Film Fest awards

As a wrap to the 21st annual Sonoma International Film Festival, competition winners were announced at a packed awards ceremony last night at the Sebastiani Theatre. The 2018 winners are:

Best American Independent Feature:

Winning Film: IN THE ORCHARD / Directed by Christopher Knoblock

Best World Feature:

Winning Film: SALYUT-7 / Directed by Klim Shipenko

Best Documentary Feature:

Winning Film: THE NEED TO GROW / Directed by Rob Herring & Ryan Wirick

Best Animated Short:

Winning Film: TWO BALLOONS / Directed by Mark C. Smith

Best Comedy Short:

Winning Film: SAM DID IT / Directed by Dominic Burgess

Best Documentary Short:

Winning Film: EMPIRE ON MAIN STREET / Directed by Jessica Congdon

Best Dramatic Short:

Winning Film: WOODMAN / Directed by Mike Jackson

Best World Short:

Winning Film: INTO THE BLUE / Directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic

AUDIENCE AWARDS

The A3 Audience Award: Best Documentary: THE PUSH / Directed by Grant Korgan & Brian Niles (co-directors Geoff Callan)

The Stolman Audience Award for Best American Indie: FUNNY STORY / Directed by Michael Gallagher

SIFF Award for Best World Cinema: TULIPANI / Directed by Mike van Diem

Audience Shorts Awards

Best Animated: THE DRIVER IS RED / Directed by Randall Christopher

Best Comedy: GRAHAM’S MATE/ Directed by Andy Hill

Best Dramatic: WOODMAN / Directed by Mike Jackson

Best Documentary: EMPIRE ON MAIN STREET / Directed by Jessica Congdon

Best World Cimena: CROSSING FENCES / Directed by Annika Pampel

Best Delicious: SAFRON / Directed by Andreas Ewels