Award winners and secret nominees for the coveted FilmQuest Cthulhu Trophy were announced at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony September 14th, 2019 at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, Utah. The 2019 FilmQuest Awards were, as usual, filled with many more deserving films than can possibly win or be nominated. To the winners and nominees, congratulations!
The following nominees were culled from a process that began with 1,100 submissions to the 2020 (postponed until May 2021) festival. Each Feature Film category, unless otherwise noted, had 6 – 8 nominees. Each Short Film & Other category, unless otherwise noted, had 10 nominees.
Bucking the trend, there were an unusual number of ties this season. Normally, a new judge would be brought in to “break” the ties, but after a year like 2020, it was decided to let the ties stand and to allow the opportunity for more joy.
Congratulations to all the 2020 Award Winners and Nominees!
*Indicates award is a plaque’d award.
2020 (MAY 2021) WINNERS
BEST FEATURE FILM
The Mortuary Collection
BEST COMEDY SHORT
And Then God Laughed
BEST FANTASTIC SHORT
Fragile.com
BEST FANTASY SHORT
Moon Drops
BEST FOREIGN SHORT
Diabla (Mexico)
BEST HORROR SHORT
Seek
BEST MICRO SHORT*
Amara
BEST SCI-FI SHORT
Muse
BEST STUDENT SHORT
A Strange Calm
BEST UTAH PRODUCTION*
(TIE) Kepler 138
(TIE) The Tell Tale Heart
BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Haunted Swordsman
BEST MUSIC VIDEO*
Starset: Trials
BEST WEB SERIES*
After Ray
BEST YOUTH FILM*
Accomplice
BEST DOCUMENTARY*
Inferno
THE MINERVA AWARD*
Faye Jackson – Changeling & Snowflakes
BEST DIRECTOR – FEATURE
12 Hour Shift – Brea Grant
BEST SCREENPLAY – FEATURE
The Reckoning – Neil Marshall, Charlotte Kirk & Edward Evers-Swindell
BEST ACTOR – FEATURE
The Mortuary Collection – Clancy Brown
BEST ACTRESS – FEATURE
Meander – Gaïa Weiss
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – FEATURE*
Uncle Peckerhead – David Littleton
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – FEATURE*
12 Hour Shift – Chloe Farnworth
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – FEATURE*
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – FEATURE*
The Mortuary Collection
BEST SCORE – FEATURE*
They Live Inside Us
BEST SOUND – FEATURE*
The Mortuary Collection
BEST EDITING – FEATURE*
Sister Tempest
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION – FEATURE*
The Reckoning
BEST COSTUMES – FEATURE*
Sister Tempest
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – FEATURE*
Meander
BEST MAKEUP – FEATURE*
The Mortuary Collection
BEST DIRECTOR – SHORT
Dar-Dar – Paul Urkijo Alijo
BEST SCREENPLAY – SHORT
Miracle Desert – Mark Hosack
BEST ACTOR – SHORT
And Then God Laughed – Joe Weintraub
BEST ACTRESS – SHORT
Green Cobra – Colleen Foy
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – SHORT*
The Speed of Time – John Hennigan
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – SHORT*
(TIE) A Storybook Ending – Toni Ann De Noble
(TIE) Concealer – Stacie Gancayco-Adlao
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – SHORT*
A Play
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – SHORT*
Antique
BEST SCORE – SHORT*
(TIE) Need Anything
(TIE) The Haunted Swordsman
BEST SOUND – SHORT*
Death Walks on Nitrate
BEST EDITING – SHORT*
(TIE) It’s Okay
(TIE) Washed
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION – SHORT*
The Haunted Swordsman
BEST COSTUMES – SHORT*
The Ballad of John St. George
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – SHORT*
Skywatch
BEST MAKEUP – SHORT*
The Altruist
DIRECTOR’S PRIZE*
Overall Cinematic Achievement – Hungry Joe
Overall Cinematic Achievement – Laura Hasn’t Slept
Overall Cinematic Achievement – Plainsong
Unique Concept & Execution – Hammurabi
Unique Concept & Execution – Smiley Death Face
Practical & Nostalgic Aesthetics – There’s No Such Thing as Vampires
BEST UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY – FEATURE
1st Place* – Darkroom by Levi Buchanan
2nd Place* – Precipice by Avishai Weinberger
3rd Place* – Saint Shari by Dana Hammer
BEST UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY – SHORT
1st Place* – Horror Stories by Curtis Threadgold
