The 29th annual Stony Brook Film Festival, presented by Island Federal, celebrated a historic and successful run at the Staller Center for the Arts with its closing night awards ceremony July 27, with the most awards given — including two rare awards — some of the youngest award-winners in festival history, and a documentary taking home the grand prize for only the second time ever.
This year’s festival was one of the best-attended in its history, since well before the pandemic, as film aficionados once again came out to support the best in independent film. Of the 36 films shown (from 19 countries), 13 received awards from the judges and attendees.
Mediha, a documentary directed by Hasan Oswald that chronicled the journey of a young Yazidi girl returning from ISIS captivity, won the Grand Prize Award, the 11th film in the festival’s history to win the award, given to a film that impressed both the audience and the jury. It was also only the second documentary to ever be so honored.
Mediha Alhamad, the film’s subject and co-writer with Oswald, accepted the award, while Oswald wrote to the jury, “Next week marks the ten-year anniversary of the Yazidi genocide, and while bringing awareness back to what happened to the Yazidis is paramount, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that Mediha and her brothers also embody the human cost of conflict, worldwide. Your support tonight and this past week helps ensure their voices are heard and we as a society are unable to use naiveté as an excuse for inaction. Thank you.”
Audrey’s Children won the 2024 Dr. Gabriel Sara Humanitarian Award. In 2022, the festival created an inaugural prize in honor of Dr. Gabriel Sara, who worked wonders in cancer at Mount Sinai in New York City by treating patients with dignity through song, dance, and teaming up with some of the most caring individuals in healthcare. Audrey’s Children tells the story of Dr. Audrey Evans, who brought new treatments to pediatric cancer patients in the US and went on to co-found The Ronald McDonald House. It is premiering in the fall, but appeared in the festival as a special sneak preview.
Directed by Ami Canaan Mann, written by Julia Farbman, and produced by Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant, the film was not in competition with the other 35 films in the festival, but the jury felt it deserved recognition because of the groundbreaking story it tells. “When I reached out to Gabriel Sara in Lebanon to tell him we were bestowing this award to Audrey’s Children, he was overjoyed, saying that Audrey Evans is a legend in cancer research and treatment,” said festival director Alan Inkles.
Daughter of the Sun won The Spirit of Independent Filmmaking Award, given to filmmakers who have created a standout film with very few resources, financial or otherwise. “When it looks and sounds great, plays great, creates its own world, and you would never suspect how hard the filmmakers worked to bring it to life on screen, then you’re watching the kind of film we give these awards to,” said festival programmer Kent Marks.
The vintage-feeling fantasy tells the story of a man with Tourette’s Syndrome and supernatural powers and his 12-year-old daughter navigating life on the run. Producer Mackenzie Leigh and director/actor Ryan Ward accepted the award at the ceremony.
“I think being an artist and being a filmmaker, you have ideas that are just in your head, and you mobilize people and resources to build a big house of cards to make something happen in reality,” Mackenzie said. “And I think that’s what happens with this festival every year too. We are so thankful to be able to come here and take part in your dream.”
The festival’s youngest filmmakers directed the two winners that tied for the Audience Choice Award for Best Short: 20-year-old Zach Finger from Long Island (Mimesis) and 19-year-old Axel Dahan from France (On the Paths Awakened). Dahan is the youngest filmmaker to win an award in the festival’s history.
Running on Sand took home the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature. Adar Shafran directed this heartfelt crowd-pleaser about a refugee from Israel who, facing imminent deportation, is mistakenly identified as a Nigerian soccer star at the airport.
The Jury Award for Directing was given to Mastergame, the Jury Award for Best Short went to Where We Belong, and the Jury Award for Best Feature was won by The Strangers’ Case. The Jury Awards are a joint decision that all festival jury members must agree on.
Mastergame director Barnabás Toth said, “Being here as a filmmaker is special. Coming here is like a therapy, a cure for any kind of artist because people who create are appreciated here. So please continue to keep it that way.”
The Festival’s Opening and Closing Night feature and short films were also recognized, including The Blond Boy from the Casbah, One Million Minutes, Chauncey and If.
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