TEDDY BEARS directed by Rebecca Fishman and Thomas Beatty

The Oxford Film Festival, in downtown Oxford, Mississippi, announced the winners of this year’s festival, held February 6 to 9, 2014.  TEDDY BEARS directed by Rebecca Fishman and Thomas Beatty won the award for Best Narrative Feature; and BENDING STEEL directed by Dave Carroll won the award for Best Documentary Feature.  TEDDY BEARS is a dark comedy about three couples who head to the desert to help their friend Andrew heal from the loss of his mother. The friends plan a week of laughter and rejuvenation. Andrew plans a therapeutic orgy.  

In BENDING STEEL, Chris Schoeck, an endearing yet unassuming man, trains to become a professional oldetime strongman. While preparing to perform amazing and unique feats of strength publicly, Chris also struggles to overcome crippling fears and inhibitions. For the first time in his life he is compelled to confront social awkwardness, unsupportive parents, and an overwhelming fear of failure. What unfolds is one man’s remarkable journey to find his place in the world.

The winners of the Hoka award in each category are:

Narrative Feature
Teddy Bears

Special Jury Prize for Best Performance in a Narrative Feature: Barry Nash
Special Jury Prize for Best Emerging Director: Juli Jackson

Documentary Feature
Bending Steel

Narrative Shorts
Safety

Documentary Shorts
Herd in Iceland

Animation
Snowdysseus 
Honorable mention: “Balloon Cat”
Honorable mention: “Baby Chicken”

Experimental
Virtuous Virtuell
Honorable mention: “Tokyo = Fukushima”

Mississippi Music Video
Poor Lost Souls

Mississippi Narrative Shorts
Evergreen

Special Mention –
Cinematography – “Surface”

Mississippi Documentary Shorts
Landscapes of the Heart: The Elizabeth Spencer Story

Additional awards were given to Jason Ritter for Achievement in Film, Susan McPhail for the Hat Trick award for three films in the festival and Barry Nash of Bob Birdnow for the Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award.