Palm Springs film festival: Best of Fest screenings and juried award winners announced

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is coming to a close, and the jury award and audience award votes have been tallied.

Throughout the 35th anniversary festival, 184 films from over 70 countries — including 48 premieres — were screened. Although a few regular screenings remain on Sunday, the festival officially closes Monday with "Best of the Fest" screenings, meaning encore presentations of the films that were the most popular with audiences throughout the festival.

Below is the Best of Fest schedule:

Sunday, Jan. 14 screenings

"Fairyland," 10:30 a.m., Mary Pickford is D'Place

"Four Daughters," 5:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas Palm Springs

"Common Ground," 7 p.m., Regal Cinemas Palm Springs

"Wonderland," 8 p.m., Camelot Theatres

"First We Bombed New Mexico," 8:15 p.m., Mary Pickford is D'Place

"Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person," 8:30 p.m. Mary Pickford is D'Place

"Io Capitano," 8:45 p.m., Regal Cinemas Palm Springs

Monday, Jan. 15 screenings

"Green Border," Noon, Regal Cinemas Palm Springs

"The Promised Land," 1:30 p.m., Camelot Theatres

"The Animal Kingdom," 5:30 p.m., Mary Pickford is D'Place

"The Teacher's Lounge," 7 p.m., Mary Pickford is D'Place

"The Zone of Interest," 8 p.m., Camelot Theatres

Here are the award winners:

FIPRESCI Prize

This category awards films submitted for the International Feature Film submissions to the Oscars. The FIPRESCI jury members were Marriska Fernandes (Canadian Film Critic), Steffen Moestrup (Danish Film Critic), and Wilfred Okiche (Nigerian Film Critic).

Best International Feature Film: "Four Daughters" (Tunisia), Director Kaouther Ben Hania

Best International Screenplay: "The Zone of Interest"(United Kingdom), Director Jonathan Glazer

Best Actress in a International Feature Film: Leonie Benesch, "The Teacher’s Lounge" (Germany), Director ?lker ?atak

Best Actor in an International Feature Film: Mads Mikkelsen, "The Promised Land" (Denmark) Director Nikolaj Arcel

Best Documentary Award

"This World Is Not My Own"
"This World Is Not My Own"

The Documentary Award is presented to the director for most compelling nonfiction filmmaking. The films were juried by Nive Das (Brown Girls Doc Mafia), Ken Jacobson (Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute), and Elvis Mitchell (KCRW).

Best Documentary Award: "The Echo" (Mexico/Germany), Director Tatiana Huezo

Best Documentary Award Special Mention: "This World is Not My Own"(United States/Sweden), Director Petter Ringbom, Marquise Stillwell

New Voices New Visions Award

This category focuses on films by new directors who emerged in the last year submitting a debut or second feature. The films were juried by Liliana Granados (Independent Producer), Sonaiya Kelley (Los Angeles Times), and Jacqueline Lyanga (Global Cinematheque/Berlinale).

New Voices New Visions Award: "The Animal Kingdom" (France), Director Thomas Cailley

New Voices New Visions Special Mention: "Animalia" (Morocco/Qatar/France), Director Sofia Alaoui

Ibero-American Award

The Ibero-American Award is presented to the best film submission from Latin America, Spain or Portugal. The films were judged by Aitch Alberto (Vaca Frita Inc.), Kristen Lopez (The Wrap), and Sheryl Santacruz (Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival).

Ibero-American Award: "Power Alley" (Brazil/France/Uruguay), Director Lillah Halla (U.S. Premiere)

Ibero-American Special Mention: "20,000 Species of Bees" (Spain), Director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

Local Jury Award

The Local Jury Award is presented to the film that best promotes understanding and acceptance between people. The films were judged by Diana Acosta (La Quinta), Marco Garcia (Indio), Joan Heeter (Palm Springs), Athalie Laguerre (Palm Springs), and Kathy Kaye Retardo (Palm Springs).

Local Jury Award: "Wonderland" (Singapore/Malaysia/United States), Director Chai Yee-Wei

Young Cineastes Award

Director Ariane Louis-Seize and cinematographer Shawn Palvin of "HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON" pose together on the red carpet for opening night of the Palm Springs International Film Festival at the Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School in Palm Springs, Calif., Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.
Director Ariane Louis-Seize and cinematographer Shawn Palvin of "HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON" pose together on the red carpet for opening night of the Palm Springs International Film Festival at the Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School in Palm Springs, Calif., Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.

The Young Cineastes jury is composed of local students who have expressed aspirations for filmmaking and a passion for watching and learning more about cinema. The films were judged by Ishaan Gil (Palm Springs), Thomas Alan Nelson (Palm Desert), and Lyla Valentine (Palm Desert).

Young Cineastes Award: "Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person" (Canada), Director Ariane Louis-Seize

Mozaik Bridging the Borders Award

This category awards a film that is successful in bringing people of our world closer together. The films were juried by Susan Morgan Cooper, Marcy Garriott, Vladek Juszkiewicz, Philippe Mora, Arameh Etemadi, and Hammad Zaidi.

MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award: "Green Border" (Poland/France/Czech Republic/Belgium), Director Agnieszka Holland

MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Special Mention: "The Old Oak" (United Kingdom/France/Belgium), Director Ken Loach

Audience Award winners

In addition to the juried awards, there are always two audience awards given out every year at the festival. The following are the 2024 winners:

Audience Award for Best Fiction Film: "One Life"(United Kingdom/USA) directed by James Hawes

Audience Award for Best Documentary Film: "Common Ground"(USA) directed by Josh Tickell, Rebecca Tickell

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'The Zone of Interest,' 'Teacher's Lounge' win at Palm Springs film fest