New York’s leading LGBTQ+ film and media organization and the country’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival. It champions LGBTQ+ stories and storytellers through film and media. Deadline is a media sponsor for NewFest.
