A spectacular awards program recognizing the best talent in independent cinema from around the globe.
The Best of NFMLA Awards will honor 125 nominees across 16 Award categories including narrative, documentary, animation, new media, direction, screenplay, performance, sound design, score, cinematography and editing. The nominees are comprised of the content that screened as part of the NFMLA Monthly Film Festival 2021 season which ran from January 1st, 2021 and December 31st, 2021.

Winners

Best New Filmmaker

Gabriela Ortega

Best Feature Film

Beans
Directed by Tracey Deer and Produced by Anne-Marie Gélinas

Best Documentary Feature Film

A La Calle
Directed by Nelson G. Navarrete, Maxx Caicedo and Produced by Shawna Brakefield-Haase, Marcus Cheek, Maxx Caicedo, Nelson G. Navarrete

Best Short Film, Documentary

This Is the Way We Rise
Directed by Ciara Lacy and Produced by Chapin Hall

Honorable Mention
Neurodivergent
Directed by Afton Quast Saler and Produced by Reagan Shea & Rachel Priebe

Best Short Film

Comedy Date Nite
Directed by JJ Shpall and Produced by Thomas Hartmann

Best Short Film, Drama

Yellow Girl and Me
Directed by Isabella Issa and Produced by Paul V Fishback

Best International Short Film, Comedy

The Birth of Valerie Venus
Directed by Sarah Clift and Produced by Pietro Greppi & Serena Armitage

Best International Short Film, Drama

Under the Heavens (Seiva Bruta)
Directed by Gustavo Milan and Produced by Gustavo Morozini

Honorable Mention
The Tongues (Njoukcamat)
Directed by Marja Bål Nango & Ingir Bål Nango and Produced by Elisa Fernanda Pirir

Best Short Film, Animated

Souvenir Souvenir
Directed by Bastien Dubois and Produced by Amiel Tenenbaum

Best New Media & Experimental

Last Black Man
Directed by Devone X. King and Produced by Wooyeon Cho

Best Screenplay

Taliya
Written by Arnold Mwanjila

Honorable Mention
Nervosa
Written by Thessa Meijer

Best Performance Comedy

Russell Goldman
I Make Good Sounds at Parties

Best Performance Drama

Dior Wilson
Yellow Girl and Me

Best Cinematography

Luke Sargent
Sweet Potatoes

Best Film Editing

Christina Antonakos-Wallace & Aletta Von Vietinghoff
From Here

Best Sound Design

Jose Pablo Ramirez
The Fire Next Time

Best Score

Onry
Livin’ in the Light

Feature

Documentary feature

documentary short

new media & experimental

animation

international comedy

international drama

drama short

comedy short

screenplay

performance drama

performance comedy

cinematography

film editing

sound design

score

jury

sponsors

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score

Ola Kostet
Composer
Onry
Original Music
Daniel Norman, Sholto Kynoch & Brodsky Quartet (Gina McCormack, Ian Belton, Paul Cassidy & Jacqueline Thomas)
Tenor, Piano, Quartet
Fred Silveira
Original Soundtrack
Kevin Sargent
Composer

sound design

Marc Cartwright
Sound Designer
Sam Fan
Sound Designer
Dan Golden
Sound & Music
Vasily Lebedev
Sound
Jose Pablo Ramirez
Sound Designer

film editing

Ramiel Petros
Editor
Isao Furugori
Editor
Christina Antonakos-Wallace & Aletta Von Vietinghoff
Editor
Adithya Sambamurthy & Nathan Caswell
Editor
Richelle Van Loon
Editor

Cinematography

Matt Edwards
Cinematographer
Bruno Gaeta
Director of Photography
Dewun Owusu
Director of Photography
Benjamin Schindler
Cinematographer
Luke Sargent
Director of Photography

performance comedy

Alejandro Santoni
Alberto and the Concrete Jungle
Jaime Lyn Beatty
Designated Rider
Ahya Simone
Femme Queen Chronicles - Episode One: The Clock
Amanda McQueen
Becca
Russell Goldman
I Make Good Sounds At Parties
Dominic Best
Litany for Mr. President
Josh Brener
Date Nite
Jane Guernier
The Birth of Valerie Venus
Bill Tangradi
They Fly By Night
Alex Urbom
They Fly By Night

performance drama

Richard Walters
An Uninvited Guest
Ayinde Howell
Augustus
Jericho Rosales
Basurero
Kazem Hashem Zadeh
Elders
Shakira Barrera
Huella
Ari Damasco
In France Michelle is a Man's Name
Reise Alexander
Juliet
Nora El Koussour
Nervosa
Marcelia Cartaxo
Pacarrete
Dior Wilson
Yellow Girl and Me

screenplay

Richard Gretsky
A Blossom In the Night
Eric Brewster & JJ Shpall
Date Nite
Em Weinstein
In France Michelle is a Man's Name
Alex Greenlee
Intrepidus
Roberto Saieh
La Ruta
Ashunda Norris
Mino: A Diasporic Myth
Thessa Meijer
Nervosa
Rommel Villa Barriga
Sweet Potatoes
Arnold Mwanjila
Taliya
Federico Torrado Tobon
Yoruga

