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The Grand Juries at this year's SXSW Film Festival have awarded Best Narrative Feature to Adam Leon's Gimme the Loot and Best Documentary Feature to Jay Bulger's Beware of Mr Baker. The Audience Awards go to Megan Griffiths's Eden (Narrative) and Annie Eastman's Bay of All Saints (Documentary). At indieWIRE, Nigel M Smith has the winners of the Short Film Jury, Film Design and Special Awards.

"At the world premiere of Gimme the Loot," writes iW's Eric Kohn, "Leon said he'd been working on reshoots only a few months ago. That encapsulates the quality driving this delightfully scrappy first feature about young New York graffiti artists, a stitched-together combo of outlaw energy and bittersweet romance that gives the impression of Little Rascals in the big city. Like the graffiti art it documents, it's a lovingly handmade affair."

The L's Mark Asch notes that it'll be "playing...

Several days after their perplexing decision to hand out jury awards only halfway through the festival, SXSW has now ended their 2012 film run with the audience side of things. This grouping already bestowed feature film plaudits upon Annie Eastman‘s documentary, Bay of All Saints, and Megan Griffiths‘ Eden back on Tuesday, but we now have the victors in Documentary Spotlight, Narrative Spotlight, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal, and Festival Favorites.

The only one of this bunch that we managed to catch was Matthew Lillard‘s Fat Kid Rules the World — a film that, despite its positive buzz, was not in our favor — while the rest of the titles (discounting Citadel) are ones I don’t have much, if any familiarity with; I’ll certainly end up checking out some throughout the year, depending on the ensuing reviews. That might sound like disinterest to some, but in a...

Winner of of the Documentary Feature Audience Award at SXSW, "Bay of All Saints," directed by Annie Eastman, is an affecting little gem of a documentary, a look inside a world very different from our own, in the waterfront slums of Bahia, Brazil. These slums aren't so much waterfront as they are in the water, shacks made of salvaged planks and stilts, swaying in an ocean of garbage. Known as palafitas, people have been creating homes there for 60 years, filling in the sea underneath their houses with bags of trash; creating land with refuse where there was none and then claiming it as their own.

Our entry into this world is via refrigerator repairman Norato, a local man who has befriended the women of the palafitas by fixing their appliances. We follow his feet as he traverses from house to house via the rickety bridges made up of loose planks.

Annie Eastman is the director of the documentary “Bay of All Saints,” which won an Audience Awards at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

I didn’t make “Bay Of All Saints” because I was a filmmaker. Rather, I became a filmmaker in order to make “Bay Of All Saints.”

Thirteen years ago, from the third-story window of a school where I was volunteering, I first saw the palafitas; a network of shacks built on stilts in the ocean bay...

As SXSW Film winds down, the juries have handed the victors of this year's best of the fest. Here are the winners of the 2012 SXSW Film Festival:

Documentary Feature

Grand Jury Winner: "Beware of Mr. Baker"

Director: Jay Bulger

Narrative Feature

Grand Jury Winner: "Gimme the Loot"

Director: Adam Leon

Feature Film Audience Awards

Documentary Feature

Winner: "Bay of All Saints"

Director: Annie Eastman

Narrative Feature

Winner: "Eden"

Director: Megan Griffiths

Short Film Jury Awards

Narrative Short

Winner: "The Chair"

Director: Grainger David

Documentary Shorts

Winner: "CatCam"

Director: Seth Keal

Animated Shorts

Winner: "(Notes On) Biology"

Director: Danny Madden

Sxglobal Shorts

Winner: "The Perfect Fit"

Director: Tali Yankelevich

Midnight Shorts

Winner: "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared"

Directors: Rebecca Sloan and Joseph Pelling

Music Videos

Winner: Battles, "My Machines"

Director: Daniels Casey

Texas Shorts

Winner: "Spark"

Time Warner Cable & Ovation Young Filmmaker Scholarship for Texas High School Shorts

Winner: "Boom"

Jury...

...and just like that, the SXSW Film Festival is winding down a close. There are only a few days left at the fest, and folks are beginning to have BBQ regret as they pack their bags to leave Austin. But before they do, the juries have weighed in and handed out the statues for the best of the fest.

In the Narrative Feature department, "Gimme The Loot" has taken the Grand Jury prize. Directed by Adam Leon, making his feature film debut, the movie tells the story of Malcolm and Sofia, two determined teens from the Bronx who hatch a plan for revenge against a rival gang of graffitti artists by tagging a NYC landmark. Word out of Austin has been very strong on this one, and we're eager to see it ourselves.

