‘The Hill Where Lionesses Roar,’ ‘The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton’ Triumph at Raindance Film Festival Awards

Naman Ramachandran
·1 min read

Luana Bajrami has won best director and the Discovery Award for best debut feature for “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar” at the 29th Raindance Film Festival (Oct. 27 – Nov. 6).

The film was nominated for the Golden Camera and Queer Palm at Cannes, and has also won awards at the Sarajevo and Warsaw festivals.

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The debut feature by YouTuber and short filmmaker Luke Cutforth, “The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton” won best U.K. feature, while Anita Rocha da Silveira’s San Sebastián and Sitges winner “Medusa” won best international feature.

Daniel Lombroso’s “White Noise” was named best documentary feature, while Matthew Walker’s “I’m Wanita” won best music documentary.

Portuguese actor Lucia Moniz won best performance for her lead role in Ana Rocha’s “Listen,” for which she has won several awards previously.

Known for his work on “Frances Ha” and Lady Bird,” DoP Sam Levy won best cinematography for Karen Cinorre’s “Mayday.” “King Car” won best screenplay for writer-director Renata Pinheiro and writers Sergio Oliveira and Leo Pyrata.

Raindance is an Oscar-qualifying festival. The best short film recipient is eligible for consideration in the short film category of the Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run (provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules).

This year’s best short prize went to Suman Sen’s “The Silent Echo.” Saul Abraham’s “Enjoy” won best U.K. short, Michelle Coomber’s “Nsenene” won best documentary short and Honami Yano’s “A Bite of Bone” won best animation short.

Julia Campanelli won the best unproduced screenplay award for “The Paisley Witch Trial.”

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