2022 AAAFF Award Winners

Hidden Letters - Doc Feat Jury and Aud Award Feat.png

Liquor Store Dreams - Hon Men Doc Feat.png

Lucid - Hon Men Lead Actress Storytelling.png

New Old Play - Hon Men Prod Value Craft.png

Where the Wind Dies - Hon Men Nar Short.png

38 at the Garden - Hon Men Short Doc and Aud Award Short.png

DEALING WITH DAD - Narrative Feature Jury Winner
HIDDEN LETTERS - Documentary Feature Jury Winner & Audience Award Feature Winner
LIQUOR STORE DREAMS - Documentary Feature Honorable Mention
LUCID - Honorable Mention for Lead Actress & Innovative Storytelling
A NEW OLD PLAY - Honorable Mention for Production Value and Overall Craft
WARSHA - Narrative Short Jury Winner
WHERE THE WIND DIES - Narrative Short Jury Honorable Mention
SEASONS - Documentary Short Jury Winner
38 AT THE GARDEN - Documentary Short Honorable Mention & Audience Award Short Winner

2022 AAAFF Jury

For each film festival, AAAFF assembles a Narrative & Documentary Jury of peers from the film and entertainment industry to select awards. Categories include jury selections for feature and short films. Short films up for jury consideration are eligible for a $250 award.

Narrative Jury

Kate Sanchez

Kate Sánchez is the EIC and co-founder of But Why Tho? A Geek Community, an entertainment website dedicated to showcasing marginalized voices in media. She is also a Chicana film and pop culture critic specializing in genre film, animation, and video games. Her work has been featured in Paste, Polygon, Fanbyte and The Mary Sue.

Mohit Jaswal

Mohit Jaswal is an award-winning filmmaker based in Austin, Texas. His films have played around the world including Slamdance Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. His feature film Night On Sixth premiered at the 2021 Austin Asian American Film Festival to an energetic, lovely crowd. He currently works as an editor for Powerhouse Animation Studios.

Christine Hoang

Christine Hoang is a Vietnamese American writer, performer, director, and producer whose stories are centered on Southern BIPOC characters trying to find their way. She’s a WarnerMedia 150 Artist, Yes And Laughter Lab Winner, Brian Yorkey’s Unlock Her Potential Mentee, The Writers Lab Fellow, Tribeca Film Institute Alumna, and Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive Fellow. Born and raised in New Orleans and now based in Austin, Christine is also a mom, wife, and former lawyer.

Documentary Jury

Josh Hurtado

Josh Hurtado is a programming consultant with Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, founder of Potentate Films, and a film critic with Screen Anarchy and the Austin Chronicle.

Bears Rebecca Fonté

Bears Rebecca Fonté is a transgender filmmaker, festival programmer, and journalist. In 2021, she became the Artistic Director of aGLIFF/PRISM, the oldest film festival in Austin TX, making her the first Transgender Artistic or Executive Director at any major film festival in the world. Previously, she founded Other Worlds Film Festival, and served as the Director of Programming for Austin Film Festival from 2012-14. Her SciFi shorts ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE, PRENATAL, and THE SECRET KEEPER have played 150+ festivals including Fantasia, SciFi London, Boston SciFi, FilmQuest, Austin Film Festival and Dances With Films. Her LGBTQ+ Horror short CONVERSION THERAPIST made is world premiere at Inside Out in Toronto and US Premiere at aGLIFF. Her feature thriller iCRIME, which she wrote and directed, was released on DVD, VOD and streaming by Breaking Glass/Vicious Circle Films in 2011. Bears Rebecca was also one of the producers on the Sundance Jury-Award Winning short THE PROCEDURE. She has written for Hammer to Nail and AMFM Magazine since 2014, covering independent film, including regular coverage of Sundance, SXSW, Fantasia, and Fantastic Fest.

Ariel Quintans

Ariel Quintans is a 20-year veteran of the Austin advertising and filmmaking community. He is an award-winning editor and director who, in addition to his work in advertising, also edits music videos, short films, documentaries and long-form digital content. His editorial work has earned him a Cannes Gold Lion along with numerous advertising awards in various capacities. He was the co-producer and editor of the documentary feature, “Through the Plexi-Glass: The Last Days of the San José” which was featured in the 2021 SXSW Film showcase. This year he has opened the Austin office of editorial and VFX company Nomad, adding to the offices in Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo.