Film producer and director, Leila Djansi
Film producer and director, Leila Djansi has won the Audience Award for Episodic Pilot at the 2018 LA Film Festival with her latest movie ’40 & Single’.
40 and Single was recently premiered at the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival on September 22 and also at the LA Film Festival on September 25, making it two Ghana/USA films to be premiered at the Urbanworld Film Festival with the other one being ‘The Burial Of Kojo’.
The movie featured Vanessa Williams, Leon Robinson, Miranda Bailey, Nikki Samonas, Adjetey Annan, John Savage, Deon Mattews, Rama Brew, and several others.
The LA Film Festival announced the winners of the 2018 Festival at the Awards Reception presided over by Festival Director Jennifer Cochis and Film Independent President Josh Welsh.
Festival Guest Director, Emmy-award-winning, Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth, Queen of Versailles) was awarded the Spirit of Independence Award at the event for her work advancing the cause of independent film and championing creative freedom as a celebrated documentarian, famed photographer and artist.
The Festival’s juried awards include: the U.S. Fiction Award, World Fiction Award, Documentary Award, LA Muse Awards, Nightfall Award, Music Video Award, Episodic Award, well as the Short Fiction Award and the Short Documentary Award. Audience awards are presented for Fiction Feature Film, Documentary Feature Film, Episodic Story, Episodic Pilot, Short Film, Music Video and Series from the Web.
The Festival’s competitions featured a diverse slate of 40 feature films, 41 short films and 10 short episodic works representing 26 countries. Across the competition categories 42% of the films are directed by women and 39% are directed by people of color.
Awards were given out in the following categories:
The U.S. Fiction Award
This Teacher, dir. Mark Jackson, World Premiere
Screenwriters: Mark Jackson, Dana Thompson
Producers: Mark Jackson, Dana Thompson, Gigi Graff, Josh Mandel, Javier Gonzalez
Cast: Hafsia Herzi, Sarah Kazemy, Lucy Walters, Kevin Kane, Lev Gorn
U.S. Fiction Special Mention
In Reality, dir. Ann Lupo, California Premiere
Screenwriters: Ann Lupo, Esteban Pedraza, Aaron Pryka
Producers: Ann Lupo, Nadine Martinez, Holly Meehl
Cast: Ann Lupo, Miles G. Jackson, Kimiko Glenn, Jill Eikenberry, Olivia Washington, Esteban Pedraza, Lauren E. Banks
World Fiction Award
Winner: Border, dir. Ali Abbasi, California Premiere
Screenwriters: Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf, John Ajvide Lindqvis
Producers: Nina Bisgaard, Peter Gustafsson, Petra Jönsson
Cast: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Jörgen Thorsson
Jury Members: Roxanne Benjamin (actress/director, V/H/S), Anna Rogers (COO/VP Production at The Art of Elysium/EB Studios), Yuval Sharon (Artistic Director, TheIndustry in Los Angeles)
World Fiction Special Jury Prize, Directing
The Day I Lost My Shadow, dir. Soudade Kaadan, US Premiere
Screenwriters: Soudade Kaadan
Producers: Amira Kaadan
Cast: Sawsan Arshid, Reham Al Kasar, Samer Ismail, Ahmad Ali
Documentary Award
hillbilly, dir. Sally Rubin & Ashley York, LA Premiere
Producers: Sally Rubin & Ashley York
Featuring: bell hooks, Billy Redden, Ronny Cox, Frank X Walker, Crystal Good, Silas Howard
Jury Members: Michael Bodie (director/professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts), Hans Charles (Cinematographer, 13th), Rae Dawn Chong (actress, The Color Purple)
Documentary Special Jury Award for Excellence in Social Justice Storytelling
