Audience Award - Best Short - Top 5

1. West Bank Story
dir. Ari Sandel
2. Lift
dir. Hughes Dalton & Jeff Dalton
3. Ryan
dir. Chris Landreth
4. Nine
dir. Shane Acker
5. Dutch Bird
dir. Kirk Weddell

Audience Award - Best Feature - Top 5

1. Murderball
dir. Henry Alex Rubin & Dana Adam Shapiro
2. Brothers
dir. Susanne Bier
3. Cronicas
dir. Sebasian Cordero
4. Tell Them Who You Are
dir. Mark Wexler
5. Oldboy
dir. Chan-wook Park

Audience Award - Best Non-Fiction Film - Top 5

1. Murderball
dir. Henry Alex Rubin & Dana Adam Shapiro
2. The Innocent
dir. Lauri Feldman
3. Tell Them Who You Are
dir. Mark Wexler
4. Planet of the Arabs
dir. Jacqueline Shalloum
5. Solo un Cargador
dir. Juan Alejandro Ramirez

Top Indiana Films

1. Novem
dir. Brad Kimmel
2. The Innocent
dir. Lauri Feldman
3. Pearl Diver
dir. Sidney King

Grand Jury Prize - Best Feature

Novem
dir. Brad Kimmel

Grand Jury Prize - Best Non-Fiction

The Innocent
dir. Lauri Feldman

Grand Jury Prize - Best Short (tie)

Solo un Cargador
dir. Juan Alejandro Ramirez

Tama Tu
dir. Taika Waititi

Grandy Jury Prize - Hoosier Lens

Pearl Diver
dir. Sidney King

Murderball wins the Audience Award for Best Feature and Best Non-Fiction Film.

WINNERS OF THE 2005 INDIANAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS ARE ANNOUNCED

At the Closing Night Ceremonies held at the Oceanaire Seafood Room, winners of eleven awards were announced by Indianapolis International Film Festival Executive Director, Brian Owens.

Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's Murderball received two of the three Audience Awards: Best Non-Fiction Film and the overall prize for Best Feature Film. Murderball is the story of members of the US National Wheelchair Rugby team. The winner for Best Short Film was West Bank Story, directed by Ari Sandel. Sandel's controversial and hysterical musical follows the travails of a Palestinian girl and Israeli soldier whose families own competing fast food stands.

The jury rewarded four Special Jury Prizes, two for performance: one for animation, and one for direction. The cast of Brothers (IFC Films) took the prize for their emotionally riveting performances. The cast of Novem received the other Special Jury Prize for performance for their believable performances and for writing and performing the nine songs that score the film. Shane Acker's 9, won the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Animation. Apichatpong Weerasethakul was cited for directing the stunning and unique Tropical Malady.

Thirty-two films competed for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film. The jury ultimately selected co-winners. Juan Alejandro Ramirez's Solo un Cargador, from Peru was selected with Taika Waititi's Tama Tu, from New Zealand. Solo un Cargador was cited for its poetic approach in examining the lives of porters who carry tourist luggage up the mountain trails of South America. Tama Tu was cited for its quiet humanity and its portrain of young Maori soldiers attempting to find sanity amidst the chaos of war.

The Grand Jury Prize for Best Non-Fiction Film was awarded to Lauri Feldman's The Innocent, produced by Feldman and Michael Husain of Pathway Productions. The Innocent examines the lives of people who spent years on Death Row, only to be proven innocent of the crimes for which they were senteced to die.

Sidney King received the first Hoosier Lens Awards, given to a film that is made in Indiana or by an Indiana filmmaker, for his beautifully-shot and emotional film Pearl Diver.

Finally, Brad Kimmel's Novem won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature in Competition. Novem was cited for its unique narrative style, technical mastery, and emotional impact.

Final attendance to the festival was just under 3000, an increase of nearly 25% over 2004's event.