The Best of Crush 2021
Congratulations to our 2021 WWMC award winners! Our distinguished jury named the following recipients:
Best YOUTH Short
Nominees:
CEREAL (Dusan Brown)
DEJA VU (Annaka Moreland)
INSTINCT (Yinuo Wei)
IT’S NOT A HAPPY ENDING (Sasha Spiegal)
NO FAN OF ANDY (Kai Tomizawa)
SOPHIE AND JACOB (Max Shoham)
Winner
CEREAL
d. Dusan Brown
Best Documentary Short
Nominees:
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION (Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers)
LOST TIME (Leo Pfeifer)
THE BOX (James Burns, Shal Ngo)
THE INTERVIEW (Jon Miller, Zach Russo)
SINCE YOU ARRIVED, MY HEART STOPPED BELONGING TO ME (Erin Semine Kökdil)
TEST (THE IVF FILM) (Courtney Lamb)
Winner
THE BOX
d. James Burns, Shal Ngo
Best NARRATIVE Short
Nominees:
AIDA (IN BETWEEN) (Chris Graham)
DOUBLESPEAK (Hazel McKibbin)
IN FRANCE, MICHELLE IS A MAN’S NAME (Em Weinstein)
PLAISIR (Molly Gillis)
SUCH A SHITTY TIME (Avra Fox-Lerner)
Winner
PLAISIR
d. Molly Gillis
Best ANIMATED Short
Nominees:
CASSINI (Nate Milton)
CONVERSATIONS WITH A WHALE (Anna Samo)
FOREVER (Mitch McGlocklin)
ICEBOUND (Drew Christie)
NO LEADERS, PLEASE (Joan Gratz)
Winner
CONVERSATIONS WITH A WHALE
d. Anna Samo
Best Performance
Nominees:
PLAISIR — Sophie Amieva
MORNING MARCEL — DeMorge Brown
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY — Akanksha Cruczynski
PLAISIR — Eleanore Pienta
AIDA (IN BETWEEN) — Kiko Wilson
Winner
Akanksha Cruczynski
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY
Winner
Kiko Wilson
AIDA (IN BETWEEN)
Best Filmed Screenplay
Nominees:
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY (Akanksha Cruczynski)
HE’S THE ONE (Jessie Kahnweiler)
IN FRANCE, MICHELLE IS A MAN’S NAME (Em Weinstein)
IRIS (AJ Marson)
PLAISIR (Molly Gillis)
Winner
HE’S THE ONE
Jessie Kahnweiler
BEAST OF THE CRUSH
Nominees:
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY — Bisou
SHABA — Shaba
SNOWY — Snowy
Winner
Bisou
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY
Curator’s Choice
Winner
MORNING MARCEL
d. DeMorge Brown
Audience Award
WINNER
TEST (THE IVF FILM)
d. Courtney Lamb
The Audience Award is determined by a weighted ballot vote solely from our Iron Ass Jury - audience members who watched every single film at the 2021 Movie Crush -- thus making this the only true Audience Favorite award on the film festival circuit. These members are:
Peyton Bissell
Zac Bentz
Ethan Dolph
Jan Asher Dolph
Charlie Hafenbrack
Neve Hamalian
Linda Hoyt
Steven Kliewe
Diana Knauf
Björn Levidow
Alexa Lynch
Kyle McFadden
Jessica Morlan
Shane Morlan
Shawn J. Nicholson
Leroy Novaria
Korey Pollard
Barbara Sapp
Doug Sapp
Bill Szuch
Bonnie Szuch
Patrick Tousignant
Read more about our award medallions here!