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)

cereal.jpg

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)

plaisir.jpg

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)

conversations.jpg

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

akanksha.jpg

Winner

Akanksha Cruczynski
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY

kiko.jpg

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)

hes the one.jpg

Winner

HE’S THE ONE
Jessie Kahnweiler

 

BEAST OF THE CRUSH

Nominees:

CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY — Bisou
SHABA — Shaba
SNOWY — Snowy

bissou.jpg

Winner

Bisou
CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY

 

Curator’s Choice

demorge.png

Winner

MORNING MARCEL
d. DeMorge Brown

 

Audience Award

test ivf.jpg

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!