Meanwhile, in the Documentary category, "Beware Of Mr. Baker" scored the win. Another debut here, this time from Jay Bulger,...

With the film portion of the South By Southwest Film Festival slowly winding down -- and with those crazy music-only people seemingly turning Austin into a deleted scene from "Southland Tales" -- what better time to give out some festival awards! SXSW did just that on Tuesday night, honoring the graffiti drama "Gimme the Loot" and the rock documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker," about Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Fun! Other winners included Richard Linklater's "Bernie" and even "X-Men: First Class"? Sure thing.

Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal and Festival Favorites Audience Awards will be announced separately Saturday, but for now, check out these SXSW winners.

Feature Film Jury Awards

Documentary Feature Competition

Grand Jury Winner: "Beware of Mr. Baker"

Director: Jay Bulger

Narrative Feature Competition

Grand Jury Winner: "Gimme The Loot"

Director: Adam Leon

Special Jury Recognition for Performance:

Jamie Chung - "Eden...

With the film portion of the South By Southwest Film Festival slowly winding down -- and with those crazy music-only people seemingly turning Austin into a deleted scene from "Southland Tales" -- what better time to give out some festival awards! SXSW did just that on Tuesday night, honoring the graffiti drama "Gimme the Loot" and the rock documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker," about Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Fun! Other winners included Richard Linklater's "Bernie" and even "X-Men: First Class"? Sure thing. Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal and Festival Favorites Audience Awards will be announced separately Saturday, but for now, check out these SXSW winners. Feature Film Jury Awards Documentary Feature Competition Grand Jury Winner: "Beware of Mr. Baker" Director: Jay Bulger Narrative Feature Competition Grand Jury Winner: "Gimme The Loot" Director: Adam Leon Special Jury Recognition for Performance: Jamie Chung - "Eden...

Jay Bulger's biopic of drummer Ginger Baker wins grand jury prize for documentary, while Adam Leon's tale about graffiti artists wins prize for narrative fiction

Drum roll please ... Beware of Mr Baker, a biopic of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, has taken the grand jury prize for documentary at SXSW. Jay Bulger's film shared the festival's highest prize with Adam Leon's Gimme the Loot, which took the grand jury prize for narrative fiction for its depiction of a pair of lovable graffiti artists facing off against their rivals on the streets of New York.

Both films earned positive reviews after their world premieres at the festival this week. "Like the graffiti art it documents, it's a lovingly handmade affair," said Indiewire's Eric Kohn of Leon's film. The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore described the Baker documentary as "an affectionate but unfawning portrait that finds the drummer of Cream...

Jury and Audience Award winners were handed out Tuesday evening in Austin as the 2012 South By Southwest Film Festival heads into its final stretch. For the first time this year, winners were announced in every category available at the festival, giving jurors a chance to choose from the 132 films that screened over the course of the fest. Jay Bulger.s Beware of Mr. Baker took home the Grand Jury prize in the Documentary Featrure category, while Adam Leon.s Gimme the Loot won in the Narrative competition. Special Jury Recognition for Performance went to Jamie Chung (Eden), Besedka Johnson (Starlet), and Nico Stone (Booster). Audience Awards, meanwhile, went to Annie Eastman.s Bay of All Saints in the documentary category and Megan Griffiths. Eden on the Narrative Feature category. .It.s been amazing this year to hear over and over again about the high range of quality across the board,...

Gimme the Loot (pictured), Adam Leon’s entirely winning story of two young graffiti artists discovering their own relationship as they seek to tag Shea Stadium (er… Citi Field), picked up the top Narrative Jury Prize at tonight’s SXSW awards ceremony. The Documentary Jury prize went to Beware of Mr. Baker, Jay Bulger’s portrait of famed rock drummer Ginger Baker.

The jury gave Special Recognitions for three outstanding performances in dramatic features: Jamie Chung’s starring role in Eden; Nico Stone’s in Booster; and Besedka Johnson’s debut in Starlet. The 85-year-old Johnson, who plays a bitter widower forming an unlikely friendship with a sweet porn actress (Dree Hemingway), was discovered at a gym by one of the film’s producers and asked to audition.

Audience Awards went in the Documentary category to Annie Eastman’s Bay of All Saints and in the Narrative category to Megan Griffiths’ Eden.

