This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 19, 2012 - "The Sapphires," an Australian film about a singing group like the Supremes, won the Audience Choice Award as best narrative feature at the 21st annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival, it was announced at the closing-night party Sunday at the Contemporary Art Museum. The Audience Choice award for best international narrative feature went to "Quartet," the story of the tumultous reunion of a quartet of aging British opera singers. The Leon Award for best documentary went to "The Enterainers," about contemporary ragtime pianists.
The festival ended a successful 11-day run Sunday night.
Other winners included:
Juried competition awards
New Filmmakers Forum Emerging Filmmaker Award (The Bobbie)
Winner ($500 cash prize): “Faith, Love and Whiskey,” directed by Kristina Nikolova
Special Jury Citation: “Sun Don’t Shine,” directed by Amy Seimetz
St. Louis Film Critics’ Joe Pollack Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “Barbara,” directed by Christian Petzold
Special Jury Citation for Acting in Narrative Feature: Rachel Mwanza, lead actress of “War Witch”
Best Documentary Feature: “Uprising,” directed by Fredrik Stanton
Special Jury Citation for Documentary Feature: “We Are Wisconsin,” directed by Amie Williams
Alliance of Womens Film Journalists’ EDA Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “Sister,” directed by Ursula Meier
Special Jury Citation for Narrative Feature: “Found Memories,” directed by Julia Marat
Best Documentary Feature: “Seeking Asian Female,” directed by Debbie Lum
Special Jury Citation for Documentary Feature: “The World Before Her,” directed by Nisha Pahuja
Interfaith Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “War Witch,” directed by Kim Nguyen
Best Documentary Feature: “The Second Execution of Romell Broom,” directed by Michael Verhoeven
Special Jury Citation for Documentary Feature: “Stories from an Undeclared War,” directed by Dennis Rice
Midrash Award
Winner ($500 cash prize): “Seeking Asian Female,” directed by Debbie Lum
Short Film Awards
Best of Fest Short: “Pitch Black Heist,” directed by John Maclean
Best Local Short: “Paper Hallways,” directed by Cody Stokes
Best Short Short: “Colosse,” directed by Yves Geleyn
Best International Short: “Friend Request Pending,” directed by Chris Foggin
Best Animated Short: “Luminaris,” directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella
Best Live Action Short: “The Voorman Problem,” directed by Mark Gill
Best Documentary Short: “Female,” directed by Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre
Special Jury Citation for Documentary Short: “Boomtown,” directed by Torben Bernhard & Travis Low
For more information on the winning films, visit the Cinema St. Louis Web site (www.cinemastlouis.org).