jury

Dinh Thai
Award-Winning Commercial Writer/Director
Ryan Bernstein
Endeavor Content
Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs
Sundance Institute
Sandino Moya-Smith
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Hany Abu-Assad
Oscar Nominated Filmmaker
Sean Barclay
The Gersh Agency
Bettina Fisher
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Helen Hoehne
Journalist / HFPA President
Bronwen Carter
HBO
Caellum Allan
TriStar Pictures
Jazz Tangcay
Variety Magazine
Jessica Zou
Verve
Kim Williams
Walt Disney Television
Kristi Shuton
Walt Disney Television
Mark Hartogsohn
The Gersh Agency
Mike Wheet
Samsung TV
Christine Davila
Ojala Productions at Universal Content Productions (UCP)
Mona Xia
Netflix
Nic Cha Kim
PBS SoCal / KCET
Elyse Findley
Disney Television Animation
Rachel Jones
Starz
Ozi Menakaya
CAA
Alex Villalta
TriStar Television
Tamika Lamison
Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), PhilmCO
Cameron Cubbison
Zero Gravity Management
Chris Gray
Freestyle Digital Media
Janne Barklis
Gersh
Ivonne Cotorruelo
Cleveland International Film Festival
Casey Meurer
HBO Max
Antonio D’Intino
Circle of Confusion
Emily Cohen Ibañez
Director, Fruits of Labor
Daniela Gonzalez
Circle of Confusion
Anthony Sparks
NACCP Image Award Nominated Writer/Producer
Charnay Mather
Anonymous Content
Charlotte Lichtman
CAA
Caleb Ward
Highland Film Group

feature

Alberto and the Concrete Jungle
USA
//
99 Mins
Beans
Canada
//
90 Mins
White Elephant
Canada
//
61 Mins
iGilbert
USA
//
89 Mins
Pacarrete
Brazil
//
98 Mins
Fall Back Down
Canada
//
104 Mins

documentary feature

Another Day in Paradise
Israel
//
62 Mins
One Pint at a Time
USA
//
89 Mins
A La Calle
USA
//
110 Mins
From Here
USA
//
89 Mins
Playland USA
Germany
//
88 Mins

documentary short

Why Didn’t You Stay For Me?
Netherlands
//
25 Mins
Miss Curvy
UK
//
25 Mins
Neurodivergent
USA
//
25 Mins
They Keep Quiet So We Make Noise
USA
//
12 Mins
This Is the Way We Rise
USA
//
12 Mins
Kite
USA
//
30 Mins
A Syrian Woman
Jordan
//
11 Mins
Journey to Justice
USA
//
14 Mins
Women of the Earth
USA
//
18 Mins
Lockdown Lunch Club
South Africa
//
23 Mins

animated short

Camouflage
Netherlands, Belgium
//
20 Mins
Creatures in My House
USA
//
11 Mins
Kapaemahu
USA
//
8 Mins
Misery Loves Company
South Korea
//
3 Mins
After a Storm
China
//
11 Mins
Souvenir Souvenir
France
//
15 Mins
The Fire Next Time
UK
//
8 Mins
Umbilical
USA
//
7 Mins
Little Miss Fate
Switzerland
//
8 Mins

new media & experimental

The Grief Cube
USA
//
27 Mins
The Lights Are On, No One’s Home
USA
//
10 Mins
Zeta Project
Canada
//
10 Mins
Hijos Del Sol
Mexico
//
8 Mins
The Ugliest
USA
//
4 Mins
Last Black Man
USA
//
5 Mins
A Machine For Boredom
USA
//
3 Mins
Livin’ in the Light
USA
//
4 Mins
Sarah Mary Chadwick “Full Mood”
USA
//
4 Mins
Femme Queen Chronicles – Episode One: The Clock
USA
//
11 Mins

international comedy

Egg Rebelled
Saudi Arabia
//
5 Mins
Mustachio
Netherlands
//
11 Mins
At the Back
Canada
//
9 Mins
Becca
Canada
//
12 Mins
Trashed
Canada
//
10 Mins
First
Japan
//
20 Mins
Friends Online
UK, France
//
5 Mins
The Birth of Valerie Venus
UK
//
15 Mins
Down
UK
//
12 Mins

international drama

Marlon Brando
Netherlands
//
20 Mins
Nervosa
Netherlands
//
13 Mins
The Departure
Morocco
//
25 Mins
The Tongues (Njoukcamat)
Norway
//
15 Mins
Under the Heavens (Seiva Bruta)
Brazil
//
17 Mins
Wytch Craft
Canada
//
16 Mins
Under Pressure
Canada
//
8 Mins
An Uninvited Guest
Canada
//
3 Mins
In Orbit
Ireland
//
17 Mins
The Fans
Russia
//
26 Mins
Basurero
Philippines
//
17 Mins
In This Land We’re Briefly Ghosts
Taiwan
//
16 Mins

comedy short

Must Love Pie
USA
//
13 Mins
My First Native American Boyfriend
USA
//
5 Mins
The Occult Son
USA
//
13 Mins
They Fly By Night
USA
//
30 Mins
I Make Good Sounds At Parties
USA
//
8 Mins
Litany for Mr. President
USA
//
20 Mins
Designated Rider
USA
//
12 Mins
Friends Like That
USA
//
8 Mins
Two Weeks Notice
USA
//
9 Mins
Date Nite
USA
//
16 Mins

sponsors

drama short

Aziz
USA
//
14 Mins
TwoBears
USA
//
18 Mins
Huella
USA
//
14 Mins
At Last
USA
//
13 Mins
In France Michelle is a Man’s Name
USA
//
13 Mins
Mino: A Diasporic Myth
USA
//
19 Mins
Adrift in Sunset
USA
//
20 Mins
Yellow Girl and Me
USA
//
19 Mins
Augustus
USA
//
18 Mins

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NewFilmmakers Los Angeles
1438 N. Gower St. Box 83
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-521-7385

info@nfmla.org

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