Three Dollar Bill Cinema, presenters of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, announced last week a long list of award winners for this year's festival, which concluded October 21.

The Witnesses, directed by André Téchiné, won the festival's top juried prize which carries an award of $750. Shelter, directed by Jonah Markowitz was the audience favorite for "Best Narrative Feature". Markowitz also  won a jury award and $250 cash prize for "Best New Director".

Jurors singled out The Witnesses "for its amazing performances, realistically flawed characters, and compelling story that starts out light and darkens as AIDS descends."

Markowitz was congratulated by jurors "for his ability to depict, with sympathy, the complexities of contemporary struggles with class, sexuality and responsibility. We look forward to seeing him develop his voice."

Calling The King and the Clown, directed by Jun-ik Lee, "sumptuous, touching and operatic in scope," jurors chose it as the runner-up in "Best Narrative" category.

Blood on the Flat Track

The film is described this way in the festival program:

This raucous documentary follows the modern resurgence of roller derby in the U.S., profiling the local grassroots effort to form Seattle’s first all-female roller derby league. Exploding onto the scene in 2004, the Rat City Rollergirls instantly became a local sensation from selling out bouts at the old White Center skating rink (the original “Rat City”) to hosting thousands of fans and out-of-town teams for the 2006 Bumberbout Invitational. With bruises, blood, and, yes, broken bones, the women of the Rat City Rollergirls show that behind the short skirts, outlandish makeup, and punk rock image, these are no-nonsense athletes that are not afraid to beat the snot out of an opponent (even if it’s a girlfriend, sister, or mom) for the thrill of the sport.

Derek Himeda's locally-produced We Are GLBTQ was also honored "for providing leadership in telling the diverse and real stories of LGBTQ youth in foster care."

A $750 prize was also awarded for "Best Documentary". It went to Chema Rodriguez's Railroad All-Stars "for its unique and heartfelt depiction of sex workers in Guatemala who form a soccer team to draw attention to the oppression they face."

Six juried awards were presented along with five audience-favorite awards. $3000 in prize money was awarded to the winners.

The festival itself and Three Dollar Bill won their own reward last week when noted LGBTQ film historian and critic Jenni Olson judged it one of the nation's ten best such festivals.