PAIFF SEASON 3 WINNERS ANNOUNCED: 43 OFFICIAL AWARDS PRESENTED
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The Puerto Aventuras International Film Festival is proud to celebrate the winning films and artists of Season 3. This year, PAIFF officially presented 43 awards, recognizing outstanding achievement across feature films, documentaries, shorts, music videos, screenplay, performance, craft, and several new categories introduced for the first time.
Leading the winners circle was Audience, directed by Tom Miller, which earned five awards including Best Feature Film and Audience Choice Award. Strong multi-award showings also came from Dan Hertzog’s It’s About Time and The Series 10K, Jesse Stewart’s Piggy Duster, and Jessica Kourkounis’ The Space Between Attack And Decay, reflecting the range of bold, independent work celebrated at this year’s festival. From intimate cultural storytelling and vérité documentary to experimental cinema, family programming, and emerging filmmaker recognition, Season 3 showcased exactly the kind of adventurous international filmmaking that defines PAIFF.
New award categories introduced this season are marked with an asterisk.
Season 3 Winning Films and Awards
Audience, dir. by Tom Miller (United States)
BEST FEATURE FILM
BEST DIRECTOR FEATURE FILM: Tom Miller
BEST ACTOR FEATURE FILM: Shamrock McShane as “Snerdly”
*BEST PRODUCERS FEATURE FILM: Alex Davidowski, Doug Waltonbaugh
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me, dir. by Robert Clem (United States)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
It’s About Time, dir. by Dan Hertzog (United States)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY SHORT FILM: Dan Hertzog
*BEST FIRST TIME ACTRESS: Alani Zaya Hertzog as “Justine”
The Series 10K, dir. by Dan Hertzog (United States)
BEST ANIMATION SHORT
It’s About Time / The Series 10K
*BEST PRODUCERS SHORT FILM: Dan Hertzog, Ganna Hertzog, In The Wee Hours
Piggy Duster, dir. by Jesse Stewart (United States)
BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM
BEST VISIONARY DIRECTOR: Jesse Stewart
*BEST EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Gary Fieldman
Leaving Beringia, dir. by Barbara Hager (Canada / United States / Mexico)
BEST INNOVATIVE CULTURAL STORYTELLING
Flowers Beyond The Dark, dir. by Iryna Pravylo (Ukraine)
BEST CULTURAL DOCUMENTARY
The Dog, My Father And Us., dir. by Pablo Arturo Suárez (Ecuador)
BEST CULTURAL FEATURE FILM
Sargassum, dir. by Claude Barnes (Canada / United States / Barbados / Mexico)
*BEST ENVIRONMENTAL FILM
Class Of Her Own, dir. by Boaz Dvir (United States)
*BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM
The Unfixing, dir. by Nicole Betancourt (Spain / United States)
BEST EDITING - DOCUMENTARY
Jailhouse To Milhouse, dir. by Buddy Farmer (United States)
*BEST VÉRITÉ DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Zubr: Here Be Giants, dir. by Giles Pitman (United Kingdom)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
*BEST VÉRITÉ DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Shield. The Living Wall Of The Caribbean, dir. by Mario Cuesta Hernando (Spain / United States / Mexico / Panama / Puerto Rico)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Color Of Exile, dir. by Azlarabe Alaoui (France)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY FEATURE FILM
The Reach, dir. by Luca Caserta (Italy)
BEST SHORT FILM
BEST ACTRESS: Jana Balkan as “Stella Flanders”
Bloodroot Reserve, screenplay by Kerra Bolton
BEST SCREENPLAY
Mutación (Mutation), dir. by Carlo Ayhllón (Mexico)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
STEVE PHILLIPS AWARD FOR BEST SOUND DESIGN
Food Roots, dir. by Michele Josue (United States)
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The Family Photo, dir. by John Norris Ray & Maria Victoria Sanchez (United States / Mexico)
*BEST FAMILY FILM
Xpendable, dir. by Walter E. Haussner (United States)
*BEST FILM NOIR SHORT
Cats, dir. by Danilo Stanimirović (Serbia / Switzerland)
BEST DIRECTOR SHORT FILM: Danilo Stanimirović
Miami Creek, C. 1350, dir. by Walter Bender (United States)
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
The Ale, dir. by Adrian Eppel (Australia)
*BEST MICRO-SHORT
The Space Between Attack And Decay, dir. by Jessica Kourkounis (United States)
BEST EXPERIMENTAL SHORT FILM
BEST VISIONARY DIRECTOR SHORT FILM: Jessica Kourkounis
BEST ACTOR SHORT FILM: Boris McGiver as “Ricki Constant”
Hide, dir. by Brenden Hubbard (United States)
*BEST PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER SHORT FILM
Heart Failed, dir. by Diana Näcke (Germany)
BEST DIRECTOR MUSIC VIDEO: Diana Näcke
Caminos Al Cielo (Roads To Heaven), dir. by Erik Y. Montiel (Mexico)
BEST FIRST SHORT FILM
Aloof (Desden), dir. by Dylan Vega Aragon (Mexico)
BEST FIRST STUDENT FILM
This Is How The Mexican Revolution Began, dir. by Nurh Elizabeth Trejo Aguilar (Mexico)
*BEST YOUNG FILMMAKERS AWARD
PAIFF Season 3’s winning lineup reflects the festival’s international spirit and its commitment to celebrating daring, original voices in independent cinema. Congratulations to all of this season’s award winners, official selections, screenwriters, actors, directors, producers, craftspeople, and first-time honorees who helped make this year’s festival such a memorable success.
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