Can Ulkay’s debut feature Ayla The Daughter of War, based on the true story of a soldier in the Korean War who risks his own life to save a half-frozen little girl, won the Best of Fest Award and the Director’s Choice Award for Best Foreign Film at the 24th Sedona International Film Festival. The film was selected as Turkey’s official candidate for the best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscar.
Rod McCall ‘s Rose, featuring Cybill Shepherd, James Brolin, Pam Grier and Cindy Pickett about a widowed ex-cop who decides to go on a solo road trip to the Southwest in a motorized wheelchair after discovering she may have a life-threatening illness; and Django, the story of guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt and his flight from German-occupied Paris in 1943, tied for Director’s Choice Best Feature Film.
Instrument of War, a film about B-24 bomber pilot Clair Cline’s experience as a POW after being shot down in northern Germany during World War II, and inspired by true events, took the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film. 2018 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film, The Insult, won the Audience Award for Best Foreign Film.
Sedona International Film Festival Winners
2018 DIRECTORS’ CHOICE AWARDS
Best Feature Film – Drama: “Rose” and “Django” (tie)
Best Feature Film – Comedy: “Humor Me”
Best Foreign Film: “Ayla The Daughter of War”
Best Documentary Feature: “Liyana”
Best Documentary Short: “Faces of Santa Ana”
Best Environmental Film: “The Need to GROW”
Best Foreign Documentary: “Blue”
Best Short Film: “A Whole World for a Little World”
Best Student Short Film: “Silence”
Best Animated Film: “Weeds”
Best Independent Spirit (Short): “Temporary”
Best Independent Spirit (Narrative): “Quality Problems”
Best Independent Spirit (Documentary): “I Am Jane Doe”
Best Humanitarian (Narrative): “My Name is Vaseline”
Best Humanitarian (Documentary): “Bending the Arc”
Heart of the Festival Award: “Nathan’s Kingdom”
Bill Muller Excellence in Screenwriting Award: “The Drawer Boy”
Marion Herrman Excellence in Filmmaking Award: “In Search of Perfect Consonance”
Technical Director’s Excellence in Exhibition Award: “Game”
2018 AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Best Animated Film: “E-Delivery”
Best Student Short Film: “Silence”
Best Short Film: “Alternative Math”
Best Documentary Short: “Mr. Connolly Has ALS”
Best Documentary Mid-Length: “Standing Still/Still Standing”
Best Environmental Film: “Yasuni Man”
Best Documentary: “I’ll Push You”
Best Foreign Film: “The Insult”
Best Feature Film – Comedy: “Adios Amigos”
Best Feature Film – Drama: “Instrument of War”
BEST OF FEST: “Ayla The Daughter of War”
2018 SPECIAL FESTIVAL AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award: Jane Alexander
Global Initiative Humanitarian Award: Keely Shaye Brosnan and Pierce Brosnan