Scary Mother Film SFFILM Golden Gate Award
Photo credit: Courtesy of Artizm.

Organizers of the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival have announced this year’s winners. At an event held at The Lab, Golden Gate Awards (GGA) and $40,000 in prize money were handed out to filmmakers.

Ana Urushadze won new directors award in the fiction category for Scary Mother.

City of the Sun / Mzis qalaqi
City of the Sun / Mzis qalaqi

A special jury mention was awarded to City of the Sun by Rati Oneli, noting the film’s “stunning use of cinematography and sound.”

Documentary winner The Distant Barking of Dogs by Simon Lereng Wilmont was awarded a documentary feature award, along with The Judge by Erika Cohn.

Short films receiving GGAs in the competition included the following:

  • Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month (Carlo Francisco Manatad)
  • Shadow Animals (Jerry Carlsson)
  • Crisanto Street (Paloma Martinez)
  • Fair Grounds (Ameer Kazmi)
  • .TV (Anthony Svatek)
  • Icebergs (Elrini Vianelli) (Animated)
  • Weekends (Trevor Jimenez)
  • 49 Mile Scenic Drive (Bradley Smith)

Elle and Goodbye Sam received Golden Gate Awards in the category of Youth Work.

Bird Karma and Crisanto Street were winners in the category of Family Film.

The San Francisco International Film Festival runs through April 17, 2018 at venues across the Bay Area and features nearly 200 films and live events. SFFILM is the longest running film festival in the Americas.

Stark Insider sends congratulations to all the winners and celebrates their creativity and vision!