2nd Place* – Murphy’s Gulch by Jeff Basseti
3rd Place* – I Need a Sixer! by Jesse Mattson & Steve Weber
BEST UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY – FEATURE – TOP 20 FINALISTS
Benny B by Michael Hogan
Bestial by Clark D. Schaefer
Cellular Memory by Brian Erwin & Christina Hunsicker
Cover Crop by Jeffrey Howe
Darkroom by Levi Buchanan
Graven by David Campfield
Kelipot by Seth Nesenholtz
Kudzu by Marisa Forrest
No Overnight Parking by Meg Swertlow
Orson by Jared Egol
Precipice by Avishai Weinberger
Saint Shari by Dana Hammer
Salt West by Samuel Peirce
Siege by Ian Neligh
Snare by Neil Krolicki
Study in Blue by Patrick Clement
The Greenhouse by Wylie Rush
Video Nasties by Cary McKnight
Where the Devil Resides by Travis Heermann
Why, Arizona by Isaiah Mouw & Mark Botts
BEST UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY – SHORT – TOP 10 FINALISTS
Again by Dorian Frankel
Ghost Chicken by Vincent DiSanti
Gift by Jeff Kallet
Horror Stories by Curtis Threadgold
I Need a Sixer! by Jesse Mattson
Murphy’s Gulch by Jeff Bassetti
The Boneyard by M.R. Fitzgerald
TheoMORPHIS by Sam Moony
Vermillion by Christina Bryant
Watcher by Alan Sanchez
All Unproduced Screenplay Competition judging was done by a group of third party professional judges.
2020 (MAY 2021) NOMINEES
The following list is are the nominees for the 2020 FilmQuest Awards. The award winners, including the coveted FilmQuest Cthulhu Trophy, will be listed in full at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on May 29th at Velour Live Music Gallery in Downtown Provo, Utah. The 2020 FilmQuest Nominees are, as usual, filled with many more deserving films than can possibly win or be nominated. To the nominees, congratulations!
The following nominees were culled from a process that began with 1,100 submissions for the 2020 festival. Each Feature Film category, unless otherwise noted, has 5 or 6 nominees. Each Short Film & Other category, unless otherwise noted, has 10 nominees. In the past, FilmQuest has had a “secret” nominee announced at the Awards Ceremony, which often became the winner, but due to the circumstances surrounding this past year we have foregone this unique and fun activity for the postponed 2020 festival only. Thus, all the nominees seen below are the final nominees with no secret nominees to be announced as in previous seasons.
Congratulations to all the 2020 Award Nominees, and start spreading the word today! Use hashtags #filmquest #prepareforfantastic #filmquest2020 #thebestofthebest #filmquestawards as you promote online!
# Indicates award is a plaque’d award
2020 NOMINEES
BEST FEATURE FILM
12 Hour Shift
Meander
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
They Live Inside Us
Uncle Peckerhead
BEST COMEDY SHORT
A Play
Allergic Overreaction
And Then God Laughed
Green Cobra
Imagine a World
Love Bite
Miracle Desert
OverKill
The Speed of Time
You Wouldn’t Understand
BEST FANTASTIC SHORT
A Perfect Circle
First Lesson
Fragile.com
Hammurabi
Postmarked
The Hour After Westerly
The Howling Wind
The Last Pizza
The Stranger
Your Monster
BEST FANTASY SHORT
Circle of Stone
Dar-Dar
Goodnight Death
Know-It-All
Last Dream Before Sunrise
Monstrous Circus
Moon Drops
Snowflakes
The Ballad of John St. George
The Last Incantation
BEST FOREIGN SHORT
And So He Opens His Eyes
Antique
Diabla
Echo
I’ll End Up in Jail
My Little China Girl
Pigs
Plainsong
Superhero
Wash
BEST HORROR SHORT
Changeling
Hungry Joe
Laura Hasn’t Slept
Night Crawl
Pieces of Me
Seek
Shut Eye
Teething
The Altruist
The Rejected
BEST MICRO SHORT #
Amara
Beauty Juice
Below
Hellevate
Meat Lovers
Mr. Ticklez
Pakok
Sensor
Significant Other
The Prisoner
BEST SCI-FI SHORT
APPyness
It’s Okay
Jeff Drives You
Muse
Polvotron 500
Roughneck
Skywatch
The Fantastic Folly of Future Jess
The Immortal
Transfert
BEST STUDENT SHORT
A Strange Calm
Downs of the Dead
Exit
Eye for an Eye
Gaslight
Milk Teeth
Nymph
The Beast
The History of Monsters
Witchin’
BEST UTAH SHORT #
American Killjoy
Circadian
Cradle Song
Kepler 138
Love Spell
Lumeria
The Cultist Next Door
The Tell Tale Heart
Through the Valley of the Hunter
BEST ANIMATED SHORT #
Abe’s Story
Black Forest Sanatorium
Fast Feud!
