The Southern Arizona Independent Film Festival is a family oriented festival designed to solicit entries from all levels of experience, age groups and genre interests ensuring that opportunities are broadly available to anyone creating visual stories. We screen G and PG rated short films (under 15 minutes). The festival is geared towards the student filmmaker but fully embraces the work of Indie filmmakers as well.
Congratulations to our 2020 Award Winners
BEST OF FEST
“KADDISH” – Directed by Razid Season
Nominees
“Cmd-Del” – Directed by Sara Yen, Jason Lin and Amar Karoshi
“It’s Nothing” – Directed by Nicholas Mourgere
“Salting the Fly” - Directed by Craig Mooneyham and Jacob Reynolds
“KADDISH” – Directed by Razid Season
BEST INDIE FILM
“It’s Nothing” – Directed by Nicholas Mourgere
Nominees
“Tonight” – Directed by Mark Roush
“Salting the Fly” - Directed by Craig Mooneyham and Jacob Reynolds
“The Sand Castle” – Directed by Eliezer Katzoff
“It’s Nothing” – Directed by Nicholas Mourgere
BEST ADVANCED STUDENT FILM
“KADDISH” – Directed by Razid Season
Nominees
“Moon Reaching” - Directed by Victoria Partika
“Beautifully Invisible” – Directed Alyssa Wiesen
“Soaring Beyond Silence” – Directed by Jessie Greenberg
“KADDISH” – Directed by Razid Season
BEST STUDENT FILM
“Cmd-Del” – Directed by Sara Yen, Jason Lin and Amar Karoshi
Nominees
“Pitch Black” – Directed by Bouzlemt Manele
“Almost Will” – Directed by Richard Li
“Cmd-Del” – Directed by Sara Yen, Jason Lin and Amar Karoshi
AUDIENCE FAVORITE
Winner : To be determined at 2020 screenings scheduled for end of July
Nominees: All films that screen on the Saturday session.
BEST DIRECTION
Razid Season - "KADDISH"
Nominees
Craig Mooneyham and Jacob Reynolds - "Salting the Fly"
Nicholas Mourgere - "It's Nothing"
Eliezer Katzoff - "The Sand Castle"
Razid Season - "KADDISH"
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"The Sand Castle"
Nominees
"Salting the Fly"
"Box and Me"
"KADDISH"
"The Sand Castle"
BEST EDITING
"Cmd-Del"
Nominees
"Soaring Beyond Silence"
"Salting the Fly"
"KADDISH"
"Cmd-Del"
BEST SOUND
"Soaring Beyond Silence"
Nominees
"Tonight"
"Cmd-Del"
"KADDISH"
"Soaring Beyond Silence"
BEST PERFORMANCE
"Salting the Fly" (Rory James Leech)
Nominees
"Moon Reaching"
"It's Nothing"
"KADDISH"
"Salting the Fly"
BEST STORY
"It's Nothing"
Nominees
"The Sand Castle"
"Cmd-Del"
"KADDISH"
"It's Nothing"
Laurels and printable certificates will be sent out shortly for all winners along with payment information for major category prize winners.
We have moved the date of our workshop, screenings and awards party for the 2020 festival to late summer at this time (tentatively scheduled for July 24th & 25th). We would still like to have a public screening but are playing it by ear as the situation changes. We will however be announcing award winners on April 10th.
2020 has been a great year for films at the festival with some really incredible work submitted
Congratulations to all of our Official Selections for 2020
“KADDISH” (Advanced Student) – Razid Season – Astoria, New York
“Salting the Fly” (Indie) - Craig Mooneyham and Jacob Reynolds – Conroe, Texas
“It’s Nothing” (Indie) – Nicholas Mourgere – Paris, France
“Cmd-Del” (Student) – Sara Yen, Jason Lin and Amar Karoshi – San Jose, California
“Soaring Beyond Silence” (Advanced Student) – Jessie Greenberg – Sarasota, Florida
“The Sand Castle” (Indie) – Eliezer Katzoff – Newton, Massachusetts
“Tonight” (Indie) – Mark Roush – West Lin, Oregon
“Moon Reaching” (Advanced Student) - Victoria Partika – Los Angeles, California
“7 Minute Storytelling II: Captain Unicorn Saves the Day” (Indie) – Adam Cadena – Mesa, Arizona
“Beautifully Invisible” (Advanced Student) – Alyssa Wiesen – Aliso Viejo, California (U of A student)
“Box and Me” (Advanced Student) – Stephen Lee – Shanghai, China
“A House of Cards” (Advanced Student) – Denis Pejovic – Vienna, Austria
“Almost Will” (Student) – Richard Li – Concord, Massachusetts
“Pitch Black” (Student) – Bouzlemt Manele – Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
“A Man Named Butterfly” (Indie) – Wesley Schofield – Willcox, Arizona
The 2020 Festival is scheduled for Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15, 2020 at the Historic Willcox Theater - Palace Saloon at 116 N. Railroad Avenue in Willcox, Arizona, 85643 (USA).
All winners and screened films will receive respective Laurels for promotional purposes.
We award our top winners with cash awards paid out via PayPal. All winners receive a signed, printable PDF Award Certificate (via email) that is suitable for printing and framing.
The following categories are awarded cash and certificates:
Best of Fest
Audience Favorite (Saturday only)
Best Student Film
Best Advanced Student Film
Best Independent Film
Other award categories recognized for certificates:
Best Directing
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound
Best Performance
Best Story
Stan Robinson Memorial Award of Excellence
(Individual contribution to the festival)