SXSW Film Festival Announces 2021 Jury Awards 

Well, that went all too quickly. 

The SXSW wraps today (well, officially tomorrow) after screening 75 feature films and 84 shorts.

What films stood out?  We are still making our way through the line-up and will have our own recap to share soon.

But, if you want to know what the SXSW Jurors tapped as top films, they have just announced their awards.

The only outstanding awards to be given are Audience Awards in each specific category.  If you want to weigh in on your favorite, you’ll have until Sunday night to vote.

So, let’s get to it.

The 2021 SXSW Film Festival Awards

Feature Film Grand Jury Awards 

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

Winner: The Fallout
Director: Megan Park

Special Jury Recognition for Multi-hyphenate Storyteller: I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)
Directors: Kelley Kali, Angelique Molina

Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Performance: Islands
Director: Martin Edralin
Actor: Rogelio Balagtas

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

Winner: Lily Topples the World
Director: Jeremy Workman

Special Jury Recognition for Exceptional Intimacy in Storytelling: Introducing, Selma Blair
Director: Rachel Fleit

Special Jury Recognition for Humanity in Social Action: Not Going Quietly
Director: Nicholas Bruckman

Short Film Grand Jury Awards 

NARRATIVE SHORTS

Winner: Play It Safe
Director: Mitch Kalisa

Special Jury Recognition for Visionary Storytelling: Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma
Directors: Topaz Jones, rubberband.

Special Jury Recognition for Direction: Like the Ones I Used to Know
Director: Annie St-Pierre

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS 

Winner: Águilas
Directors: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Maite Zubiaurre

Special Jury Recognition for Courage: Red Taxi
Director: Anonymous

Special Jury Recognition for Poetry: I Ran From It and Was Still in It
Director: Darol Olu Kae

MIDNIGHT SHORTS 

Winner: The Moogai
Director: Jon Bell

Special Jury Recognition for Bold Vision: Stuffed
Director: Theo Rhys

ANIMATED SHORTS

Winner: Nuevo Rico
Director: Kristian Mercado

Special Jury Recognition for Innovation: KKUM
Director: Kang Min Kim 

Special Jury Recognition for Storytelling: Your Own Bullshit 
Director: Daria Kopiec

MUSIC VIDEOS

Winner: Madame Gandhi – ‘Waiting for Me’
Director: Misha Ghose

Special Jury Recognition for How the Hell Did They Do That?!: Waze & Odyssey, George Michael, Mary J. Blige & Tommy Theo – ‘Always’
Director: Nelson de Castro

Special Jury Recognition for Pure Joy: Kuricorder Quartet – ‘Southpaw’
Director: Sawako Kabuki

TEXAS SHORTS

Winner: Summer Animals
Director: Haley Elizabeth Anderson

Special Jury Recognition for Vision: O Black Hole!
Director: Renee Zhan

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS 

Winner: A Really Dark Comedy
Director: Manasi Ughadmathe

Special Jury Recognition for Directing: Beyond the Model
Director: Jessica Lin

EPISODIC PILOT COMPETITION

Winner: 4 Feet High
Directors: Maria Belen Poncio, Rosario Perazolo Masjoan

Special Jury Recognition for Best Duo: Pretend Partners
Director: Ron Najor

SXSW Film Design Awards Presented by Adobe 

POSTER DESIGN COMPETITION

Winner: Bob Moses Featuring ZHU – ‘Desire’
Creative Director: Owen Brown, Art Director and Illustrator: Benjámin Kalászi, Graphic Designer: Diego L. Rodríguez (Paramoidme)

Special Jury Recognition: The Box
Designers: James Burns and Shal Ngo, Aleksander Walijewski

TITLE DESIGN COMPETITION

Winner: The Queen’s Gambit Title Sequence
Designer: Saskia Marka

Special Jury Recognition: Birds Of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn Title Sequence
Designer: Michael Riley

VIRTUAL CINEMA COMPETITION

Winner: Samsara
Director: Huang Hsin-Chien

Special Jury Recognition for Immersive Journalism: Reeducated
Director: Sam Wolson

If you want to know how SXSW films fared with filmgoers, check back on Tuesday, March 23 when the Audience Awards are tabulated and winners announced.