After an extended run, the Alexandria Film Festival presented awards to filmmakers from around the country and world. Alexandria Film Festival Chair Dara Sanders recognized six top films for their compelling storytelling and high production values. The award was recorded and is available for viewing on demand.
The Best Foreign Language Film Award was presented to Maria Brendle, director of Ala Kachuu – Take and Run, about a young Kyrgyz woman who is kidnapped and forced into marriage. When accepting the award, Brendle noted the film is based on true events.
The Audience Award went to Director Pat McGee for From the Hood to the Holler, a documentary that follows the 2020 political campaign of Charles Booker. McGee accepted the award while attending the Anchorage Film Festival and observed that film festivals like Alexandria’s give filmmakers a platform to share important stories. McGee previously received Alexandria Film Festival honors for his 2018 film “American Relapse.”
The Special Jury Award was presented to Director Paula van der Oest for her romantic comedy Love in a Bottle about two people who begin a love affair via Facetime during the pandemic. Filmed simultaneously in two different locations, the main characters were kept apart intentionally until filming the final scenes. Van der Oest is an Oscar-nominated director for her earlier film “Zus and Zo.”
Documentarian Joe Cantwell presented the award he endowed, the Joe Cantwell Prize for Documentary Excellence, to OPEN FIELD, which is “a testimony to all the girls and women who followed their dreams to play professional football” noted Director Kathy Kuras who accepted the award along with Editor and Co-producer John Anderson and the film’s main character Sami Grisafe, quarterback for Team USA.
The Best Regional Film went to Tower Road Bus, a documentary set in Prince Georges County that explores the experiences of African American students and educators thrust into all-white schools during the 1970s. Accepting the award, Director Michal Streissguth noted it was his second time participating in the festival and it felt like “coming home.”
The top award of the ceremony, Best of Fest, was awarded to I’m Fine, Thanks for Asking, a heart-warming film about a widowed, homeless, single mother to her 8-year-old daughter, and who works multiple jobs to get a roof back over their heads. Co-directors Kelley Kali, a graduate of Howard University, and Angelique Molina thanked the festival for bringing focus to real-life struggles including homelessness.
