‘Raging Grace,’ ‘Angel Applicant’ Top SXSW Film Festival Awards:

UPDATED WITH AUDIENCE AWARDS: Two days after ”Everything Everywhere All at Once“ won seven Oscars, including best picture, the SXSW Film Festival, where Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s movie launched last year, has announced its own awards. To be clear, “EEAAO” was a studio-backed opening night premiere (not one of the smaller movies launched in competition at the indie-focused fest), but you can still feel the excitement in Austin around the landmark Oscar win. After all, SXSW was the first festival to take Daniels seriously, awarding them top prize for their Battles music video (“My Machines”) in 2012.

Will any of the movies or directors screening here this year go on to change film history?

Ryuichi Sakamoto, Oscar Winner for ‘Last Emperor’ Score, Dies at 71
With five days still to go at SXSW, the juries convened (after viewing and deliberating remotely, out of COVID precautions) to present the winners.

Narrative feature honors went to writer-director Paris Zarcilla’s “Raging Grace.” On the surface, the tense story of an undocumented Filipina house cleaner and her young daughter might appear to echo 2022 Sundance winner “Nanny,” though the film “subverts expectations on its way to a stirring conclusion,” in the jury’s words.

“In cleverly employing genre tropes to explore vast socio political matters, Zarcilla has crafted a resonant, urgent work about labor, legacy and diaspora,” explained the jury of three — Helena Andrews-Dyer, Tomris Laffly and Richard Lawson — who also awarded special jury recognitions for performance to “Parachute” star Courtney Eaton and cinematography to “Story Ave” DP Eric Branco.

The documentary jury — consisting of Mae Abdulbaki, Joel Anderson and Allegra Frank — described top winner “Angel Applicant” as “a revelation,“ complimenting director Ken August Meyer’s exploration of artist Paul Klee, with whom he shares the condition of scleroderma.

“The result is a yearslong undertaking that is stunning, powerful, and unforgettable,” the jury said. The nonfiction special jury award went to “Another Body,” which uses deep-fake techniques to illustrate how the unsettling innovation compromised the life of a college student.

See the complete list of winners below.

Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION Presented by Panavision

Winner: “Raging Grace” directed by Paris Zarcilla

Special Jury Recognition for Performance: Courtney Eaton, “Parachute”

Special Jury Recognition for Cinematography: Eric Branco, “Story Ave”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION Presented by ACE91

Winner: “Angel Applicant” directed by Ken August Meyer

Special Jury Recognition for Innovation in Storytelling: “Another Body” directed by Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn

Short Film Grand Jury Awards Presented by IMDbPro
NARRATIVE SHORTS

Winner: “It Turns Blue” directed by Shadi Karamroudi

Special Jury Award: “Flores del Otro Patio” directed by Jorge Cadena

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

Winner: “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó” directed by Sean Wang

Special Jury Award: “Suddenly TV” directed by Roopa Gogineni

MIDNIGHT SHORTS

Winner: “The Flute” directed by Nick Roney

Special Jury Recognition for Powerful “Short Trip”: “Pennies from Heaven” directed by Sandy Honig

ANIMATED SHORTS

Winner: “The Debutante” directed by Elizabeth Hobbs

Special Jury Recognition for Animation Directing: Tom CJ Brown, “Christopher at Sea”

MUSIC VIDEOS

Winner: Amanda Sum – “Different Than Before” directed by Mayumi Yoshida

Special Jury Recognition: Residente – “This Is Not America ft. Ibeyi” directed by Grégory Ohrel

TEXAS SHORTS

Winner: “Breaking Silence” directed by Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein

Special Jury Award: “When You Left Me on That Boulevard” directed by Kayla Abuda Galang

TV Pilot Competition
Winner: “Grown” directed by Jocko Sims

Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance: “Harbor Island” directed by Josh Fadem

SXSW Film Design Awards Presented by Adobe
POSTER DESIGN COMPETITION

Winner: “Eyestring” designed by Javier Devitt

Special Jury Award: “Riders of the Storm” designed by Casey Moore

XR Experience Competition
Winner: “Consensus Gentium” directed by Karen Palmer

Special Jury Award: “Body of Mine” directed by Cameron Kostopoulos

SXSW Special Awards
Janet Pierson Champion Award presented by Indiewire: Lizzie Shapiro

Fandor New Voices Award: “What We Leave Behind” directed by Iliana Sosa

Louis Black “Lone Star” Award: “The Lady Bird Diaries” directed by Dawn Porter

Special Jury Award: “The Herricanes”