Meanwhile, at the Abandoned Factory
One Last Monster
Quirkistador
The Haunted Swordsman
Theourgia
Tides Are Changing
Too Late
BEST MUSIC VIDEO #
Disappear
Down the Line
Falling
Human Killer
I’m So Depressed
Red
Suckers
The Call of Cthulhu
Trials
You’re Afraid
BEST WEB SERIES #
After Ray
American Tourist
Dark Before Dawn
In Limbo
Over and Out
The Influencers
The Kara Morgan Show
Thumb Runner
BEST DOCUMENTARY (WINNER) #
Inferno
BEST YOUTH FILM (WINNER) #
Accomplice
THE MINERVA AWARD #
(Awarded to a female filmmaker/duo/group whose work embodies the advancement of the voice and empowerment of the female filmmaker in genre cinema today. Must have been a film directed, written, and/or produced by the same female filmmaker.)
April Phillips for “The Last Man on Earth”
Brea Grant for “12 Hour Shift”
Caroline Lindy for “Your Monster”
Celeste Chaney for “Cradle Song”
Faye Jackson for “Changeling” & “Snowflakes”
Jessica Grace Smith for “Flip”
Joanna Tsansi for “Imagine a World”
Julia Max for “Pieces of Me”
Kristine Gerolaga for “Concealer”
Lexi Trivundza for “Danger! Danger!”
Lorraine Caffery for “The Rougarou”
Natasha Halevi for “After Ray” & “Beauty Juice”
Rami Kahlon for “Odd Girl”
Trish Harnetiaux for “You Wouldn’t Understand”
Yinghui Fu for “Honour Thy Mother”
BEST DIRECTOR – FEATURE
12 Hour Shift – Brea Grant
Meander – Mathieu Turi
The Mortuary Collection – Ryan Spindell
The Reckoning – Neil Marshall
Uncle Peckerhead – Matthew John Lawrence
BEST SCREENPLAY – FEATURE
12 Hour Shift – Brea Grant
The Mortuary Collection – Ryan Spindell
The Reckoning – Neil Marshall, Charlotte Kirk & Edward Evers-Swindell
The Return – Ken Janssens & BJ Verot
They Live Inside Us – Michael Ballif
BEST ACTOR – FEATURE
Danger! Danger! – Benedict Mazurek
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die – Patrick D. Green
The Mortuary Collection – Clancy Brown
The Return – Richard Harmon
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires – Josh Plasse
They Live Inside Us – James Morris
BEST ACTRESS – FEATURE
12 Hour Shift – Angela Bettis
Meander – Gaïa Weiss
Sister Tempest – Kali Russell
The Mortuary Collection – Caitlin Fisher
The Reckoning – Charlotte Kirk
The Return – Echo Andersson
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires – Emma Holzer
Uncle Peckerhead – Chet Siegel
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – FEATURE #
12 Hour Shift – Kit Williamson
The Mortuary Collection – Barak Hardley
The Mortuary Collection – Jacob Elordi
The Reckoning – Sean Pertwee
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires – Aric Cushing
Uncle Peckerhead – David Littleton
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – FEATURE #
12 Hour Shift – Chloe Farnworth
12 Hour Shift – Nikea Gamby Turner
Danger! Danger! – Alexandra Keller
Sister Tempest – Linnea Gregg
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die – Rachel Perrell Fosket
The Return – Marina Stephenson Kerr
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires – Meg Foster
Uncle Peckerhead – Ruby McCollister
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – FEATURE #
12 Hour Shift
Danger! Danger!
Sister Tempest
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
They Live Inside Us
Uncle Peckerhead
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – FEATURE #
Meander
Sister Tempest
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
They Live Inside Us
BEST EDITING – FEATURE #
12 Hour Shift
Meander
Sister Tempest
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
The Return
BEST SOUND – FEATURE #
Danger! Danger!
