2024 Awards Jury Statements

DRAMATIC FEATURES
Jurors: Glen Reynolds, Ricky Margolis, Sandy Missakian

Winner: RILEY
The jury of the Woods Hole Film Festival 2024 is delighted to announce RILEY as its winner of the Narrative Feature Competition in the Drama category. This exceptional debut feature from writer/director Ben Howard tells the story of Dakota Riley, a young man on the verge of adulthood coming to terms with his sexuality whilst dealing with the crushing weight of expectation of those around him, coupled with the demons that he must battle within himself. Given the welcome increase in recent years of LGBTQ+ representation in both the media and society at large, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the coming-out journey can still be an ordeal fraught with danger – both real and imagined – where the path is rarely smooth. RILEY offers a beautiful portrayal of this struggle, with its titular protagonist desperately trying to juggle the expectations of his father, his best friend, his girlfriend, and his football teammates whilst grappling with his most urgent need to be loved and valued for who he really is, not what everyone else (including Dakota himself) wants him to be. Grounding the entire film is a heartbreaking performance from Jake Holley, who gives a beautifully nuanced portrayal that shows both Dakota’s strength and fragility with incredible empathy. The sensitive tone crafted by both Howard and Holley allows the audience to join him on his journey as he finally faces up to the truths that threaten to stand in the way of his pursuit of happiness. A worthy winner of this year’s award that touched the jury members, this film offers a love letter to people of all ages who may be struggling to come to terms with their true selves. Hard-hitting yet sensitive, heartbreaking but ultimately optimistic, RILEY should seal its place as an essential title in the pantheon of great coming-of-age movies, particularly in the LGBTQ+ category.

Runner Up: THE STRANGERS’ CASE
As a close runner up for the Narrative Feature Award, the jury recognizes THE STRANGERS’ CASE, a gripping portrayal of the inhumanity of the Syrian refugee crisis and the price paid by each who plays a role in it.
Ambitiously told by first time director Brandt Anderson, this sobering tale interweaves the desperation of five families, and their journeys spanning four countries in a shared pursuit for a better life. By examining the refugees’ plight from the varied perspectives of those involved: from the devoted Syrian doctor who saves the life of the enemy who later destroys her home; to displaced victims living amidst chaos; to the hardened warrior who turns his back on his mission in favor of his conscience; to the brutal trafficker whose cruelty for cash is payment to fuel his own drive to emigrate with his sickly son; to the determined rescuer who sacrifices his own family to save other families – Anderson takes the audience on a heartfelt yet suspense filled exploration of the human condition fraught with unbearable choices where children always seem to pay the price for the decisions of others. By structuring the film in chapters and revisiting the same incidents from different perspectives, Anderson forces the audience to experience the “story” behind the story as the movie unnervingly careens towards some form of tragedy for all. No matter what the political perspective, the audience is forced to contemplate the film’s twists and turns to the ripple effects playing themselves out in today’s headlines and contemplate, not “If,” by how each of us have been affected by them.

COMEDY FEATURES

Winner: EGGHEAD & TWINKIE
The jury of the Woods Hole Film Festival 2024 is thrilled to announce EGGHEAD & TWINKIE as its winner of the Narrative Feature Competition in the Comedy category. In this memorable coming-of-age film, writer/director Sarah Kambe Holland explores the ups and downs of two friends who embark on a journey to chase a dream only to realize that the road is often bumpier than they’d imagined. The excitement of the physical journey is mirrored by the emotional journey that the two friends travel on as they are forced to re-examine their friendship and learn some harsh truths about themselves along the way. For better or worse, disappointment can be a great teacher, and it is only when Twinkie discovers that the love she had been chasing isn’t all she dreamed of that the two friends truly appreciate what they already have under their noses – and each other. Despite the difficult lessons the friends must sometimes learn, Kambe Holland brings both humor and sensitivity to the proceedings, using innovative filmmaking techniques to keep the tone light and fun whilst still delivering the occasional emotional gut-punch just when it is most needed. In so doing, she evokes a time in our lives that we can all recognize, a time of youthful hope, of chasing dreams, of spontaneity and fun, and above all, of best friends who always have each other’s backs, no matter how fiercely they occasionally fight. A film that made us laugh whilst still touching our hearts in all the right ways, EGGHEAD & TWINKIE is a most worthy winner of this year’s award.

Runner Up: IF THAT MOCKINGBIRD DON’T SING
As a close runner-up in the Comedy category, the jury of the Woods Hole Film Festival 2024 recognizes IF THAT MOCKINGBIRD DON’T SING, a wonderfully touching portrayal of 17-year-old Sydnie as she deals with an unexpected pregnancy and the life-changing decisions she is thrust into making at such a young age. Whilst we have seen similar subject matter tackled in films before in recent years, the jury was excited to see it portrayed in a way that felt both innovative and original. Such a topic can often threaten to slip into melodrama, but director Sadie Bones skillfully balances moments of laugh-out-loud humor with scenes of devastating empathy as Sydnie grapples with the most consequential of decisions. Both Bones and lead actor Aitana Doyle announce themselves as significant talents to watch for as we join Sydnie on her impossible journey to make the “right” choice when such a choice seems impossible, despite everyone around her being certain they have the correct answer. At a time when reproductive rights continue to be booted around like a political football, this sensitive exploration of this topic offers a refreshingly accessible approach to a struggle that is still all too common in today’s society.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Jurors: Jay Spain, Liz Norton, Lucy Munger

In picking our Woods Hole winners, we always consider the location of our New England coast community and any connection the film has to the area, whether geographic, oceanographic, environmental, or tourism-related. The submissions for 2024 were again extraordinary in terms of concepts and storytelling. We are proud of the filmmakers efforts to introduce or refine our knowledge of a subject about which we may have known nothing or underestimated. We are also attuned to current trends and events, important messages for the future of humanity, and our planet. We base our awards accordingly, to help promote the films and filmmakers who deserve acclaim for great stories wonderfully told.

