The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) announces the 53rd edition’s award winners, including best films in each category and the winning scripts in the organization’s esteemed screenplay competition.

Brazilian film MARS ONE, written and directed by Gabriel Martins, was named Best Narrative Feature, while Tracey Arcabasso Smith’s RELATIVE earned the Best Documentary Feature award; AND STILL I SING received Best Music Documentary honors, and Alex Heller’s THE YEAR BETWEEN was honored as Best New Directors Feature.

Watch the full awards ceremony here (Film) and here (Screenplay), and find the full list of jury members here. The complete list of film and script award winners is below. Congratulations to all of the participating filmmakers and screenwriters who have made the 53rd Nashville Film Festival such an amazing experience.

2022 FILM COMPETITION AWARD WINNERS

Best Narrative Feature

MARS ONE

(d. Gabriel Martins)

Best Documentary Feature

RELATIVE

(d. Tracey Arcabasso Smith)

Best Music Documentary Feature

AND STILL I SING

(d. Fazila Amiri)

Best New Directors Feature

THE YEAR BETWEEN

(d. Alex Heller)

Best Graveyard Shift Feature

ROUNDING

(d. Alex Thompson)

Best Tennessee Feature

JACIR

(d. Waheed AlQawasmi)

Best Narrative Short

THE BLANKET

(d. Teppo Airaksinen)

Best Documentary Short

LOVE, DAD

(d. Diana Cam Van Nguyen)

Best Animated Short

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

(d. Ida Melum)

Best ‘The Edge’ Short

BEEF

(d. Sean Webley & Brendon Kingsbury)

Best Graveyard Shift Short

MOSHARI

(d. Nuhash Humayun)

Best Tennessee Short

HERMIE

(d. Jonathan Becker & Anthony Pitsilos)

Best Tennessee Student Short

EMBER AND THE KEEPER OF THE CAULDRON

(d. Audrey Witherspoon & Natalie Peterson)

Best NextGen Short

MOLES

(d. Vanja Victor Kabir Tognola)

Best Episodic Pilot

CAMP GREENWOOD

(d. Kourtney Bell)

Best Episodic Series

MASHED

(d. Stacey Maltin)

Best Virtual Reality & 360

GLIMPSE

(d. Michael O’Connor and Benjamin Cleary)

Nashville Public Television Human Spirit Award

MY NAME IS ANDREA

(d. Pratibha Parmar)

Reel South Short Award

TEN BY TEN

(d. Jami Bennett)

2022 SCREENWRITING COMPETITION WINNERS

Best Drama Feature Script: THE PASSAGE OF SUN, written by Aaron Braxton

Best Comedy Feature Script: ELEKTRA, written by Roxy Mitchell

Best Horror Feature Script: OUR LADY OF JUSTICE, written by David Daniels

Best Genre Feature Script: EYELASHES, written by Kelly Palmer

Best Short Script: SEPTEMBER 13, 2004, written by Derrick Benton

Best Half Hour Pilot: Script BABY GAY, written by Keyanna Khatiblou

Best Hour Pilot Script: MURDER SHOW, written by Rosalind Grush

Best Tennessee Writer: FLORIDAMEN, written by Nate Eppler

About the Nashville Film Festival

The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) is a globally recognized nonprofit organization and cultural event presenting the best in world cinema, American independent films and documentaries by veteran masters, up-and-coming directors, and first-time filmmakers. With Academy Award® qualifying status, the Nashville Film Festival celebrates innovation, music and the many voices of the human spirit through the art of film. Originally founded in 1969, the Nashville Film Festival is one of the first film festivals in the United States and hosted its 53rd festival from September 29-October 5, 2022. For more information, visit www.nashfilm.org.