Meander
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
Uncle Peckerhead
BEST SCORE – FEATURE #
12 Hour Shift
Danger! Danger!
Meander
Sister Tempest
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires
They Live Inside Us
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION – FEATURE #
Meander
Sister Tempest
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires
BEST COSTUMES – FEATURE #
Sister Tempest
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
They Live Inside Us
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – FEATURE #
Danger! Danger!
Meander
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
The Return
BEST MAKEUP – FEATURE #
Meander
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
The Mortuary Collection
The Reckoning
The Return
There’s No Such Thing as Vampires
They Live Inside Us
Uncle Peckerhead
BEST DIRECTOR – SHORT
And Then God Laughed – Sonya Z. Dagata & Carlos Robles-Gil
Changeling – Faye Jackson
Dar-Dar – Paul Urkijo Alijo
Fragile.com – Alison Hammersly
Hungry Joe – Paul Holbrook & Sam Dawe
Laura Hasn’t Slept – Parker Finn
Pieces of Me – Julia Max
Seek – Aaron Morgan
The Altruist – Matt Smith
Wash – Kiggs
BEST SCREENPLAY – SHORT
And Then God Laughed – Sonya Z. Dagata & Carlos Robles-Gil
Chill – Ali Elkin
Exterminator – Duncan Birmingham
Fragile.com – Brittany Menjivar
Hammurabi – Bethany Orr
Know-It-All – Katherine LaVictoire
Miracle Desert – Mark Hosack
Moon Drops – Yoram Ever-Hadani
Pieces of Me – Julia Max
Snowflakes – Faye Jackson
BEST ACTOR – SHORT
And Then God Laughed – Joe Weintraub
It’s Okay – Stephen Laferriere
Jeff Drives You – Addison Heinman
Postmarked – Jaylin Fletcher
Roughneck – Jamie McShane
Superhero – Nico Randel
Teething – Hugh Thompson
The Altruist – Matt Smith
The Last Incantation – Brian Hutton
VR Food – Malcolm Mills
BEST ACTRESS – SHORT
Common Decency – Caroline Bloom
Diabla – Ruth Ramos
Fragile.com – Carly Stewart
Green Cobra – Colleen Foy
Hammurabi – Bethany Orr
Hungry Joe – Laura Bayston
I’ll End Up in Jail – Martine Francke
Laura Hasn’t Slept – Caitlin Stasey
Love Bite – Carlee Baker
Pieces of Me – Caroline Kaplan
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – SHORT #
Common Decency – Adam Hagenbuch
First Lesson – Mitch Costanza
Fragile.com – Colin Woodell
Gaslight – Mat Dwyer
Imagine a World – Rob Notman
Kepler 138 – Shawn Stevens
Roughneck – Derek Ray
The Speed of Time – John Hennigan
The Baker – Adam Tsekham
Your Monster – Tommy Dewey
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – SHORT #
A Storybook Ending – Toni Ann De Noble
And Then God Laughed – Issy Stewart
Annie, We’re Here For You – Riley Rose Critchlow
Concealer – Stacie Gancayco-Adlao
Exterminator – Fiona Dourif
Muse – Taj Atwal
My Little China Girl – Yumi Narita
Odd Girl – Kayla Janelle Tellier
Pieces of Me – Caroline Williams
Polvotron 500 – Silvia Conesa
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – SHORT #
A Perfect Circle
A Play
A Storybook Ending
Afterlife
Chill
Diabla
Downs of the Dead
Exit
Ghosted
Miracle Desert
Muse
Postmarked
Snowflakes
The Wick
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – SHORT #
Antique
Changeling
Dar-Dar
Exactly As They Are
Flick
Laura Hasn’t Slept
Plainsong
The Door
The Hour After Westerly
Wash
BEST EDITING – SHORT #
And So He Opens His Eyes
Antique
Death Walks on Nitrate
It’s Okay
Kepler 138
Mom Fight
Push the Point
Skywatch
The Immortal
Washed
BEST SOUND – SHORT #
Dar-Dar
Death Walks on Nitrate
Kepler 138
Plainsong
Seek
Skywatch
Stalag III-C
The Haunted Swordsman
The Tell Tale Heart
Wash
BEST SCORE – SHORT #
Darling, Darling, Wendy