There are still plenty of films left to screen and plenty of Lone Stars left to be tipped back at Austin's SXSW Film Festival, but Tuesday night saw the prizes doled out none the less. The Grand Jury Prize for narrative film went to Adam Leon's graffiti love story Gimme The Loot while the Grand Jury Prize for docu was awarded to Jay Bulger for his rock and roll bio-doc Beware Of Mr. Baker. The audience prizes went to Megan Griffiths for her striking sex-trafficking drama Eden (actress Jamie Chung was also recognized by the jury for her starring role in that film) and to Annie Eastman's Brazilian water slum docu Bay Of All Saints. More audience awards will be comig down the pipe...

With the film portion of SXSW festival half-over, they’ve announced their top jury winners. Taking home highest honors in narrative competition was Gimme the Loot, a film that used Kickstarter to help raise funds. The synopsis is as reads: “As Malcolm and Sofia’s latest graffiti masterpiece is buffed by a rival gang, these two determined Bronx teens must hustle, steal, and scheme to get spectacular revenge and become the biggest writers in the City.” It sounds like an interesting concept and will be looking forward to a chance to check it out after its big win.

On the documentary side, Jay Bulger‘s Beware of Mr. Baker took home top honors. The documentary explores the life of Ginger Baker, drummer for Cream and Blind Faith, who now lives in South Africa. Also featuring Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Carlos Santana and more. Check out the trailer and more info...

Adam Leon's Gimme the Loot and Jay Bulger's Beware of Mr. Baker took the grand jury awards in the narrative and documentary feature competitions, respectively, at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival awards Tuesday night in Austin. The feature-film audience awards went to Megan Griffiths' Eden for narrative and Annie Eastman's Bay of All Saints for documentary. Photos: The Scene at SXSW 2012 Doug Benson hosted the ceremony at the Vimeo Theater. Audience awards in the Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal and Festival Favorites sections won't be announced until Saturday, March 17, and the Headliner audience award

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On Tuesday night it was announced that writer/director Adam Leon’s first feature Gimme the Loot, about a pair of teenage Bronx graffiti artists on a slapdash revenge mission, won the film festival’s 2012 Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature. The film stars newcomers Tysheeb Hickson and Tashiana R. Washington and follows their characters over the course of two hot summer days. Beware of Mr. Baker, Jay Bulger’s portrait of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, took home the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary feature. Audience awards went to Annie Eastman’s documentary Bay of All Saints and...

"Gimme the Loot" and "Beware Mr. Baker" topped the SXSW Film Awards, winning the two Grand Jury Prizes. Below find the full list of winners: Documentary Feature Grand Jury Winner: "Beware of Mr. Baker" Director: Jay Bulger Narrative Feature Grand Jury Winner: "Gimme the Loot" Director: Adam Leon Feature Film Audience Awards Documentary Feature Winner: "Bay of All Saints" Director: Annie Eastman Narrative Feature Winner: "Eden" Director: Megan Griffiths Short Film Jury Awards Narrative Short Winner: "The Chair" Director: Grainger David Documentary Shorts Winner: "CatCam" Director: Seth Keal Animated Shorts Winner: "(Notes On) Biology" Director: Danny Madden Sxglobal Shorts Winner: "The Perfect Fit" Director: Tali Yankelevich Midnight Shorts Winner:...

"Bay of All Saints" director Annie Eastman was an associate producer on "They Killed Sister Dorothy" (SXSW 2008) and production coordinator and assistant editor on the Oscar-nominated "The Last Campaign of Governer Booth Gardner" (2010). While studying Biology in college, she discovered Capoeira, which led her to making "Bay of All Saints." What it's about: As the last of the notorious water slums is demolished in Bahia, Brazil, will three single mothers face homelessness or rally for a better life? Annie explains the journey that led to "Bay of All Saints": I became enamored of Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art from the slave culture of Brazil. I began shaping my life to practicing Capoiera and went to live for 18 months in a slum in Bahia, Brazil, working as a volunteer for a community-run arts organization. It was there where I first came upon the water slums, they were just meters away from where I lived.

Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths,...

Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977

Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen

screens as part of 24 Beats per Second

SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:

Narrative Feature Competition

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.

With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.

SXSW has announced their complete 2012 feature film slate. Over 90 films will screen across the festival’s ten categories, including the already announced opening night premiere of Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods and a special preview screening of Lena Dunham’s new HBO series Girls.

New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha Stephens, Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and The Taiwan Oyster, directed by Mark Jarrett.

On the documentary side, the eight competing films include Bay of All Saints, directed by Annie Eastman, Beware of Mr. Baker, directed by Jay Bulger, The Central Park Effect, directed by Jeffrey Kimball, Jeff, directed by Chris James Thompson,...