AFI FEST ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS

JURY AWARDS
Grand Jury Prize Shorts: SPIDER (Directed by Nash Edgerton)
Grand Jury Prize for Feature: MUNYURANGABO (Directed by Lee Isaac Chung)
Grand Jury Prize for Documentary: tie between AFGHAN MUSCLES (Directed by Andreas Mol Dalsgaard )

and OPERATION FILMMAKER (Directed by Nina Davenport)
Best Animated short: I MET THE WALRUS (Directed by Josh Raskin)

AUDIENCE AWARDS
Shorts: KIDS + MONEY (Directed by Lauren Greenfield)
Documentary: SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY (Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz)
Feature: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (Directed by Julian Schnabel)

AUDI "TRUTH IN ART" COMPETITION
Michael Addis, director of the documentary, HECKLER

The three Jury Award winners each receive a $5000 prize of Eastman Kodak Motion Picture Film stock & Entertainment Partners Budgeting and Scheduling software package.

The three Audience Award winners receive an AVID Technology Suite & Entertainment Partners Budgeting and Scheduling software package.

As the winner of the Audi "Truth in art" competition, Michael Addis, director of the documentary HECKLER, won a free lease of an Audi S5 automobile for one year. For the winning project, Addis created and shot a short film featuring a theme of family and security with the safety of driving an Audi.

AFI FEST presented by Audi is the longest-running film festival in Los Angeles and one of the most influential film festivals in North America. Each year the Festival presents one of the world's most anticipated showcases of international film, demonstrating AFI's commitment to celebrating the art form.

AFI FEST emerged in 1987 when the American Film Institute adopted the venerated FILMEX: Los Angeles International Film Exposition. Founded in 1971, FILMEX dramatically expanded the audience for alternative film events in Los Angeles, becoming at its peak in the mid-'70s the largest public film event in the world and one of only a handful of film festivals in the United States. FILMEX is still venerated for its range of films and all-encompassing and ambitious aesthetic.

Luminaries from around the globe have attended AFI FEST. Recent guests include: Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar, Javier Bardem, Gael Garcia Bernal, Orlando Bloom, Kate Bosworth, Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Kevin Costner, Marcia Cross, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Fergie (Black Eyed Peas), Joseph Fiennes, Flea, Jodie Foster, Andy Garcia, Cuba Gooding Jr., Teri Hatcher, Anthony Hopkins, Felicity Huffman, Wyclef Jean, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Scarlett Johansson, Tommy Lee Jones, Jude Law, David Lynch, Sienna Miller, Jack Nicholson, Pele, Robin Wright Penn, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Spacey, Audrey Tautou, Reese Witherspoon, Ziyi Zhang and many more.                VISIT THEIR SITE AT:  WWW.AFI.COM