Lt. Dan actor Gary Sinese honored at Beaufort film festival but this S.C. film stole the show

Attendance records were set at the Beaufort International Film Festival after the showing of 58 films. The film showcase drew more than 100 directors from across the world and saw an appearance by a well-known Hollywood actor, but it was a South Carolina film that stole the show.

For the first time in the event’s 18-year long history four events during the six-day festival sold out, said Ron Tucker, president of the Beaufort Film Society and the festival director. Screenings of two films with local connections were among the sold-out events. One was “The Final Run,” a Beaufort film about a former drug-runner’s return to smuggling to save his family. The film was loosely based on the so-called “gentlemen smugglers” in Beaufort County who were swept up by law enforcement in the 1980s. The other was Daniel Stanislawski’s “The Spirit of Beaufort: Remembering Forrest Gump,” a 90-minute documentary that focused on behind-the-scenes roles that local residents had during the filming of “Forrest Gump.”

“There was not an empty seat for any of “Spirit of Beaufort” and Final Run,” Tucker said.

But the festivals big winner was a feature film “Long December” directed by Thomas Torrey of Fort Mill, S.C. It follows a struggling artist pursuing his dream of music during the month of December. It won four awards: Best feature film, audience choice, best music score for Kevin Dailey of Nashville and best director for Torrey.

Also sold out was the Pat Conroy Lifetime Achievement Award Saturday. This year’s award went to Gary Sinise for his career achievements, which include the iconic role as Lt. Dan in the 1994 blockbuster film “Forrest Gump,” which was filmed in the Beaufort area.

A performance by Marlena Smalls and the Hallelujah Singers during the opening ceremony drew a standing-room only crowd as well. Smalls played Bubba’s mother in “Forrest Gump.”

The Sinise and Smalls events — plus the two films with Beaufort connections — each sold out with 500 people in attendance, said Tucker, adding, “That’s never happened before.”

The average attendance for the 58 screenings was over 300.

Overall attendance was 12,000, which is about the same as in 2023. People who attend more than one film, Tucker noted, are counted more than once.

More than 100 film-makers attended, from as far as way as Mexico, Poland and Canada. That was a also a record Tucker said.

“It was probably the best and biggest festival,” Tucker said, “in a lot of ways.”

Here’s the other awards that were given out at the festival:

▪ Behind the Scenes Award: Linda Lee, Charleston

▪ Best screenplay: Just in Time, written by Robbie Robertson, Columbia

▪ Best Actress: Vivian Kerr, Scrap, Los Angeles

▪ Best Comedy: Back To Bridgewood, directed by Kelsey Cooke, Nashville

▪ Volunteer of the Year 2024: Jodi Stefanick, Beaufort, SC

▪ Best Documentary Short: The Volunteer, directed by David Brodie, Los Angeles

▪ Best Ensemble Cast: The Martini Shot, directed by Stephen Wallis, Edson, Alberta, Canada

▪ Best Animation: Dandelion, Directed by Ling Zhao and Zhengwu Gu, Sarasota, Fla.

▪ Best Short: Hedgehog, directed by D. Mitry, Albany, N.Y.

▪ Best Documentary Feature: An Open Door: Temple Grandin, directed by John Alexander Barnhardt, Fort Collins, Co.