While there are still several days of buzzy film premieres remaining at SXSW 2024, all of the films playing in competition have screened for audiences and critics. The film festival’s jury announced the winners of the festival’s major awards on Thursday, giving out prizes for narrative feature, documentary feature, and a variety of short, episodic, and XR categories.
The narrative feature competition was won by “Bob Trevino Likes It,” Tracie Laymon’s dramedy that stars Barbie Ferreira as a young woman who seeks to heal wounds from her relationship with her abusive father by befriending an unrelated man with the exact same name (John Leguizamo).
The top documentary prize went to Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls’ groundbreaking documentary “Grand Theft Hamlet,” which followed a group of actors staging a production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” inside “Grand Theft Auto Online” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keep reading for a complete list of film award winners from SXSW 2024.
Narrative Feature Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Bob Trevino Likes It” (dir. Tracie Laymon)
Special Jury Award for Performance: Maria Rodriguez Soto, “Mamifera”
Special Jury Award for Filmmaking: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, “We Were Dangerous”
Documentary Feature Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Grand Theft Hamlet” (dir. Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane)
Special Jury Award for Bravery and Empathy: Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, “We Can Be Heroes”
Narrative Shorts Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Dissolution,” (dir. Anthony Saxe)
Special Jury Award: Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz, “Trapped”
Documentary Shorts Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Remember, Broken Crayons Colour Too” (dir. Shannet Clemmings and Urša Kastelic)
Special Jury Award Winner: David Gauvey Herbert, “Frank”
Midnight Shorts Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Transylvanie” (dir. Rodrigue Huart)
Special Jury Award Winner: Eros V, “Meat Puppet”
Animated Shorts Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Wander to Wonder” (dir. Nina Gantz)
Special Jury Award Winner: Phoebe Jane Hart, “Bug Diner”
Music Video Competition
Jury Award Winner: Célen – “Mom Told You So”
Special Jury Award for Technical Wizardry: Joe Nicolosi, The Burning Hell – “All I Need”
Texas Shorts Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Jedo’s Dead” (dir. Sara Nimeh)
Special Jury Award: Fatima Wardy, “Hair Care”
Independent Pilot Competition
Jury Award Winner: “Marvin Is Sorry”
Special Jury Award: Zeke Nicholson, “Halfrican American”
Poster Design Competition
Jury Award Winner: “7 Beats Per Minute” (John Godfrey)
Special Jury Award Winner: Andrei Captan, “If I Die in America”
XR Experience Competition
Jury Award Winner: “The Golden Key” (dir. Marc Da Costa and Matthew Niederhauser)
Special Jury Award: “Soul Paint” (dir. Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit)
SXSW Special Awards
SXSW Best of Texas Award: “Preconceived” (dir. Sabrine Keane and Kate Dumke)
Janet Pierson Champion Award: Kara Durrett, President of Pinky Promise Films
Kickstarter NextGen Award: “Family” (dir. Benjamin Finkel)
