NEWFEST CROWNS ITS QUEEN
NewFest wrapped up its 20th year of programming in New York City this Sunday, and at the conclusion of its closing night Gala film Were the World Mine, the festival’s Artistic Director Basil Tsiokos and Administrative Director Kerry Weldon announced its winners. The evening’s big winner, nabbing both the Showtime Vanguard Award and Best International Narrative Feature was The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (pictured at right) a film that follows a Filipina transsexual prostitute who dreams of a fairy tale life in the West. Winning the Best Documentary Feature prize was Be Like Others which chronicles the experience of Iranian men who transition from male to female in order to abide by their country’s law, which explicitly bans homosexuality as punishable by death. Winning Best US Narrative Feature was The Lost Coast, a character driven drama in which old friends reconnect over the course of one evening in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood. The Audience Award for Best Feature appropriately went to Pageant a documentary which had New Yorkers clapping for their favorite candidate for Miss Gay America. For the first time this year the festival held its NewDraft Screenplay Competition, the two winning screenwriters were Rodney Evans for Day Dream and Soman Chainani for Love Marriage. For a complete list of winners click here for NewFest’s website.
