2024 Award Winners

The 33rd Annual Woods Hole Film Festival is proud to announce the winners of our Jury, Audience, Directors Choice and Screenplay Competition Awards.

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Best of the Fest
Porcelain War by Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev

Feature Documentary
Winner: Porcelain War by Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev
Runner Up: Water For Life (Agua es Vida) by Will Parrinello
2nd Runner Up: The Body Politic by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough

Feature Narrative
Winner: The Compatriots by Spencer Cohen
Runner Up: Hangdog by Matt Cascella
2nd Runner Up: If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing by Sadie Bones

Short Documentary
Winner: Forbidden Pond by Eric Jenkins-Sahlin
Runner Up: Sincero by Robin Stoop, Jolaya Gillams, and Peter Pan
2nd Runner Up: Radio Dadaab by Environmental Justice Foundation

Short Dramatic
Winner: Sally, Get the Potatoes by Danica Waldo
Runner Up: Bienvenidos a Los Angeles by Lisa Cole
2nd Runner Up: Lunchbox by Anne Hu

Short Comedy
Winner: Barely Breathing by Derek Evans
Runner Up: The Innkeeper by Paudie Baggott

Short Animation
Winner: The Queen’s Flowers by Ciara Leina’ala Lacy
Runner Up: Dragon Agent-Wreckers of Boston by Gordon LePage

JURY AWARDS
You can read the full jury statements for all the categories HERE.

Feature Documentary
Winner: The Body Politic by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough
Runner Up: Sugarcane by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Runner Up: Porcelain War by Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev
Special Humanitarian Award: Ultimate Citizens by Francine Strickwerda

Feature Narrative – Drama
Winner: Riley by Benjamin Howard
Runner Up: The Strangers’ Case by Brandt Andersen

Feature Narrative – Comedy
Winner: Egghead & Twinkie by Sarah Kambe Holland
Runner Up: If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing by Sadie Bones

Short Documentary
Winner: Anyuka by Maya Erdelyi
Runner Up: Footprints on Katmai by Max Romey
2nd Runner Up: Radio Dadaab by Environmental Justice Foundation
2nd Runner Up: What Happened To You by Alex Goldberg

Short Dramatic
Winner: Stalled in Eight Etudes by Kersti Bryan
Runner Up: Bienvenidos a Los Angeles by Lisa Cole
2nd Runner Up: Jane’s In The Freezer by Caleb Joye

Short Comedy
Winner: Dérive by Lianne Walden
Runner Up: The Innkeeper by Paudie Baggott

Short Animation
Winner: Hunky Dory by Steven Vander Meer
Runner Up: The Queen’s Flowers by Ciara Leina’ala Lacy

Sound Design Award (Dramatic or Comedy Short)
Winner: Neo Dome
Runner Up: Lunchbox

DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS

Best Performance (Youth – Short Film)
Portia McLaughlin (The Innkeeper)

Best Performance (Adult – Short Film)
Lauren Noll (The Heart of Texas)

Best Performance (Feature Film)
Kirby Howell-Baptiste (We Strangers)

Best Performance (Ensemble)
The cast of “Him”

Emerging New England Filmmaker – (Sponsored by Talamas)
Winner: Spencer Cohen (The Compatriots)

Emerging Filmmaker(s) – (Sponsored by Boris FX)
Winners (TIE):
Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough (The Body Politic)
Bonnie Discepolo (Neo Dome)

Fortitude in Filmmaking
Winner: Porcelain War by Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev

SCREENPLAY AWARDS
Read Screenplay Competition Director Hortense Gerardo’s Notes on our Winners and Finalists HERE.

Short Screenplays
Readers: Tara Le Reynolds, CK Anderson, Hortense Gerardo 

Drama
A Good Day Will Come by Amir Zargara

Comedy
Winner: It All Started In A Parking Lot by Isabel Lieser

Feature Screenplays
Readers: Kathleen Casey, Mark Riley, Hortense Gerardo

Drama
The Crossing by Clark Childers

Comedy
Don’t Eat Paper by Julius Galacki