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Nightstream Concludes Successful Inaugural Run; “Dinner In America” Takes Audience Award

Thursday, October 15, 2020 | Events

In an effort to curate a singular experience for U.S. audiences struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boston Underground Film Festival (MA), Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (NY), North Bend Film Festival (WA), the Overlook Film Festival (LA), and Popcorn Frights Film Festival (FL) all gathered to form Nightstream, a bold endeavor uniting some of the country’s most well-respected horror film festivals under one banner. Running October 8th-11th, the fest was a wild success for all involved with world premieres, panels, tributes, and virtual happy-hours aplenty.

Check out the press release below for full details on attendee numbers, award winners, and more from the landmark fest!

Following the end of four days of scheduled digital programming on October 11th, NIGHTSTREAM comes to a full stop today as extended on-demand programming concludes and Adam Rehmeier’s DINNER IN AMERICA is announced as the winner of the festival’s Audience Award. This comes following the over 50 accolades presented from the five festivals for their respective short blocks, which were announced following the closing night film, Quentin Dupieux’s MANDIBLES, and are listed below in full.

“I’m thrilled Dinner in America resonated with NIGHTSTREAM’s audience the way it did, that this film is bringing people some much needed respite from the chaos of 2020,” says Adam Rehmeier in acceptance of his award. “Thank you to all of the people who have reached out to share how deeply they’ve connected with Patty and Simon. Your words are the cure for the pandemic blues. Hats off to all five festivals for coming together to create such a beautiful monster!”

NIGHTSTREAM saw over 15,000 tickets and badges issued, and over 35,000 films and events streamed across all fifty U.S. states. The festival, which proudly celebrated 8 World Premieres, 8 North American Premieres, and 7 U.S. Premieres, featured 166 scheduled virtual screenings and events, in addition to our selection of titles available on-demand. Proceeds from the festival will be distributed to all filmmakers and artists involved, as well as to local charities and small businesses, such as the Future of Film is Female, House of Tulip, KoKo NYC, New Orleans Creative Response, New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, North Bend Downtown Foundation, and Roar New York, in addition to local cinema support funds for the Brattle Film Foundation, the independently-owned North Bend Theatre, and the historic Savor Cinema.

NIGHTSTREAM began with the sold-out World Premiere of Hulu’s thriller RUN on opening night on October 8th, and continued until the 11th with a mix of live events, digital parties, premieres, and more, and created a game-changing social hub with our highly celebrated virtual bar, becoming the first film festival to use the technology to recreate the feeling of community lost as we pivot to digital landscapes.

The festival’s live presentations of Dinner With The Masters of Horror: A Tribute to Mick Garris, where NIGHTSTREAM presented Garris with the Master of Horror Award alongside special guests John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, John Landis, Ernest Dickerson, and more; and nightly Evening Rituals presented by IFC Midnight were standouts of the program, the latter of which welcomed hosts that included Elijah Wood, Barbara Crampton, and Larry Fessenden. Highlights from the full events slate included special anniversary celebrations for AMERICAN PSYCHO with Mary Harron and TALES FROM THE HOOD with Rusty Cundieff and panels on Indonesian Horror, presented by Shudder, and horror comics, presented by Midnight Pulp, as well as a featured talk with Nia DaCosta on CANDYMAN and the film industry.

The full list of short film juries and the titles they awarded can be found below.

BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL: SHORT FILM JURY WINNERS

Boston Underground Short Film Jury:

Usama Alshaibi, Filmmaker – PROFANE, AMERICAN ARAB
Monica Castillo, Journalist – The New York Times, DigBoston
Celia Pouzet, Programmer – The Fantasia International Film Festival, MOTELx Film Festival

Best New England Short: Darling Pet Monkey, dir. Jim McDonough
Runner-up: Life is a Burger, dir. Patrick O’Brien

Special Jury Award: Changeling, dir. Faye Jackson
Runner-up: Gacha Gacha, dir. Dave Jackson

Best of Fest Short: Diabla, dir. Ashley George
Runner-up: The Haunted Swordsman, dir. Kevin McTurk

BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL: SHORT FILM JURY WINNERS

Brooklyn Horror Short Film Jury:
Zena Dixon, Co-Host – The Bloody Disgusting Podcast
Mattie Do, Filmmaker – DEAREST SISTER, THE LONG WALK
Marie Zeniter, International Sales Manager – Magnolia Pictures

Best Short: Killing Small Animals, dir. Marcus Svanberg

Best Director: Jean-François Leblanc, for Landgraves

Best Cinematography: Mateusz Klimek, for Attachment

Special Jury Award for Best Bad Douchebag Boyfriend: Don’t Text Back!, dir. Kaye Adelaide and Mariel Sharp