False Confessions, dir. Katrine Philp, North American Premiere
Producers: Katrine A. Sahlstrøm
LA Muse Award
Winner: Staycation, dir. Tanuj Chopra, World Premiere
Screenwriters: Tanuj Chopra, Anthony Ma, Grace Su
Producer: Lalithra Fernando
Cast: Anthony Ma, Grace Su
Jury Members: Tamar Halpern (filmmaker, Llyn Foulkes One Man Band), Jorge Lendeborg (actor, Bumblebee), Jamil Walker Smith (director, The American Dream, actor, Code Black)
LA Muse Documentary Award
Winner: Fire on the Hill dir. Brett Fallentine, World Premiere
Producers: Brett Fallentine, Jordana Glick-Franzheim, Steven Amato
Jury Members: Tamar Halpern (filmmaker, Llyn Foulkes One Man Band), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (actor, Bumblebee), Jamil Walker Smith (director, The American Dream, actor, Code Black)
LA Muse Special Mention, Best Ensemble Cast
Winner: Solace, dir. Tchaiko Omawale, World Premiere
Screenwriter: Tchaiko Omawale
Producers: Tchaiko Omawale, Maya Emelle, Hope Olaide Wilson, Sabine Hoffman, Sascha Brown Rice
Cast: Hope Olaide Wilson, Lynn Whitfield, Chelsea Tavares, Glynn Turman, Luke Rampersad, Sydney Bennett
Nightfall Award
The Dead Center, dir. Billy Senese, World Premiere
Screenwriters: Billy Senese
Producers: Billy Senese, Denis Deck, Jonathan Rogers, Shane Carruth
Cast: Shane Carruth, Poorna Jagannathan, Jeremy Childs, Billy Feehely
Jury Members: Niyia Mack (producer, Delusion: The Blue Blade), Alex Neustaedter (actor, A.X.L.), Sarah Adina Smith (director, Legion, Room 104)
Nightfall Special Jury Prize, Lead Actor
Actor: Ashleigh Morghan
Film: Head Count, dir. Elle Callahan, World Premiere
Screenwriters: Michael Nader
Producers: Samuel Sandweiss, Brandon Somerhalder
Nightfall Special Jury Prize, Ensemble Cast
Cast: Barak Hardley, Jackie Tohn, Magnús Jónsson, Birna Rún Eiriksdóttir, Tom Wright, Stacey Moseley, Michael Nanfria, Michole Briana White, Bryndís Haraldsdíttir
Film: Spell, dir. Brendan Walter, World Premiere
Screenwriter: Barak Hardley
Producers: Brendan Walter, Jon Lullo, Barak Hardley, Katy Stoll, Eleanor WIlson
Award for Short Fiction
The Passage, dir. Kitao Sakurai
Jury Members: Missy Laney (Director of Development, Adult Swim), Caleb Spencer (Managing Director, Nashville Film Festival), Garth Trinidad (DJ, KCRW)
Award for Documentary Short
One Leg In, One Leg Out, dir. Lisa Rideout
Jury Members: Missy Laney (Director of Development, Adult Swim), Caleb Spencer (Managing Director, Nashville Film Festival), Garth Trinidad (DJ, KCRW)
Web Episodes Jury Award
Psusy, dir. Anna Duckworth
Jury Members: Missy Laney (Director of Development, Adult Swim), Caleb Spencer (Managing Director, Nashville Film Festival), Garth Trinidad (DJ, KCRW)
Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film
Brian Banks, dir. Tom Shadyac, World Premiere
Screenwriter: Doug Atchison
Producers: Amy Baer, Monica Levinson, Shivani Rawat
Cast: Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd, Tiffany Dupont, Xosha Roquemore
Audience Award for Documentary Feature Film
Stuntman, dir. Kurt Mattila, World Premiere
Producers: Steven Golebiowski, Kurt Mattila, Eddie Braun
Featuring: Eddie Braun, Gary Davis, Conrad E. Palmisano, Buddy Joe Hooker, Scott Truax, Meg Braun
Audience Award for Music Video
Clutch, dir. Christopher Ripley
Audience Award for Short Film
Weekends, dir. Trevor Jimenez
Audience Award for Episodic Story
Revenge Tour, dir. Andrew Carter
Audience Award for Episodic Pilot
40 & Single, dir. Leila Djansi, World Premiere
Seattle Story Award
I’m Sorry Happy Birthday, dir. Claire Buss, World Premiere
