aGLIFF 33: Prism 2020 Audience Award Winners Announced

Austin's oldest film festival, The All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) has announced the Audience Awards for aGLIFF 33: Prism. aGLIFF Festival organizers will also be the feature of the upcoming Regional Roundtable hosted by the Film Festival Alliance on Friday, August 21. The 2020 festival concluded August 16, 2020. After two weekends of new films, Q&As, 1-1 Series, tastings and more, aGLIFF 33: Prism will join with filmmakers to discuss this year's online festival, audience engagement, pivoting to a virtual festival and much more.

"Prism is more than a theme, its who we are, every beam of light, every color in the spectrum, every letter in the queer identity. With having to Pivot into the virtual, we knew the most important thing was to keep that sense of community that Queer Festivals provide," said aGLIFF Board Secretary and Technical Director for this year's festival Bears Rebecca Fonte. "aGLIFF: 33 Prism was no exception, we had Filmmaker Zoom Meet-Ups, interactive Queer trivia, Bingo with a Drag Superstar, and intimate conversations with the Queer artists shaping Hollywood and beyond, much of which wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't been forced to dramatically rethink the festival experience."

Named after festival founder Scott Dinger and known as "The Humdinger," this year's audience awards were selected by the viewers of aGLIFF 33: Prism with voting online. aGLIFF 33: Prism "Audience Award" winners are Award for Documentary Feature: "Ahead of the Curve"; Award for Fiction Feature: "Breaking Fast"; and Award for Short: Acuitzeramo. (Full information below)

A full list of Jury Award winners is available HERE.

After a successful online film festival, organizers have joined with The Film Festival Alliance for a Regional Round Table with aGLIFF organizers on Friday, August 21 to discuss rebranding, pivoting, audience building & engagement and a little bit of fun! Not only will the day consist of several panel discussions, aGLIFF and FFA will also host a virtual Happy Hour with filmmakers from aGLIFF 33: Prism during the event. Participants of the Happy Hour will include three filmmakers from this year's festival: Lisa Donato "Gossamer Folds"; Gary S. Jaffe "Last Summer with Uncle Ira"; and Jessica Wolfson "The Paint Wizzard."

Fonte expands on this week's Filmmaker Roundtable and the importance of aGLIFFs presence. "For 33 years aGLIFF has meant inclusion for those of us too long left out of the cinematic landscape. And for the last three years the board has been working behind the scenes to bring our name in line with our mission. A prism refracts the light into all the glorious splendor of the rainbow. I have been so proud this year to help our filmmakers and artists shine. We wanted to invite the Film Festival Alliance into our rainbow to show them how we do it, down here in Texas, and at a Queer festival (this is the FFA's first regional roundtable at an LGBTQIA festival). Having a panel focused specifically on our slow and steady rebrand seemed like the perfect time to reintroduce ourselves to Austin, the same but brighter. aGLIFF 33: Prism is over, I cannot wait to start working on Prism 34."

FILM FESTIVAL REGIONAL ROUNDTABLE

SCHEDULE:

1:00pm-1:50 p.m. | Building Audiences in the Virtual World, sponsored by Elevent: Authentic audience building through programming can already be a challenge for film festivals. We'll hear from leaders at focused festivals about how the virtual festival platform has affected their audience building for worse, or maybe for better? Speakers include Andria Wilson (Executive Director, Inside Out Film Festival), Hanna Huang (Executive Director, Austin Asian American Film Festival), Mercedes Cooper (Director of Programming, Array), Anoushka Ratnarajah (Artistic Director, Out on Screen) and Jim Brunzell (Artistic Director, aGLIFF.)

2:00 - 2:50 p.m. | aGLIFF 2020 Case Study: This session with the aGLIFF team, dives into the 2020 virtual festival, and will include information about programming, marketing, attendance, and an emphasis on non-film audience engagement. As festivals pivoted to the virtual space, aGLIFF struggled with a decision that seemed averse to the very foundation of Queer festivals. Hear how they overcame the instinct to cancel, and even changed a few board member opinions along the way.

