Australia’s premier genre film festival Monster Fest wrapped its most successful edition to date recently in Melbourne with Official Closing Film The Greasy Strangler (with actors Sky Elobar and Elizabeth De Razzo in person) followed by its annual awards ceremony acknowledging the best of this year’s impressive line-up.
“There were huge waves of emotions running through the films,” says short film juror Amanda Reyes, “whether it be legitimate fear and terror, or grief or even wildly raucous humor. INSOMNOLENCE, which won the Best Australian Short category is a prime example of combining terror and sadness in unique ways that sat deeply with the jury. Same with THE TUNNEL, which won for Best International Short. THE TUNNEL is visually stunning, but it is the tragedy held within the simple gut punch ending that made it an unforgettable experience.”
THE MONSTER FEST 2016 AWARD WINNERS:
Feature Films:
Golden Monster: RAW (Julia Ducournau, France)
Best International Feature: THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE (André Øvredal, USA)
Best Australian Feature: SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD (Chris Peckover, Australia)
Monster Innovation Award: PREVENGE (Alice Lowe, UK)
Best Performance (Male): Levi Miller, SAFE NEIGHBOURHOOD (Chris Peckover, Australia)
Best Performance (Female): Mackenzie Davis, ALWAYS SHINE (Sophia Takal, USA)
Best Documentary: SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL: THE TRUE STORY OF THE PROCESSS CHURCH OF THE FINAL JUDGEMENT (Neil Edwards, UK)
Best Director: PLAYGROUND (Bartosz M. Kowalsi, Poland)
Best Cinematography: A DARK SONG (Liam Gavin, Ireland/UK)
Best Score: A DARK SONG (Liam Gavin, Ireland/UK)
Best FX: RAW (Julia Ducournau, France)
Special Mention: AUTOHEAD (Rohit Mittal, India)
Short Films:
Best International Short: THE TUNNEL (André Øvredal, Norway)
Best Australian Short: INSOMNOLENCE (Kiefer Findlow, Australia)
Best Victorian Short: SECRETIONS (Goran Spoljaric, Australia)
Best Director: WHAT HAPPENED TO HER (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA)
Best Screenplay: THE INCREDIBLE TALE OF THE INCREDIBLE WOMAN-SPIDER (Pablo Guirado, France)
Best Performance: Najarra Townsend, THE STYLIST (Jill Gevargizian, USA)
Best Effects: THE PAST INSIDE THE PRESENT (James Siewert, USA)
Best Cinematography: DISCO INFERNO (Alice Waddington, Spain)
Best Score: IMITATIONS (Fabian Velasco & Milos Mitrovic, Canada)
Honourable Mentions:
Best Villain: O CHRISTMAS TREE (Greg Kovacs, Canada)
Best Animation: THE ITCHING (Diane Bellino, USA)
Honorable Mention for short we’d like to see made into a feature: DAWN OF THE DEAF (Rob Savage, UK)
Trasharama Awards:
Trasharama Golden Lomax Award: THE CONTRACT (Chrzu Lindstrom, Finland)
Trasharama Encouragement Award: BLOWN AWAY (Frank Daft, Australia)
“Monster’s Choice” Audience Awards:
Best Feature: MONDO YAKUZA (Addison Heath, Australia)
Best Short: Tie: DRAGON FORCE (Stuart Simpson, Australia) / A HELL OF A DAY (Evan Hughes, Australia)