58th SF Film Fest Winners: Of Men and War, Sworn Virgin and More

The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival has wrapped and winners were announced last night in Director, Documentary, Narrative, Short and Student film categories. In all, nearly $40,000 was given by the festival to various filmmakers.

GOLDEN GATE NEW DIRECTORS PRIZE

Winner: “Sworn Virgin,” Laura Bispuri (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Kosovo)

GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURES 

Documentary Feature Winner: “Western,” Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross (USA)
Special Jury recognition: “Of Men and War,” Laurent Bécue-Renard (France/Switzerland)
Bay Area Documentary Winner: “Very Semi-Serious,” Leah Wolchok (USA) • Receives $5,000 cash prize
Special Jury recognition: “T-Rex,” Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari (USA)

GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR SHORT FILMS 

Narrative Short Winner: “The Chicken,” Una Gunjak (Germany/Croatia) • Receives $2,000 cash prize
Documentary Short Winner: “Cailleach,” Rosie Reed Hillman (Scotland)
Animated Short Winner: “A Single Life,” Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen (Netherlands)
New Visions Short Winner: “Discussion Questions,” Jonn Herschend (USA)
Bay Area Short First Prize Winner: “The Box,” Michael I Schiller (USA)
Bay Area Short Second Prize Winner: “Time Quest,” John Dilley (USA)

GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR FAMILY FILM 

Winner: “The Story of Percival Pilts,” Janette Goodey, John Lewis (Australia/New Zealand)
Honorable Mentions: “Lava,” James Ford Murphy (USA) and “One, Two, Tree,” Yulia Aronova

GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR YOUTH WORK 

Winner: “Two and a Quarter Minutes,” Joshua Ovalle (USA)
Honorable Mention: “The Off / Season,” Lance Oppenheim (USA)

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• 2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) - November 21, 2024
• 2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards - November 21, 2024
• Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives - November 21, 2024