3:00 - 3:50 p.m. | Filmmaker Lounge: Special Happy Hour Edition, Sponsored by Film Festival Flix: Join us in the Filmmaker Lounge with our host Katie McCullough of Festival Formula, LTD. to hear from Austin-based filmmakers Lisa Donato (Gossamer Folds), Gary S. Jaffe (Last Summer with Uncle Ira) and Jessica Wolfson (The Paint Wizzard). We'll hear from each of them about how they're navigating/treading through the virtual festival circuit, and how the Austin filmmaking community is weathering the pandemic. Katie McCullough of Festival Formula will be moderating the Happy Hour.

4:00-4:50 p.m. | Rebranding of A Festival: From Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival to aGLIFF to Prism: For years aGLIFF stood for the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, a name that by the 30th anniversary of the longest running festival in Austin no longer described the films it played nor to the community it served. Hear how aGLIFF became the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival on its way to Prism.

Film Festival Alliance (FFA), is the sole professional organization for film festivals and the people who run them. The FFA's mission is to foster a collaborative global community for mission-driven film festivals, advocates for a sustainable and inclusive environment within the cinema exhibition ecosystem and creates a powerful collective voice for our industry.

HOW TO ATTEND:

Open to everyone. Suggested donation of $20. Proceeds will benefit aGLIFF's Queer Black Voices Fund. Film Festival Alliance Members may attend for no cost.

RSVP Required: Link to event: https://filmfestivalalliance.org/virtual-regional-roundtable-agliff/

The Film Festival Alliance's Regional Roundtable is sponsored by Elevent and Film Festival Flix.

THE SCOTT DINGER AUDIENCE AWARDS "The Humdinger"

Audience Award for Documentary Feature: AHEAD OF THE CURVE directed by Jen Rainin | Southwest Premiere -

Ahead of the Curve is the story of one of the most influential women in lesbian history most people have never heard of and the impact her work continues to have today. Frances "Franco" Stevens is the founding publisher of Curve Magazine, and her story unfolds through intimate interviews with magazine staff, celebrities, cultural critics, and Franco herself intertwined with extraordinary footage from Franco's personal collection and LGBTQ archives to situate the story in its historical context. Franco's present-day struggle is told through verité handheld footage.

Runner Ups: "Keith Haring Street Art Boy", "The Capote Tapes"

Audience Award for Fiction Feature: BREAKING FAST directed by Mike Mosallam | Texas Premiere -

Mo, a practicing Muslim living in West Hollywood, is learning to navigate life post heartbreak. Enter Kal, an All-American guy who surprises Mo by offering to break fast with him during the holy month of Ramadan.

Runner Ups: "Dramarama", "A Perfectly Normal Family"

Audience Award for Shorts: ACUITZERAMO directed by Miguel Angel Caballero | Southwest Premiere -

Salvador, a gay Mexican elder who has lost his partner of 15 years, calls his partner's estranged son, Anthony, to tell him of his father's passing.

Runner Ups: "Thrive", "Old Hen"

QUEER BLACK VOICES FUND

The Queer Black Voices Fund was created in response to the recent events surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Javier Ambler, among other incidents between police officers and African Americans. The fund has been set up to ensure that queer Black filmmakers, directors, writers, and actors are represented as part of aGLIFF programming every year. The organization will begin awarding grants next year to cover costs associated with submitting and showing qualified films as part of their annual festival and year-round programming. The fund also will be used to cover travel expenses to bring filmmakers to Austin for special events surrounding the festival when possible.

aGLIFF board member, Lenore Shefman of Shefman Law gave the fund a jump start by pledging to match donations made to the Queer Black Voices Fund up to $5,000, which was matched during the festival. aGLIFF aims to continue to fundraising efforts to grow this fund for future filmmakers.

aGLIFF MEMBERSHIP

Memberships get the best access, support aGLIFF's year-round programming, and include festival badges and an array of other perks depending on the level. Membership Levels range from $300 to $1200. Memberships can be paid up front or in monthly installments. Memberships are available for purchase now at agliff.org/.

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