Vanessa McMahon

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2017 NAPA VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS

Winners include “Quest,” “Stuck” and Mackenzie Davis for “Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town”

Napa Valley, CA - The 7^th Annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) announced this year’s juried and audience award winners at the Uptown Theatre in Napa on Saturday, November 11, 2017. The Festival, held from November 8-12, screened 124 films, including the 18 in NVFF’s core competition categories, throughout the nine screening venues located around the Valley.

“We applaud our award winners and thank all of this year’s filmmakers for sharing their beautiful stories with us,” said Festival Co-Founder and Artistic Director Marc Lhormer. “It has been a tough road getting to this year’s festival, but what a perfect way to celebrate great storytelling in all its forms and to showcase the strength and resilience of our Napa Valley community.”

Each of the festival winners received a large format wine bottle from one of the festival’s esteemed Vintner Circle winery partners. The two winners of the 18 films that vied for the title of Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature, as determined by the respective juries, were awarded $10,000, presented by Meadowood Napa Valley.

“We commend the festival for selecting a group of diverse and beautiful films. It has been our honor and pleasure to do our part to support this fantastic festival,” said Gren Wells, Jonathan Robinson and Dierk Sindermann with the Documentary Shorts Jury. Juror Lissa Gibbs also added, “In addition to the strength of the individual works, we were incredibly impressed as a jury by the truly outstanding programming. It was reassuring to know that each film submitted was so expertly considered and curated.”

Directors of the Narrative and Documentary films in competition participated in NVFF’s unique Artists-in-Residence Program where they received a six-night stay at the luxury resort Meadowood Napa Valley. The residency included master classes with industry leaders and networking opportunities with their peers and festival patrons at lavish receptions and winemaker dinners.

The full list of Juried Awards is below:

• Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature presented by Italics Winegrowers, and with a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of Meadowood Napa Valley, goes to Stuck.
• Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature presented by John Anthony Vineyards, and with a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of Meadowood Napa Valley, goes to Skid Row Marathon.
• Jury Award for Best Screenplay presented by Darioush goes to The House of Tomorrow.
• Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast presented by Ma(i)sonry Napa Valleygoes to The Boy Downstairs.
• Jury Award for Best Narrative Short presented by Rombauer Vineyards goes to The Dam.
• Jury Award for Best Documentary Short presented by Grgich Hills Estate goes to The Tables.
• Jury Award for Best Lounge Feature presented by Duckhorn Portfolio goes to Quest.
• Jury Award for Best Lounge Short presented by Acumen Wines goes toThe Arrival.
• Special Jury Award – For Depth and Grace in Documentary Filmmaking presented by Castellucci Napa Valley goes to The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin.
• Special Jury Award – Best Breakout Performance in a Lounge Feature Film presented by Materra Cunat Family Vineyards goes to Mackenzie Davis for her work in the film Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town.
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A full list of Audience Awards is below:

• Audience Award for Favorite Actor presented by Tamber Bey Vineyards goes to Gregory Kasyan for his work in the film Quest.
• Audience Award for Favorite Actress presented by Davis Estates goes to Olivia Holt for her work in the film Class Rank. 
• Audience Award for Favorite Documentary Feature presented by The Hess Collection goes to Skid Row Marathon.
  • Honorable Mention goes to 40 years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie
• Audience Award for Favorite Documentary Short presented by Reynolds Family Vineyards goes to Make It Work: The Idea.
• Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Feature presented by VGS Chateau Potelle goes to Quest.
• Honorable Mention goes to Stuck.
• Honorable Mentions go to Life Boat and Brothers.
• Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Short presented by RiverHouse by Bespoke Collection goes to The Final Show
• Audience Award for Favorite Short Feature presented by Eleven Eleven Winery goes to Taming Wild: A Girl and a Mustang.

Narrative Features Jury: Nancy Collet, Sasha Stone, David Hinojosa

Documentary Features Jury: Freida Lee Mock, Brent Emery, Sophie Constantinou

Narrative Shorts Jury: Madeline Zima, Gabrielle Carteris, Jon Swartz

Documentary Shorts Jury: Dierk Sindermann, Jonathan Robinson, Gren Wells

The Lounge Jury: Peter Baxter, Richard Keith, Kim Rocco Shields

For information or to buy passes for the 2018 festival slated for November 7-11, 2018, visit NVFF.ORG or call 707-226-7500. 

About The Napa Valley Film Festival

The ultimate celebration of film, food and wine, the 8^th Annual Napa Valley Film Festival will take place in 2018, November 7-11. NVFF presents over 120 new independent films and studio sneak previews in 9 beautiful venues throughout the Valley. Attendees will interact with over 300 filmmakers at screenings, and enjoy wine tastings, culinary demos, winemaker dinners, Celebrity Tributes, the Awards Ceremony and Festival Gala, Opening and Closing Night parties and more.  The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Napa, California.