Producer: Alex Bach, Elizabeth Rohrbaugh, Daniel Powell
Cast: Lena Hall, Mena Suvari, Christine Lahti, Dan Fogler, Rebecca Drysdale, Hayley Kiyoko, Michael Zegen
Film Description: After a crushing breakup, an aimless singer-songwriter moves in with her ultra-Catholic mother and strikes up an unexpected friendship with the wife of an old nemesis. World Premiere
U.S. Fiction Cinematography Award presented by Aputure
Winner: Everything Beautiful is Far Away, cinematography by Christian Sorensen Hansen and Pete Ohs
Directors: Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson
Country: USA
Screenwriter: Pete Ohs
Producer: Saul Germaine, Andrea Sisson, Pete Ohs
Cast: Julia Garner, Joseph Cross, C.S. Lee
Film Description: This arthouse science fiction fable is set on an isolated desert planet, where a man who is looking for parts to repair his robotic companion teams up with a young woman who is searching for an imaginary lake. World Premiere
Aputure is a company that believes creators should never have to compromise their vision because of a budget. Offering professional-grade equipment affordable to filmmakers everywhere, Aputure sells in over 100 countries offering filmmakers and photographers LED lights, monitors, microphones and lens adapters. In partnering with the LA Film Festival to present the Aputure Cinematography Award, they are awarding $4,000 in lighting equipment to the winning film's director of photography.
The U.S. Fiction Jury awarded the following special mentions:
Special Mention for Breakout Performance: Auden Thornton of Beauty Mark
Country: USA
Director: Harris Doran
Screenwriter: Harris Doran
Producer: Harris Doran, Penny Edmiston, Gill Holland, Kiley Lane Parker, Bridget Berger, Corey Moosa
Cast: Auden Thornton, Catherine Curtin, Laura Bell Bundy, Jeff Kober, Madison Iseman, Deirdre Lovejoy
Film Description: Inspired by true events, when a poverty-stricken young mother and her three-year-old son are evicted, she turns to the only person she knows with any money – the man who abused her as a child. World Premiere
Special Mention for Directing: Bruce Thierry Cheung of Don't Come Back from the Moon
Country: USA
Screenwriter: Bruce Thierry Cheung, Dean Bakopoulos
Producer: Jay Davis, Lauren Hoekstra
Cast: Jeffrey Wahlberg, Zackary Arthur, Alyssa Elle Steinacker, Cheyenne Haynes, James Franco, Rashida Jones
Film Description: The men of a small town on the edge of nowhere mysteriously disappear, one by one, leaving women and children behind to fend for themselves in a desolate and dreamlike world. World Premiere
World Fiction Award
Winner: The Night Guard (El Vigilante), directed by Diego Ros
Country: Mexico
Screenwriter: Diego Ros
Producer: Diego Ros
Cast: Leonardo Alonso, Ari Gallegos, Lilia Mendoza, Héctor Holten
Film Description: A security guard at a construction site learns about a crime that took place the night before and becomes entangled in a series of mysterious events that unravel over the course of a single night. North American Premiere
The World Fiction Jury awarded the following special mention:
Special Mention for Excellence in Storytelling: On the Beach at Night Alone (Bamui Hae-Byun-Eoseo Honja), directed by Hong Sangsoo
Country: South Korea
Screenwriter: Hong Sangsoo
Producer: Hong Sangsoo
Cast: Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Kwon Haehyo, Jung Jaeyoung, Song Seonmi, Moon Sungkeun, Ahn Jaehong, Park Yeaju, Karl Feder, Mark Peranson, Bettina Steinbrügge
Film Description: Younghee is an actress who is stressed by a relationship with a married man in Korea. On the beach she wonders: Is he missing me, like I miss him? North American Premiere
Documentary Award
Winner: Liyana, directed by Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp
Country: Swaziland / USA / Qatar
Producer: Amanda Kopp, Aaron Kopp, Sakheni Dlamini, Daniel Junge, Davis Coombe
Featuring: Gcina Mhlophe
Film Description: The epic tale of a young Swazi girl on a dangerous quest to save her twin brothers is brought to life with captivating animation from the imaginations of five talented orphan children in Swaziland. World Premiere
LA Muse Fiction Award
Winner: And Then There Was Eve, directed by Savannah Bloch
Screenwriter: Savannah Bloch, Colette Freedman
Producer: Jen Prince, Jhennifer Webberley
Cast: Tania Nolan, Rachel Crowl, Mary Holland, Karan Soni, Anne Gee Byrd, John Kassir
Film Description: After the sudden disappearance of her husband, a woman enlists the help of his coworker to fill in the missing pieces. World Premiere
LA Muse Documentary Award
Winner: Skid Row Marathon, directed by Mark Hayes
Screenwriter: Mark Hayes
Producer: Gabriele Hayes , Doug Blush
Cast: Judge Craig Mitchell , Ben Shirley , Rafael Cabrera , Rebecca Hayes , David Askew