Thunderbird Rising Award: Paris Zarcilla, “Raging Grace”

Thunderbird Rising Special Award: Brittany Snow, “Parachute”

The Hope Award Winner: “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”

The Hope Special Award: “Confessions of a Good Samaritan”

Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award: “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint” directed by Tomas Gomez Bustillo

ZEISS Cinematography Award: Carolina Costa, “Fancy Dance”

AUDIENCE AWARDS

HEADLINERS
Audience Award Winner: Flamin’ Hot
Director: Eva Longoria, Producer: DeVon Franklin, Screenwriters: Linda Yvette Chávez, Lewis Colick

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION presented by Panavision
Audience Award Winner: Mustache
Director/Screenwriter: Imran J. Khan, Producers: Christina Won, Jessica Sittig, Christopher Storer, Tyson Bidner

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION presented by ACE91
Audience Award Winner: Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life
Director/Producer: Dan Covert, Screenwriters: Erik Auli, Dan Covert, Amy Dempsey, Tara Rose Stromberg

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Long Game
Director: Julio Quintana, Producers: Javier Chapa, Ben Howard, Marla Quintana, Dennis Quaid, Laura Quaid, Screenwriters: Julio Quintana, Jennifer C. Stetson, Paco Farias

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Herricanes
Director: Olivia Kuan, Producers: James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte, Lisa France, James Short, Olivia Kuan, Justin Baldoni, Andrew Calof

VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Tobacco Barns
Director/Screenwriter: Rocío Mesa, Producers: Olmo Figueredo González-Quevedo

MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: It Lives Inside
Director: Bishal Dutta, Producers: Raymond Mansfield, Sean McKittrick, Screenwriters: Bishal Dutta, Ashish Mehta

GLOBAL presented by MUBI
Audience Award Winner: Ek Jagah Apni
Directors: Ektara Collective, Producers: Ektara Collective, Lotus Visual Productions, Screenwriters: Rinchin, Maheen Mirza

24 BEATS PER SECOND
Audience Award Winner: Louder Than You Think
Director: Jed I. Rosenberg, Producers: Jeffrey Lewis Clark, Brian Thalken, Kelly Thomas, Screenwriters: Jed I. Rosenberg, Greg King

FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: No Ordinary Campaign
Director: Christopher Burke, Producer: Tim Rummel, Christopher Burke

Shorts Film Program presented by IMDbPro

NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Closing Dynasty
Director/Screenwriter: Lloyd Lee Choi, Producers: Jon Hsu, Lloyd Lee Choi

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)
Director: Sean Wang, Producers: Sean Wang, Sam Davis

ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Sandwich Cat
Director/Screenwriter: David Fidalgo, Producers: Daniel Rodriguez, Laura Doval, Gonzalo E. Veloso

MIDNIGHT SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Dead Enders
Directors: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, Screenwriters: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, Jordan Michael Blake, Conor Murphy, Producers: Raven Jensen, Amanda Crown, Gregory Barnes, Conor Murphy, Nico Alvo, Jordan Michael Blake, Eduardo Ruiz-Healy

TEXAS SHORTS COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Breaking Silence
Directors: Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein, Producers: Monique Walton, Amy Bench

MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Drew Ashby – ‘HER’
Directors: Chris Scholar, Bevin Brown, Producer: Bevin Brown

TV Program

TV PREMIERES
Audience Award Winner: The Luckiest Guy in the World
Director: Steve James, Producers: Zak Piper, Steve James

TV SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: Blindspotting Season 2 Premiere
Showrunner: Rafael Casal, Directors: Rafael Casel, Jess Wu Calder, Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Emily Gerson Saines, Ken Lee, Tim Palen

INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Notarize Me
Director: Erika Rankin, Screenwriters/Producers: Erika Rankin, Brigitte Valdez

XR Experience

XR EXPERIENCE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: JFK Memento
Director: Chloé Rochereuil, Producer: Victor Agulhon

XR EXPERIENCE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: MLK: Now is the Time
Director: Limbert Fabian, Producers: Matthew O’Rourke, Sulivan Parker, Screenwriter: Andrina Wekontash Smith

XR EXPERIENCE SPECIAL EVENTS
Audience Award Winners (three-way tie):

Neo-Wulin: The Era of Black Ark
Director/Screenwriter: Guanyu, Producers: Chenchenchen, Bingbing Wang

Ristband
Directors: Anne McKinnon, Roman Rappak

Soundwaves: A Metaverse Music Concert
Directors: YOOM, Active Theory

View this article at Variety.