Outfest: ‘We The Animals’, ‘Tucked’ Among Winners

The Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival has unveiled winners for its 2018 edition that wrapped Sunday, with Jeremiah Zagar’s We the Animals taking the U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize and Jamie Patterson’s Tucked scoring the Best Narrative Audience Award among the honors.

Drew Droege, who starred in the Michael Urie-directed Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, won the U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance. The top documentary winners included T Cooper’s Man Made in the audience category and Jamal Sims’ When the Beat Drops landing the grand jury prize.

The Orchard acquired North American rights to We The Animals, based on Justin Torres’ debut novel, after it took the NEXT Innovator Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It will hit theaters sometime this year. Tucked, meanwhile, inked an output deal with Gravitas Ventures last week ahead of its world premiere.

Tucked scored two awards at the fest, joining Brazil’s Hard Paint to co-win the International Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize category.

This year’s lineup featured 221 films and 13 TV series in the fest’s first episodic section.

Here’s the full list of winners:

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Best Documentary Short
Mama Dragons, Directed by Andria May-Corsini & Adam Wolffbrandt

Best Documentary Feature
Man Made, Directed by T Cooper

Best Narrative Short
Tooth and Nail, Directed by Sara Shaw

Best Narrative
Tucked, Directed by Jamie Patterson

Best Episodic Series
Bonding, Created by Righter Doyle

Best Experimental Short
These Are My Hands, Directed by Evi Tsiligaridou

Best First U.S. Narrative Feature
Daddy Issues, Directed by Amara Cash

GRAND JURY AWARDS

Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize
When the Beat Drops, Directed by Jamal Sims

Documentary Feature Special Mentions
Call Her Ganda, Directed by PJ Raval
TransMilitary, Directed by Gabriel Silverman & Fiona Dawson

U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize
We the Animals, Directed by Jeremiah Zagar

U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance
Drew Droege in Bright Colors and Bold Patterns

U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenwriting
Yen Tan for 1985

U.S. Narrative Feature Special Mention
Skate Kitchen for Ensemble Performance, Directed by Crystal Moselle

International Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize
Hard Paint, Directed by Felipe Matzembacher & Marcio Reolon (Brazil)
Tucked, Directed by Jamie Patterson (United Kingdom)

International Narrative Feature Special Mention
Montana, Directed by Limor Shmila (Israel)

International Narrative Short Grand Jury Prize
The Things You Think I’m Thinking, Directed by Sherren Lee (Canada)

International Narrative Short Special Mention
Dressed for Pleasure (Je fais où tu me dis), Directed by Marie de Maricourt

Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize
Between Us Two, Directed by Tan Wei Keong

Documentary Short Special Mention
These Are My Hands, Directed by Evi Tsiligaridou

Narrative Short Grand Jury Prize
Fran This Summer, Directed by Mary Evangelista

Narrative Short Special Mentions
Tooth and Nail, Directed by Sara Shaw
Happy Birthday, Marsha!, Directed by Reina Gossett & Sasha Wortzel

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING AWARDS

Emerging Talent
The 2018 Programming Award for Emerging Talent goes to Caroline Berler for Dykes, Camera, Action, an impressive debut feature profiling the female directors who make up the queer canon — most of whom are Outfest alumni.

Freedom
The 2018 Programming Award for Freedom goes to Leilah Weinraub for Shakedown, an intimate and fearless exploration into a rarely depicted culture devoted to black female pleasure. The director’s deep commitment over time brings light to this vibrant world and the characters within it.

Artistic Achievement
The 2018 Programming Award for Artistic Achievement goes to Anucha Boonyawatana for Malila: The Farewell Flower, for a stunning piece of cinema that brings to life the vulnerability and emotions that come from an undying love that transcends humanity’s fate.

Fox Inclusion Feature Film Award
Man Made, Directed by T Cooper

Fox Inclusion Short Film Award
Rani, Directed by Hammad Rizvi