Top 100 Best Reviewed Festival

FilmFreeway Top 100

“According to reviews from real FilmFreeway users, Sherman Oaks Film Festival (@shermanoaksff) ranks in the top 1.5% of more than 9,000 film festivals and creative contests around the world. No doubt, this ranking is a testament to the countless hours of hard work and care that you and your staff have devoted to creating such a wonderful event.”

Thank you FilmFreeway!

Source: SOFF

FILA 2020 Wrap Up – Over 5,000 Views

FILA 2020’s online Screening Room closed after Monday, June 29 and we are amazed to share that our 2020 Official Selections racked up 5,616 views by 3,999 unique viewers!  We could not be more proud of the nine feature films, thirty-five short films, two music videos, and ten screenplays that made this year’s festival a great one.

We want to thank every filmmaker, screenwriter, performer, producer, cinematographer, production designer, and every other contributor who helped make wonderful films.  We look forward to seeing what everyone does next!

Our sister-festival is the Sherman Oaks FIlm Festival (@shermanoaksff) that is held in November.  Fingers crossed we get to see everyone in person then.  And if not, hopefully at FILA 2021!

Source: FILA

2020 Awards

Grand Jury Prize Winners

Best Feature Film – Collision
Best Short Film – Drama – The Bus to Birra Birra
Best Short Film – Comedy – Sofa Queen
Best Short Film – Horror – Stew
Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – Kiko’s Saints
Best Documentary Feature Film – Comfort Farms
Best Documentary Short Film – Jessyca
Music Video – Nice Shoes
Best Director, Feature Film – Mehdi Avaz, Collision
Best Director, Short Film – TJ Power, The Bus to Birra Birra

Best Actress in a Lead Role – Camille Calvin, Desire Lines
Best Actor in a Lead Role – Doug Burch, DOUG
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Cecilie Stenspil, Collision
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Nigel Lysaght, Desire Lines
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast – Life’s A Bitch And Then One Kills You
Best Screenplay – Patrick Connolly & Nigel Lysaght, Desire Lines
Best Cinematography, Feature Film – Jonathan Latona, DOUG
Best Art Direction/Production Design – Gaëlle Usandivaras, Kiko’s Saints
Best Screenplay (Unproduced) – The Loser’s Club by Jonathan Turner

Audience Award Winners

Audience Award, Feature Film – DOUG;   Lupe
Audience Award, Short Film – The Squirrels in the Attic
Audience Award, Documentary Film – Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America

Filmmakers Award Winners

Outstanding Short Film – Drama – Kama’āina (Child of the Land)
Outstanding Short Film – Comedy – Grief Vigilantes
Outstanding Short Film – Horror – Far Gone
Outstanding Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse – His Mother
Outstanding Directors – Kimi Howl Lee, Kama’āina (Child of the Land); Paul Maziere, Joseph Turns 42 (Or the Inconsistency of Wonders); Samuël L. Jodry, Bengal (or before happiness strikes)
Outstanding Screenplay – TJ Power, The Bus to Birra Birra
Outstanding Acting, Cast – Grief Vigilantes, Sofa Queen
Outstanding Acting, Individual – Elizabeth Blackmore, The Bus to Birra Birra; Malia Kamalani Soon, Kama’āina (Child of the Land); Nikki James, Sofa Queen
Outstanding Cinematography – Caroline Le Hello, Kiko’s Saints

Programmer’s Award Winners

Exceptional Films: Fantasmas (Ghosts), First States, Micky

Prize Definitions/Explanations

Grand Jury Prizes – determined by the festival’s official selection committee.
Audience Awards – determined by highly scientific instruments placed throughout the theater to determine audience satisfaction.
Filmmakers Awards – given only to short films, these are determined by a panel of fifteen filmmakers whose films have been Official Selections previous years.
Programmer’s Prize – given to film(s) that festival programmer Jeff Howard cannot bear to see go without an award. These are generally films that were runners-up in a bunch of categories and their general greatness deserves an award.

Source: FILA