Disfluency written and directed by Anna Baumgarten took the jury award for Best Narrative Feature, and Buried directed by Jared Drake and Steven Siig won for Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Austin Film Festival (AFF).
The Audience voted the documentary Larry Flynt for President written and directed by Nadia Szold as Best Marquee Feature, Unsilenced, written and directed by Leon Lee as Best Narrative Feature and With This Breath I Fly, directed by Sam French and Clementine Malpas as Best Documentary Feature:
In total, this year there were 9 Jury Award winners, 11 Audience Award winners, and 18 script competition winners.
The Austin Film Festival ran from October 21 to October 28, 2021 offering film and conference programming both in-person and online. Next year’s Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference will be held from October 27 to November 3, 2022.
2021 Austin Film Festival Award Winners
Jury Award Winners
Narrative Feature: DISFLUENCY, written and directed by Anna Baumgarten
Documentary Feature presented by FloSports: BURIED, directed by Jared Drake and Steven Siig
Comedy Vanguard Feature: HOLIDAYS AT ALL COST, written and directed by Stevan Lee Mraovitch
Dark Matters Feature: JACINTO, written and directed by Javi Camino
Narrative Short: PLAY IT AGAIN, directed by Dan Abramovici, written by Liam Gareau and Myrthin Stagg
Narrative Student Short: UNMOTHERED, written and directed by Urvashi Pathania
Documentary Short presented by FloSports: WONDERFULLY MADE, directed by Benita Ozoude
Animated Short: RED SHOES, directed by Anna Paděrová, written by Anna Paděrová and Matěj Podskalský
Produced Digital Series: CARY IN RETROGRADE, written and directed by Priya Domfeh and Philipp Yaw
Enderby Entertainment Fellowship Award: FARANAK, written and directed by Mehrnoush Alia
Audience Award Winners
Marquee Feature: LARRY FLYNT FOR PRESIDENT written and directed by Nadia Szold
Narrative Feature: UNSILENCED, written and directed by Leon Lee
Documentary Feature: WITH THIS BREATH I FLY, directed by Sam French and Clementine Malpas
Dark Matters Feature: CRAM, written and directed by Abie Sidell
Comedy Feature: HOLIDAYS AT ALL COSTS, written and directed by Stevan Lee Mraovitch
Texas Independent Feature: BUCK ALAMO, written and directed by Ben Epstein
Narrative Short: JEFF CAN’T SWIM, written by Jon Ebeling, directed by Michaela Myers
Documentary Short: STREET REPORTER, written and directed by Laura Waters Hinson
Animated Short: THE SNOW BALL, written and directed by Rick MacDonald
Narrative Student Short: LAST STRIKE, written and directed by Zan Gillies
Produced Digital Series: FLUX, written by Alex DiBucci, directed by Jacob Stern and Alex DiBucci
Script Competition Winners
Drama Feature Screenplay Award presented by Writers Guild of America, East: ATALANTA by Amanda Smith
Comedy Feature Screenplay Award: OLIVER AND THE FIREFLY by Brandon Steiner
Horror Feature Screenplay Award: CAULIFLOWER by Daniel Jackson
Sci-Fi Feature Screenplay Award: MINIMUM COMFORTABLE DISTANCE by Steven Snell
Drama Teleplay Pilot Award: BLACKJACK by Emily Kim
Comedy Teleplay Pilot Award: CUDDLEBUG by Jenna-Marie Warnecke
Drama Teleplay Spec Award: MINDHUNTER: SOMETIMES THE DRAGON WINS by Peter Lee
Comedy Teleplay Spec Award: PEN15: BEST FRIENDS FOREVER by Hannah Rae Dillon
Short Screenplay Award: THE GREAT WINGZINI by Shaun Radecki
Playwriting Award: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A CANOE by Amy Dellagiarino
Fiction Podcast Award: PEARLS & PIE WITH GRETA by Jake Hart and Rebecca Ann Johnson
Digital Series Award: PLASMADROME by Kendra Viteri-Lynn and Phoebe Zimmerer
Enderby Entertainment Award: WHIZ BANG by Joshua Sheehan
AMC One-Hour Pilot Award: MEADERVILLE by Bryce Berkowitz
Warner Bros. Television Pilot Award presented by WarnerMedia: A WHOLE PRODUCTION by Pam Hugi and Jen Diamond
Rooster Teeth BIPOC Fellowship: HEART STRINGS by Jasper Chen
Rooster Teeth Women & Animation Fellowship: GREEN-WOOD: AN ANIMATED SERIES by Rebecca Louise Miller
Josephson Entertainment Fellowship: WERE By Carter Friend and LOST AND FOUND by Theresa Chiu