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The 60th AAFF Award Winners

Published March 28, 2022


The Ann Arbor Film Festival is proud to announce this year’s award-winning filmmakers selected by jurors Mariam Ghani, Gina Kamentsky, and Thomas Renoldner.


The online festival continued until March 30th, 2022 at 11:59pm ET. An award from the AAFF confers prestige and financial support; it can also qualify filmmakers for an Oscar® nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the short film category. Qualifying awards are the Ken Burns Award for Best of the Festival, the Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film, and the Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film.


Watch the programs online:


The award-winners for the 60th AAFF:

Ken Burns for Best of the Festival

Lacerate, Janis Rafa


Tom Berman Award for Most Promising Filmmaker

Theorie und Praxis, Leonie Minor


Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film

Shari, Nao Yoshigai


Best Experimental Film

Cosmos-War-Finally-Love, Luciano Zubillaga


Kodak Cinematic Vision Award

A Brief Appearance of Neon, Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser


Best Documentary Film

Looking for Horses, Stefan Pavlović


Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film

The Fourth Wall, Mahboobeh Kalaee


Gil Omenn Art & Science Award

Moving or Being Moved, Sabine Gruffat


Prix DeVarti for Funniest Film

Benztown, Gottfried Mentor


The Barbara Aronofsky Latham Award for an Emerging Experimental Video Artist

Precautionary Measures, Lizzy Deacon, Ika Schwander


The Eileen Maitland Award

Rising Sun Blues (Rua Dos Anjos), Renata Ferraz, Maria Roxo


George Manupelli Founder’s Spirit Award

Amazon Woman, Anna Vasof


CameraMall Best Michigan Filmmaker Award

Miracle Whip, Jerod Willis


Lawther/Graff No Violence Award

kopitoto, Lisa Kusanagi, JuJu Kusanagi, Yvonne Meier


Barbara Hammer Feminist Film Award

Irani Bag, Maryam Tafakory


Best Experimental Animation Award