Special Jury Mention: 4×6, dir. Jamie Gyngell

Brooklyn Horror Home Invasion Jury:
A.K. Espada – Alumni (’16, ’18, ’19)
Robbie Lemieux – Alumni (’17, ’18, ’19)
Nora Unkel – Alumni (’17, ’19)

BHFF Home Invasion Winners

Best Short: The Three Men You Meet At Night, dir. Beck Kitsis

Best Director: Mary Dauterman, for Unfinished Business

Best Performance: Stella Baker, for The Three Men You Meet At Night

Special Jury Award for Editing: Alex Trierweiler, for Shut Eye

Special Jury Award for Sound: James Wu and Maximilian Clark, for Lose It

Special Jury Award for Art Direction: Nicole Smith, for The Howling Wind

NORTH BEND FILM FESTIVAL: SHORT FILM JURY WINNERS

 

North Bend Short Film Jury:
Cinema Vista + Chaos Internal
Vivian Hua, Executive Director of Northwest Film Forum
Jennifer Reeder, Filmmaker – KNIVES AND SKIN
Cameron Swanagon, Non-Theatrical and Festival Coordinator – Oscilloscope Laboratories

Something Strange + Transient Territories
Adam Baran, Producer – Emmy-nominated CIRCUS OF BOOKS
Michelle Garza Cervera, Filmmaker – MEXICO BARBARO, THE ORIGINAL
Pedro Souto, Festival Director – MOTELx Film Festival

Cinema Vista + Chaos Internal

Best Short:  Your Last Day on Earth, dir. Marc Martinez

Honorable Mention: Your Monster, dir. Caroline Lindy

Best Director: Kaye Adelaide and Mariel Sharp, for Don’t text back!

Best Actor: Denis Lavant, for Figurant

Best Actress: Alexandra Nell, for Abduction

Jury Mention for Best Cinematography: Joey Liew, for Eyes of Eidolon

Jury Mention for Production Design: Erin Coates and Anna Nazzari, for Dark Water

Something Strange + Transient Territories

Best Short: She-Pack, dir. Fanny Ovesen

Honorable mention for the astute use of genre to speak about human rights and for the amazing use of sound/music to embrace its subject matter: Snowflakes, dir. Faye Jackson

Best Director: Thea Hvistendahl, for Children of Satan

Best Actor: Nicolás Schujman, for In The Dark Park

Best Actress: Ruth Ramos, for Diabla

Special mention for a brilliant ending: Diabla, dir. Ashley George

Best Special effects: Thaumar Rep, for Heat

Best ensemble cast: She-Pack, dir. Fanny Ovesen

OVERLOOK FILM FESTIVAL: SHORT FILM JURY WINNERS

The Overlook Short Film Jury:
Roxanne Benjamin, Filmmaker – BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK, SOUTHBOUND
Natalie Erika James, Filmmaker – RELIC
Adam Piron, Programmer – Sundance Film Festival

Grand Jury Prize: Bad Hair, dir. Oskar Lehemaa

Special Mention: Changeling, dir. Faye Jackson

Scariest Short Film Prize: Abracitos, dir. Tony Morales

Special Mention: Pulsión, dir. Pedro Casavecchia

POPCORN FRIGHTS: SHORT FILM JURY WINNERS

Popcorn Frights Short Film Jury:
Brittany Allen, Actress/Producer/Composer – WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE, Z, The Boys
Andre Gower, Actor/Director – MONSTER SQUAD, WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS
Rachel Talalay, Producer/Director – FREDDY’S DEAD, TANK GIRL
David Howard Thornton, Actor – TERRIFIER 1 & 2
Maxwell Wolkin, Director of Non-Theatrical Sales – Film Movement

Animation Domination: A Night in Camp Heebie Jeebie, dir. Dylan Chase.

Homegrown, 100% Pure Fresh Squeezed Florida Horror: Culpa, dir. Miguel Ferrer

International Midnighters: Swipe, dir. Niels Bourgonje

Midnighters: Waffle, dir. Carlyn Hudson

Scariest Film Award: Abracitos, dir. Tony Morales


NIGHTSTREAM would like to thank official sponsors:

Arrow, IFC Midnight, Midnight Pulp, Shudder

Dark Star Pictures, Vinegar Syndrome

Rocco T. Thompson
Rocco is a Rondo-nominated film journalist and avid devotee of all things weird and outrageous. He penned the cover story for Rue Morgue's landmark July/Aug 2019 "Queer Fear" Special Issue, and is an associate producer on In Search of Darkness: Part III, the latest installment in CreatorVC's popular 1980s horror documentary series.