After more than a week of screenings, discussions and parties (of course), the Dallas International Film Festival celebrated its award winners at the annual Dallas Film Society Honors Gala. Directors, producers, cast members and movie enthusiasts gathered at Hotel Palomar to honor the filmmakers and their works, and award recipients took home $100,000 in cash and prizes.
A hot topic during the evening was Arthur Benjamin's generous sponsorship, which he dedicated to his beloved friend, the late Larry Hagman. Benjamin also promised to take Decoding Annie Parker worldwide.
Although Steven Bernstein's film didn't win any awards, it certainly resonated with the right crowd. "Annie Parker's story is not just entertaining, moving, funny, heart-wrenching and uplifting, but it is a cinematic achievement that needs to be told to every human on the planet," Benjamin said.
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Smashed, Sky High, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Grind House, Live Free or Die Hard) received the Dallas Shining Star award. "I'm a little embarrassed by the riches that you bestowed upon me since I've been here — such great hospitality," she said.
Val Kilmer presented the Dallas Star awards to director William Friedkin (The Exorcist and The French Connection) and former president of 20th Century Fox Sherry Lansing (her big releases included Fatal Attraction, The Accused, Titanic), the Academy Award-winning, husband-and-wife duo.
"They were inspired by film, committed to their own careers and to the art, and now inspire others to do the same," said James Faust, Dallas International Film Festival creative director.
On the award scene with Dallas Film Society chairman Lynn McBee and Dallas Film Society president and CEO Lee Papert and wife Sarah: Sundays Hunt, Michael Cain, John Hersker, Rachel Cocke, Jeremy Williams, Armando Suarez and Lara Ashmore.
Below is the full list of Dallas International Film Festival award winners.
Jury winners
- A Teacher, grand jury prize for narrative feature
- God Loves Uganda, grand jury prize for documentary feature
- Pit Stop, grand jury prize for the Panavision Texas Competition
- Tomlinson Hill, Embrey Family Foundation Silver Heart Award
- Black Metal, best short film
- The First Hope, best student short
- Head Over Heels, best short film
Audience award winners
- The Kings of Summer, best narrative
- The Crash Reel, best documentary
- Head Over Heels, best short film
TXU Energy "Light Up the Red Carpet" video contest winners for high schools
- Day in, Day out, grand prize; Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
- Positive Vibes, first place; Fossil Ridge High School
- The Electricity Between Us, community choice; Wakeland High School
TXU Energy "Light Up the Red Carpet" video contest winners for colleges
- The Giants in the Sky, grand prize; Baylor University
- The Makeover, first place; Art Institute of Dallas
- Spirits, comunity choice; Northlake College
Dallas executive producer Ken Topolsky.
