October Country, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher's multi-generational story of a working-class family coping with poverty, teen pregnancy, foster care and the ineffable horrors of child molestation and war, captured the Sterling US Feature Award at the recently concluded SilverDocs. The jury praised the work as "a film that is subtle and intuitively creative while presenting important social issues in a surprising way. It showcases an extraordinary fresh talent, which left us excited to see what they do next."
Here's a complete run-down of the SilverDocs honors:
Sterling US Feature Award: October Country (Dirs.: Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher)
Sterling World Feature Award: Mugabe and the White African (Dirs.: Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson)
Sterling Short Award: 12 Notes Down (Dir.: Andreas Koefoed)
Special Jury Mention: Salt (Dirs.: Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks)
Music Documentary Award: Riseup (Dir.: Luciano Blotta)
Special Jury Mention: Soul Power (Dir.: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte)
Cinematic Vision Award: Old Partner (Dir.: Lee Chung-ryoul)
WITNESS Award: Good Fortune (Dir.: Landon Van Soest)
Writers Guild of America Documentary Screenplay Award: Off and Running (Wtr./Dir.: Nicole Opper)
ACE Grant Winner: Cinema Chimp (Dir.: David Grabias)
Feature Audience Award: The Cove (Dir.: Louie Psihoyos)
Short Audience Award: 12 Notes Down (Dir.: Andreas Koefoed)
Beyond the official awards, indieWIRE picked nine great moments from the film fest. Read 'em here.