El 59º Festival de Cine de Ann Arbor se llevará a cabo en línea del 23 al 28 de marzo de 2021. Cada programa es diferente. Las películas no están clasificadas. Todos los programas están destinados a un público adulto, a menos que se indique lo contrario. Algunas películas tienen imágenes de naturaleza estroboscópica.

Todas las proyecciones de los cortometrajes en competencia se llevarán a cabo como un evento en vivo en línea durante nuestra programación programada. Después del evento en vivo inicial, los programas estarán disponibles para su visualización a pedido hasta las 12 a.m., hora del Este, del 31 de marzo.

Las funciones de la competencia y los programas especiales estarán disponibles para su visualización a pedido del 23 de marzo al 31 de marzo, a menos que se indique lo contrario. Todos los programas se presentan en la hora estándar del este (EDT). Si bien la mayoría de las películas se transmitirán en línea, ¡hay varias en persona en la pantalla! instalaciones alrededor de Ann Arbor que se pueden ver desde la calle.

Los pases ya están a la venta, consigue el tuyo aquí .

See the Awards Programs for the 64th AAFF

Awards Announcement & Screenings

Sunday, March 29, Michigan Theater Main Auditorium

Announcement: 5pm

Screenings: 5pm and 7pm

Available Online March 30 - April 13th at 11:59 EST

Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival

$6,000

Presented to the film of any genre or length that best represents the artistic standards of excellence for the festival, this award is generously provided by influential documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, a graduate of Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School.

Tom Berman Award for Most Promising Filmmaker

$5,000

Tom Berman was a student of AAFF founder George Manupelli at the University of Michigan. He was also an early festival supporter and close friend to many in the festival community. To honor his memory, the Berman family has contributed this award to support an emerging filmmaker who the jury believes will make a significant contribution to the art of film.

Tom Berman Award for Best Documentary Film 

$5,000

This award recognizes the best documentary film in the festival program.

Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film

$2,000

Hollywood film producer and writer Lawrence Kasdan came to know Ann Arbor well during his years as a student at the University of Michigan. He keeps his connection to the town’s film culture alive in part through his support of this festival award. This distinction goes to the narrative film that makes the best use of film’s unique ability to convey striking and original stories. 

Gil Omenn Art & Science Award

$2,000

Provided by Gil Omenn, who seeks to encourage a positive exchange between the arts and sciences, this award honors the filmmaker whose work best uses the art of film and video to explore scientific concepts, research natural phenomena, or embrace real-world experimentation.

Kodak Cinematic Vision Award 

$2,000 in film stock

This award goes to the film that demonstrates the highest excellence and creativity in cinematography. The recipient will receive $2,000 in film stock from Kodak. This includes complimentary processing at Kodak labs should the recipient select 16mm or 35mm color negative film stock.

Susan Dise Best Experimental Film

$1,750

Supported by longtime AAFF volunteer Sue Dise, for whom festival week is like Christmas and New Year combined, this award celebrates the film that most successfully showcases the use of experimental processes, forms, and topics.

Richard Myers Best Non-Narrative Film

$1,500

Richard Myers, professor emeritus at Kent State University, taught filmmaking in the School of Art and created films that have been celebrated at the festival since its inception in 1963. Drawing inspiration from dreams, Myers’s works are deeply personal, with haunting visual beauty, and as original as Cocteau. Created by Christopher and Diane Shambaugh, this award honors Richard and those who create stunning visual experiences by expanding (or ignoring) the boundaries of conventional storytelling.

The Barbara Aronofsky Latham Award for an Emerging Experimental Video Artist

$1,000

This award provides support to the year’s most promising early-career video artist. The award was conceived by the Aronofsky family to honor the late Barbara Aronofsky Latham, a Chicago-based experimental video artist who passed away in 1984 and whose work is distributed by the Video Data Bank.

Barbara Hammer Feminist Film Award

$1,000

Barbara Hammer was a filmmaker with a profound commitment to expressing a feminist point of view in her work. In 2020, filmmaker Lynne Sachs received the Oberhausen Film Festival Grand Prize for a film she made with and for Hammer. With funds from the prize, Lynne created this Ann Arbor Film Festival award for a work that best conveys Hammer’s passion for celebrating and examining the experiences of women. Qualifying work by artists of any gender will be considered.

Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film

$1,000

Chris Frayne was a key participant in the festival’s early years whose approach to life called to mind his colorful cartoon characters. This award honors the spirit of Chris by recognizing the animated film that delivers the best style, creativity, and content. Support for the award comes from several dedicated AAFF enthusiasts.

