SXSW Announces Audience Award Winners

Earlier today, the South By Southwest Film Festival announced their 2018 Audience Awards. Though not an Oscar barometer by any stretch, SXSW does occasionally launch popular movies that get some prestige attention. Just last year, "The Disaster Artist" screened as a work in progress, and of course that became an Academy Award nominee. More so, it's a platform to showcase some smaller flicks. In that manner, the festival serves an important purpose in the film world. As such, when the fest gives out prizes, they tend to be for the even more independent of works. Furthermore, they just present a wonderful showcase for deserving indies.

You can see all of the winners so far below, but three of the top prizes are worth keeping an eye on. The Audience Award for Narrative Feature went to Olivia Newman's buzzed about "First Match." In the Documentary Feature Competition, the Audience Award went to the baity "TransMilitary" from Fiona Dawson and Gabriel Silverman. Then, the Narrative Spotlight went to "All Square," from John Hyams. More will be announced when South By Southwest ends, but this trio are among the first set of winners.

Here is the press release announcing the Audience Awards:

Austin, Texas – March 17, 2018 – The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals today announced the Audience Award winners from the Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Episodic, 24 Beats Per Second, Global, Festival Favorites and Design Award categories. Headliners will be announced on Monday, March 19. Audience Award results for all categories were certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter. The SXSW Film Awards are presented by FilmStruck.

The Audience Awards follow the previously announced 2018 Jury Awards, which included Grand Jury Winners Thunder Road for Narrative Feature and People's Republic of Desire for Documentary Feature. For the complete list of 2018 Award Winners, visit www.sxsw.com/festivals/film-awards/.

Over the course of nine days, the 2018 SXSW Film Festival will screen 136 features, consisting of 89 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, and 6 US Premieres, with 49 first-time filmmakers. 98 shorts and 20 music videos will screen as part of 12 curated shorts programs. The 256 films were selected from 8,183 overall submissions, consisting of approximately 2,476 features and 4,433 shorts.

2018 SXSW Film Festival Audience Award Winners:

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: First Match
Director: Olivia Newman

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: TransMilitary
Directors: Gabriel Silverman, Fiona Dawson

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: All Square
Director: John Hyams

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Dawn Wall
Director: Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer

VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Profile
Director: Timur Bekmambetov

MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: Upgrade
Director: Leigh Whannell

EPISODIC
Audience Award Winner: Vida
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios, So Yong Kim

24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: Ruben Blades Is Not My Name
Director: Abner Benaim

GLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: Virus Tropical
Director: Santiago Caicedo

FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: Science Fair
Director: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster

SXSW Film Design Awards

EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Audience Award Winner: #19 – Offf Barcelona 2017
Directors: Eve Duhamel, Julien Vallee

As today is the final day of the SXSW Film Festival, additional screenings have been scheduled for this evening for all Audience Award winners except Headliners:

Audience Award: 24 Beats Per Second
Ruben Blades Is Not My Name
3/17/2018, Alamo Ritz 1, 7:30 PM

Audience Award: Documentary Feature Competition
TransMilitary
3/17/2018, Alamo Lamar A, 4:30 PM

Audience Award: Documentary Spotlight
The Dawn Wall
3/17/2018, Stateside Theatre, 5:00 PM

Audience Award: Festival Favorites
Science Fair
3/17/2018, Alamo Lamar B, 8:15 PM

Audience Award: Midnighters
Upgrade
3/17/2018, Alamo Lamar A, 11:00 PM

Audience Award: Narrative Feature Competition
First Match
3/17/2018, Alamo Lamar A, 7:30 PM

Audience Award: Narrative Spotlight
All Square
3/17/2018, Stateside Theatre, 8:00 PM

Audience Award: Global
Virus Tropical
3/17/2018, Alamo Ritz 2, 5:30 PM

Audience Award: Visions
Profile
3/17/2018, Alamo Lamar B, 5:15 PM

Film Stills and Director Headshots can be found at: http://fif.sxsw.com/media

About SXSW Film Festival
Now in its 25th year, SXSW Film Festival brings together creatives of all stripes over nine days to experience a diverse lineup and access to thousands of SXSW Conference sessions with visionaries from all corners of the entertainment, media, and technology industries. Check out the 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival Alumni memories at https://www.sxsw.com/tag/sxsw-film-25

About SXSW
SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, TX, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film and music industries. The event, an essential destination for global professionals, features conference programming, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2018 will take place March 9-18, 2018.

SXSW 2018 is sponsored by Capital One, Mercedes-Benz, Bud Light, and The Austin Chronicle.

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