The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival has released its list of winners at the 10th annual festival, and they includes Los Frikis and Porcelain War.

The festival, which is dedicated to first and second-time filmmakers, took place in Middlebury, Vermont from Aug. 21-25, 2024.

Los Frikis, directed by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, won the Best Narrative Feature prize. It follows the story of a group of Cuban punk rockers in the early 1990s who intentionally injected themselves with HIV-positive blood in order to live peacefully in the remote sanatoriums of communist Cuba.

Porcelain War, directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, won the Best Documentary Feature prize and the Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film. It follows husband-and-wife artists Slava and Anya, their dog Frodo, and friend Andrey during the Russain invasion of Ukraine. When the Russians invade Ukraine. They choose to stay behind and fight, joining a special ops unit on the frontlines while Anya makes delicate porcelain art amid constant bombardment. 

Other festival highlights include Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s documentary A Photographic Memory about researching the mother she never knew, which won the Ralph Steiner Prize for Poetic Cinema, and Hasan Oswald’s Mediha, a documentary about a brave Iraqi-Yazidi teenager who survived being abducted and held in captivity by ISIS, which won the Hernandez/Bayliss Prize for Triumph of the Human Spirit.

See the full 2024 winners list below.

Also Read: Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival Goes Back to Its Roots for 10th Anniversary

Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival 2024 Winners List

Best Narrative Feature

Los Frikis — directed by Michael Schwartz, Tyler Nilson

Best Documentary Feature

Porcelain War — directed by Brendan Bellomo, Slava LeontyevBest Narrative Short

“A Good Day Will Come” — directed by Amir Zargara

Best Documentary Short

“Oasis” — directed by Justine MartinAudience Award – Feature

My Place Ozerna — directed by Karina Bedkowska

Audience Award – Short

“The Quilters” — directed by Jenifer McShane

AICEF Prize for Cross Cultural Filmmaking

New Wave — directed by Elizabeth Ai

Hernandez/Bayliss Prize – Triumph of the Human Spirit

Mediha — directed by Hasan Oswald

Clio Visualizing History Prize

Never Look Away — directed by Lucy Lawless

Gaia Prize for Environmental Filmmaking

The Quietest Year — directed by Karen AkinsShouldice Family Prize for Best Vermont-Made Film

Petal Fall — directed by Adam BenayThaddeus Stevens Prize for Social Engagement

Running for the Mountains — directed by Julie Eisenberg, Babette Hogan

Ralph Steiner Prize for Poetic Cinema

A Photographic Memory — directed by Rachel Elizabeth Seed

Kate Hearst Prize – Human Connectivity

By My Side — directed by Vicki Topaz

Gamble-Paison Prize for Best International Feature Film

Porcelain War — directed by Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev

Swift House Prize for Best Depiction of the Arts

Robert Shields: My LIfe as a Robot — directed by Mark Bonn, Christine Seibert BonnJeanine Basinger Prize for Best Student Film

Washed Up — directed by Thomas BayneHonorees

Impact, Imagination and Excellence

Oliver Stone

Outstanding Writing and Directing

John Patrick Shanley

Excellence, Imagination and Flair in Costume Design

Paul Tazewell

Excellence and Impact in Documentary Filmmaking

Bess O’Brien

Sustained Boldness in Documentary Filmmaking

Andy Mitchell

Main Image: A still from Los Frikis