For our Humanitarian award, we chose a film that illuminated how to develop the human spirit, a talent in great demand. In this film, one person in one school is making a huge positive impact by his investment in the children of our future. We meet Mr. Endurance, a 65 year old, Iranian American school counselor who uses the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to help immigrant and refugee kids find belonging on their way in American Society. Through uplifting their spirits emotionally and educationally, Jamshid Khajavi enables the children to be able to succeed by competing in Ultimate Frisbee, first at school, and then on to compete in the world’s largest Ultimate Frisbee tournament. We proudly present our Woods Hole 2024 Humanitarian Award to Ultimate Citizens, filmmaker, Francine Strickwerda.

With the two runners up, we echo the esteem of prior festival play where these great docs received accolades and awards while securing public distribution. We sincerely hope you will take the time to see these amazing films in the future if you missed them at our festival. We want to give special recognition with Honorable Mention Awards to Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev for their film Porcelain War, which introduces us to the normal people like us, but who are fighting diligently to save their democracy, country and way of life for themselves and their children’s future in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Our second Honorable Mention Award goes to Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie who take us on a deeply moving journey with Sugarcane. These journalists-turned-filmmakers investigate abuse and missing children at a Catholic residential school whose purpose is to educate and indoctrinate Indigenous children. We follow them from the discovery of unmarked graves uncovering widespread horrors of mistreatment and cultural genocide to a papal visit in Rome.

In this election year, our winner features a man who is dedicated to making change in his city across the spectrum from chronic gun violence, to the policing and response to crime, to the courts and to incarceration. We follow this Baltimore native son, Mayor Brandon Scott, through his election to victory and promotion of change in city government with his talent and courage. Mayor Scott shows us a path to do this in all of our cities. Congratulations to Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough’s film The Body Politic our 2024 Woods Hole Film Festival Documentary Jury Award Winner.

DRAMATIC SHORTS
Jurors: Alecia Orsini Lebeda, JP Ouellette, Julie Sultan

Winner: Stalled In Eight Etudes
STALLED IN EIGHT ETUDES is a study in humanity’s variations: all in a short time and in a small space. So much happens behind the doors of this women’s courthouse bathroom in its mere seventeen minutes. Moments pleasant, and unpleasant. It’s a place where these women hope to find some privacy and relief. A place not only to fix their makeup or adjust their clothing, but maybe find sanctuary from dangers to their physical bodies or mental well-being.

Through eight distinct characters, the film not only gives us a glimpse into what it means to be in those different head spaces, but it does so with many walks of life. Of course, the shocker comes when, as credits roll, we realize that each of these characters was played by the one and same actress, Tracey Bonner. And between her amazing chameleon performance and the script and direction by Kersti Bryan the revelation is almost breathtaking. Admittedly, a second actress, a transgender woman who rushed into the bathroom for refuge from an abusive family, was needed to face Ms. Bonner at the mirror but still! It provides a moment of almost unspoken code of the women’s room. A poignant moment when women help each other straighten up, powder the nose if needed, and buck ourselves up to head back out ready to take on the world.

Kudos for the script which made all the characters distinct and the directing that had the characters crisscross was a feat of almost magic. Also production team of hair and make up who gave this actress tools to disappear into each woman she was portraying. The cinematography, the sound design, the casting, et all, comes together flawlessly. The set, itself, becomes something larger than its actual size. In this women’s courtroom bathroom, we will see ourselves, and understand better this little understood safe haven, and remember to choose kindness.

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Jurors: Bestor Cram, Curtis John Karen Olcott

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

This year’s competition for the best short documentary film at the Woods Hole Film Festival was filled with a broad selection of films, each of which shared one common characteristic—a passionate expression. Some were grounded in scientific findings, others were personal chronicles of the heart under stress, still others focused on unfinished stories grappling with history. And some explored future challenges while others were laugh-out-loud entertainment with a message.

This category of documentary films reflected very personal relationships between the filmmaker and the film subject. The best of them revealed stylish production techniques that raised the creative expression while maintaining an intimate connection to its narrative. A sense of authenticity made certain films stand out as having artistic credibility and societal purpose. The judges agreed that the cinematic landscape is filled with many worthy films deserving recognition and exposure to audiences. Congratulations to the winners!

COMEDY SHORT
Jurors: Richard Gilbert, Herb Nipson

Winner: Dérive
This journey, guided by the desires of a deceased ex-wife, manages to humorously guide all of us through the pain and magic of life. The color of the imagery, the variety and whimsey of the characters, and the artful presentation of our everyday world leave us with a restful perspective on our collective lot.

ANIMATED SHORT
Jurors: Richard Gilbert, Herb Nipson

Winner: Hunky Dory
These four thousand, three hundred and twenty hand-drawn frames of musical joy are guaranteed to convince you that, for at least six minutes and two seconds, everything is indeed hunky dory.