Prix DeVarti for Funniest Film

$1,000

Supported by an endowment fund established by the DeVarti Family, this award goes to the film most likely to create the most laughs at the festival. The prize recognizes the 60-year friendship between Casa Dominick’s and the AAFF, and honors the memory of Dominick and Alice DeVarti.

The Terri Schwartz Film Award for Parody and Satire

$1,000

This award goes to the film that most effectively turns familiar images, music, and assumptions on their heads—and perhaps uses gentle or barbed humor—to offer pointed insights about injustice. It honors Terri P. Schwartz (1952–2021), a University of Michigan alumna employed as a graphic designer in the Netherlands. Favorite films of hers included Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi, 2019), a Nazi-mocking satire; Settlers of Brooklyn (Above Average Productions, 2015), a parody of gentrifying hipsters; and Pull My Daisy (Robert Frank, 1959), a parody of the Beat Generation.

Best Experimental Animation Award 

$830

This award recognizes the best experimental animated film that most successfully showcases the use of experimental processes, forms, and topics. Established by Deanna Morse, the award is endowed in memory of Erik Alexander, an aficionado of the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

The Eileen Maitland Award

$750

Supported by several local AAFF fans, this award is given to the film that best addresses women’s issues and elevates female voices. It was created to honor the spirit and memory of Eileen Maitland, who was a dear friend and longtime supporter of the festival as well as a patron and practitioner of the arts.

George Manupelli Founder’s Spirit Award

$700

With lead support from brothers Dave and Rich DeVarti, this award recognizes the filmmaker who best captures the bold and iconoclastic spirit of the late George Manupelli, founder of the Ann Arbor Film Festival, whose vision for the festival continues to this day.

CameraMall Best Michigan Filmmaker Award

$565 in kind

This award recognizes top Michigan talent. The winner will receive a $100 gift card and a one-week rental for a camera body and two lenses, valued at $465, from CameraMall, Ann Arbor’s camera store and photo lab, dedicated to supporting the Great Lakes photo community in learning, renting gear, and printing their work.

Lawther/Graff No Violence Award

$512

In a culture that too often uses images of violence to entertain and inform, this prize is awarded to the film that best engages the audience while meeting the challenge of “No Violence Depicted!”

Best in Dance Film Award

$500

Recognizing dance filmmakers who break new ground at the convergence of movement and

cinema, expanding the possibilities of both art forms.

Leon Speakers Award for Best Sound Design

$500

This award for excellence and originality in sound design is provided by Leon Speakers, which has been installing custom-built high-fidelity speakers in home theaters throughout Ann Arbor and the world since 1995.

Martin Contreras and Keith Orr \aut\ FILM Award for Best LGBTQ Film

$500

This award honors the film that best addresses and gives voice to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer issues. Longtime festival supporters Martin Contreras and Keith Orr, former owners of the locally known and loved \aut\ BAR, led the efforts to fully endow this award, which is now officially fully endowed as of this year. Their generosity and leadership highlight the diversity of voices that achieve excellence in filmmaking.

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The No. 1 African Film Award

$500

This award honors the film that best speaks to the historical and contemporary experience of living and dreaming in Africa. It has been endowed through the generous contribution of filmmaker Amy J. Moore, a long-term resident of southern Africa and producer of Botswana’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Peter Wilde Award for Most Technically Innovative Film

$500

Peter Wilde was a longtime projectionist for the festival and a master of special effects. This award honors his creativity and pursuit of new techniques by recognizing the film that displays the most pioneering technical innovations.

The Terri Schwartz Asian Film Award

$500

Given to the film that best speaks to the cultures and experiences of Asians or Asian Americans, this award is a tribute to Terri P. Schwartz (1952–2021), a University of Michigan alumna employed as a graphic designer in the Netherlands. From Europe, she passionately pursued interests in film, music, and Asian people and culture, including travels and stays in nine Asian nations. She was also sensitive to the challenges faced by immigrants and refugees in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Vox Populi Award

$500

This award—affectionately dubbed the Vox Populi Award—goes to the year’s most highly rated audience-selected film in competition. This award is supported by longtime festival attendee Mark Hardin.

Juror Awards

$2,393

Provided by friends of the festival and distributed at the discretion of the jurors, the remaining prize monies confer special recognition to films of distinction and artistic accomplishment.