Death Walks on Nitrate
Echo
Flick
Infinity 7
Monstrous Circus
Moon Drops
Need Anything
The Baker
The Haunted Swordsman
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION – SHORT #
Dar-Dar
Honour Thy Mother
Laura Hasn’t Slept
Muse
The Face of the Deep
The Haunted Swordsman
The History of Monsters
The Howling Wind
The Last Incantation
The Long Walk Back
BEST COSTUMES – SHORT #
Barrier
Circle of Stone
Darling, Darling, Wendy
Monstrous Circus
Stalag III-C
The Ballad of John St. George
The Legacy
The Stranger
The Wick
Zenith Run
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – SHORT #
Amara
And So He Opens His Eyes
Crawler
Muse
My Little China Girl
Roughneck
Skywatch
The Immortal
The Rejected
The Speed of Time
BEST MAKEUP – SHORT #
$Strip
Backward Creep
Dent
Duérmete Niño
Plainsong
Seek
The Altruist
The Haunted Swordsman
The Last Incantation
The Tell Tale Heart
SCREENPLAY FINALISTS – FEATURES (Top 50)
A Night in the Country by Larry Hankin
Beast of Virginia by Matthew Corley
Benny B by Michael Hogan
Bestial by Clark D. Schaefer
Cadicle by James Fox & Darrell Gabonia
Cellular Memory by Brian Erwin & Christina Hunsicker
Cover Crop by Jeffrey Howe
Crazy Time by Andrew Cooper
Darkroom by Levi Buchanan
Diamond Lake by Justin Michael Terry
Erased by Camille Huot & Ambrealys
Faithful Shadow by Kevin J. Howard
First Nation by Thomas DiMassimo
Fractal by Euroy Tan
Gifts by Josh Kaukl
Graven by David Campfield
Guacamole Yesterday by Hudson Phillips
Gullun Drift by Richard Clarke
Hometown by James Rees
Hurricane Party by James B. Cox
In Country by Scott Peterman & Cat Davis
Kelipot by Seth Nesenholtz
Kudzu by Marisa Forrest
Lonely Planet by Karl Mather
Meth Gators by Jordan Miller
No Overnight Parking by Meg Swertlow
Orson by Jared Egol
Palisades by Richard P. Alvarez
Precipice by Avishai Weinberger
Saint Shari by Dana Hammer
Salt West by Samuel Peirce
Siege by Ian Neligh
Share by Neil Krolicki
Soul Passage by Patrick Mediate and Kristin Ilagan
Stephen the Demon by Georgina Cahill
Study in Blue by Patrick Clement
The Box Pony Express by G.S. Leitgeb
The Burgeoning Death by Chelsea Lutz
The Chamber by Sergio Pinheiro
The Greenhouse by Wylie Rush
The Grip by Alex Gold
The Horror Film Killer by Michael J. Bowler
The Last Schubert Hotel by Sean Hennessy
They Hunt at Night by Rob Walker
Too Many Wades by Stirling J. McLaughlin & Wilder Konschak
Trip by Michael Klug
Until Death by Alyssa Stevens
Video Nasties by Cary McKnight
Where the Devil Resides by Travis Heermann
Why, Arizona by Isaiah Mouw & Mark Botts
SCREENPLAY FINALISTS – SHORTS (Top 25)
Again by Dorian Frankel
Blank by Avishai Weinberger & Tova Weinberger
Come Along, Harry Higgins by Kevin Machate
Fear of Falling by Jeffrey Stackhouse
Ghost Chicken by Vincent DiSanti
Gift by Jeff Kallet
Gobble by Trow Dewinne
Gods Lost by Daniel Holliday
Horror Stories by Curtis Threadgold
I Need a Sixer! by Jesse Mattson
Identity by Kurt Choate
Las Nogas by Catya Plate
Murphy’s Gulch by Jeff Bassetti
Not a Creature was Stirring by Michael Hogan
Suck-Up by Gil Saint
The Barn by Sophie Black & Tommy Draper
The Birdwatcher by Lachlan Marks
The Boneyard by M.R. Fitzgerald
The Peregrine by Justin Giddings
The Summoning by Marion McDowell
The Toy Rabbit by Russell Whaley
TheoMORPHIS by Sam Moony
Vermillion by Christina Bryant
Watcher by Alan Sanchez
Zasha by Margarita Zhitnikova & Jeffrey Weber
The Top 20 Feature Screenplay Finalists and Top 10 Short Screenplay Finalists were announced at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony.
CONGRATULATIONS to ALL the 2020 FilmQuest Official Selections and Nominees!