The Audience Award winners for this year’s AFI DOCS were announced today on the final day of the five-day festival in the Washington, DC area.
Honored
- WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? directed by Liz Garbus (THE FARM: ANGOLA, USA) received this year’s Audience Award for Best Feature
- A CONVERSATION WITH MY BLACK SON directed by Blair Foster (TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, co-producer) and Geeta Gandbhir (BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA, editor) received the Audience Award for Best Short
There were 81 films from 25 countries entered in this year’s festival bringing together artists, national policy and opinion leaders from all parts of the world.
WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?
Nina Simone earned her moniker as the “High Priestess of Soul.” Trained as a classical pianist in North Carolina when racism was open and rampant, Simone drew upon her struggles as she became one of jazz music’s most beloved and complex figures. Director Liz Garbus offers access into Simone’s most intimate thoughts through her own words as the influential chanteuse became a leading voice for the civil rights movement of the late 1960s. Despite her enormous talent, however, Simone battled worsening demons that ultimately drove her into a life of seclusion in Liberia and France.
A CONVERSATION WITH MY BLACK SON
The short film features a group of racially diverse parents discussing the importance of having a conversation with their young black sons about racism and interacting with the police.
AT&T is the presenting sponsor of AFI DOCS 2015. AFI’s official airline, American Airlines, returned as an Official Sponsor of the festival. Official Sponsors include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, VIZIO and NBCUniversal. The Washington Post is proud to be a major media sponsor and presenter of The Washington Post Film Strand. Additional Major Sponsors include Amtrak, the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, CYM Media & Entertainment, The Fledgling Fund, Maryland Film Office, PBS, SonicPool and Sony.
About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival in the Washington, DC area. Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the seat of our nation’s government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, D A Pennebaker and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 13th year, the festival will be held June 17-21, 2015 in landmark Washington, DC venues and the historic AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD. Visit AFI.com/afidocs and connect ontwitter.com/afidocs, facebook.com/afidocs and youtube.com/AFI.
