Our 2024 GTX FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS...

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BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 

BLOODY & BRUISED:  THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE BACK ROOM

(DOCUMENTARY FEATURE)

Austin, TX

1:44:00

Director:  Budro Partida

Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of The Back Room is a documentary feature film that chronicles one of most notoriously known (and often disregarded) music venues in Austin, Texas. It’s a film that spans the 33 year history of the east Riverside club, from its meager beginnings in the early 70s as a watering hole for country folk and bikers, to its glory years of 80s glam rock and metal, through its 90s grunge and hardcore era, and into the early 2000s punk and hip hop scene, before it’s demise in 2006.

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

KIELIA

(NARRATIVE FEATURE)

Austin, Texas

45:00

Director:  Vic Quinton, Cynthia Garcia

A love story 10,000 years in the making. A time traveler (Kielia) goes back in time to Austin, Texas to discover the true meaning of a word that was forbidden and removed from all data sources for thousands of years...LOVE.

BEST FOREIGN FEATURE

LULU IN TURIN

(FOREIGN FEATURE)

Italy

1:16:00

Director:  Ian Charles Lister

 A film about...making a film, a film within a film, films I love; an obsession, an icon of silent cinema, a portrait, looking for Lulu; the male gaze; female empowerment and fulfilment; Turin and its history, architecture, cinemas and people...me and the film of my dreams.

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT

WHERE WE WENT WRONG

(NARRATIVE SHORT)

Austin, TX

27:22

Director:  Dream Kasestatad, Wallace Weatherspoon 

Greg’s life is a mess. Once a talented guitarist, he lives most of his life in a drug-induced haze. Greg still dreams of becoming a successful musician and often waits outside Austin music venues in the hopes of subbing in with house bands. His fellow musicians know him and are willing to give him an occasional break – but everyone knows the drugs have made him sloppy and unmotivated.

One night, Greg is approached by a snarky 14-year-old girl, Kimmy, who claims to be his daughter. Greg is completely aghast; could he really have a teenage daughter?

BEST STUDENT SHORT

LATE NIGHT TALKING

STUDENT SHORT

Austin, Texas

31:15

Director:  Raishma Kazi, Shreyansh Tiwari

A cynical college girl and her insightful classmate venture around their city at night, sharing stories and perspectives that alter the way they view the world.

BEST FOREIGN SHORT

EVERY THREE DAYS

(Ogni Tre Giorni)

(FOREIGN SHORT)

ITALY

11:24

Director:  Mark Petrasso

Through the eyes of an unusual witness we get to see what happens in the house of the main characters, thus showing us what normally no one would have seen.

BEST YOUTH SHORT

DROWNING

YOUTH SHORT

CALIFORNIA

7:26

Director:  Nicole Giacoletti

Avery and Sierra were once best friends, but now that they are older, they hardly know each other. When they bump into each other one day, Avery hopes that this is their chance to rekindle the friendship.

BEST FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

MISHKIN-QALAM

FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

CYPRUS (TURKEY)

53:00

Director:  Elnaz Nasehi, Arman Arian

Mishkin-Qalam (1824-1912), which translates to “The Musk-Black Pen”, was the leading 19th Century calligrapher of the Persian Empire. He was a master of Calligraphy and Nail Script (which involves the use of a fingernail to inscribe artistic imagery onto specially prepared paper), an Astronomer, a Sufi, and one of the nineteen Apostles of the Baha’i Faith. Despite being an exile and prisoner of the Ottoman Empire for over 50 years due to his spiritual beliefs, he survived to live on 3 different continents and producing a body of work of outstanding beauty.

BEST STUDENT FEATURE

AKILLES

STUDENT FEATURE

Cape Cod, MA

01:03:07

Directors:  Maximus Papsadore

The film parodies the over-exploited battle royale genre. Think mockumentary-style Hunger Games. In the film our hero faces an existential crisis competing in the AKILLES Games, a televised dystopian blood fest where its global audience values savage entertainment over life itself. Meanwhile, the broadcast crew led by a maniacal production manager deals with its own mind-blowing on-air challenges.