Film Threat Award This! reveals 2021 Indie Film Noms

Curated by Screenmancer Staff

LOS ANGELES, CA: Indie film champion, Film Threat, led by founder and filmmaker Chris Gore, and in conjunction with their partner Magical Threads, are thrilled to announce the Award This! 2021 nominees. Award This! nominees were selected from the nearly 2,000 indie films reviewed on Film Threat in 2020. Award This! returning for its third year will take place at a drive-in in conjunction with the Frida Cinema at the Mess Hall in Tustin, CA on Saturday, April 10^th (limited tickets available at AwardThis.com ), and a virtual event for global audiences everywhere can be seen on Sunday, April 18^th and it’s free to register for the virtual event here .

This years’ vastly differing nominees have climbed mountains, uncovered global conspiracies, time-shared babies, taken Instagram followings to new heights, searched for love & liberty, and have found themselves in nature and prison in the utterly unique Award This!  bold and diverse categories including:

Indie Sci-Fi, Indie Horror, Indie Comedy, Indie LGBTQ+ Themed Film, Indie Action/Thriller, WTF Indie, Indie Romantic Comedy, Music Documentary, Sports Documentary, Pop Culture Documentary, Socially-Relevant Documentary, Best Film Made During the 2020 Lockdown/Quarantine, Best Director, Best Directress, Indie Made for Less Than the Contents of an Oscar Gift Bag (Under $100K), and Indie Movie of the Year.

“We’re ecstatic having discovered so many incredibly innovative indie films this year. With most Hollywood blockbusters on hold, there’s an opportunity for smaller indie films to rise to the surface and shine, this truly is a new Golden age for independents. The sheer volume of fascinating films we screened tells us independent film is thriving and we couldn’t be happier,” said Chris Gore.

To celebrate the 2021 Award This! nominees and kick off the event, a launch video featuring the voice talents of Jon Bailey was launched.

Film Threat Honors Renegade Filmmaking at Live Drive-In Event on April 10, 2021 & Virtual Ceremony on April 18^th, 2021

Here is list of uniquely independent films nominated for Film Threat’s 2021 Award This! event.

Award This! Short Film

A Simple F*cking Gesture
At The End Of The World 
Intermedium 
Nocturne
Single
Wade in the Water 
When the Train Stops 

Award This! Sports Documentary

Accidental Climber
Maybe Next Year
Nail in the Coffin: The Fall & Rise of Vampiro
Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story
Unraveling Athena: The Champions of Women’s Tennis

Award This! Socially Relevant Documentary

Ask No Questions
Fat Fiction
Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo
Mighty Ira
The Prison Within
Waldo On Weed

Award This! Pop Culture Documentary

Animation Outlaws
Insert Coin
J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs and the Church of the ‘SubGenius’
The Last Blockbuster
The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story
The Ringmaster

Award This! Music Documentary

Creem America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine
InstaBAND
Live From The Space Stage: A HALYX Story
The Rise of the Synths
Risen: The Story of Chron “Hell Razah” Smith
Zappa

Award This! Indie Documentary

Coded Bias
The El Duce Tapes
Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace 
Naughty Books
The Social Dilemma
The Truth About Marriage

Award This! Film About Movies or Filmmaking

Greenlight
Man in Camo
Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary
Once Upon A Time In Uganda
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies
You Don’t Nomi

Award This! Indie Sci-Fi

Future
Minor Premise
Proximity
Same Boat
Save Yourselves!
Shifter

Award This! Indie Horror

Home With a View of the Monster
Millennial Killer 
Scare Package
The Mortuary Collection
To Your Last Death
Uncle Peckerhead

Award This! Indie Comedy

The Argument
Call Me Brother
Corona Zombies
The Opening Act
The Planters
Sh!thouse

Award This! Indie LGBTQ+ Themed Film

Butt Boy
I Hate New Year’s
Five Women in the End
First Blush
Rialto
Tahara

Award This! Indie Action/Thriller

1BR
Centigrade
The Devil to Pay
Greenlight
Spree
Take Out Girl

Award This! WTF Indie like “What the Fuck is This Movie Even?”

Butt Boy
Call Me Brother
Lake Michigan Monster
Mope
The Special
To Your Last Death

Award This! Film Made During the 2020 Lockdown/Quarantine

2020 (A 1917 Parody)
Barbie & Kendra Save the Tiger King
Corona Zombies
Host
Love in Dangerous Times
Veneer

Award This! Indie Romantic Comedy

1 Night in San Diego
Babysplitters
Limerence
Olympic Dreams
Rent-A-Pal
Senior Love Triangle

Award This! Indie Drama

The Dark Divide
Frances Ferguson
Justine 
Jezebel
One Hour Outcall
Sh!thouse 

Award This! Indie Film Made for Less Than the Contents of an Oscar Gift Bag (Under $100K)

The Blue
Call Me Brother
Frances Ferguson
Greenlight
Love in Dangerous Times
Man in Camo 

Award This! Director

The Argument (Robert Schwartzman)
Call Me Brother (David Howe)
The Dark Divide (Tom Putnam)
Man in Camo (Ethan Minsker)
Senior Love Triangle (Kelly Blatz)
Sh!thouse (Cooper Raiff)
Spree (Eugene Kotlyarenko)
Shifter (Jacob Leighton Burns)

Award This! Directress

Night in San Diego (Penelope Lawson)
Five Women in the End (Kd Amond)
Jezebel (Numa Perrier)
Justine (Stephanie Turner) 
Limerence (Tammy Minoff)
The Planters (Alexandra Kotcheff, Hannah Leder)
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story (April Wright)
Tahara (Olivia Peace)

Award This! Indie Movie of the Year

The Argument
Call Me Brother
The Dark Divide
The Planters
Rent-A-Pal
Shifter
Sh!thouse
Senior Love Triangle 

The Award This! “voice of God” aka show announcer and epic voice guy, Jon Bailey (“Transformers: Combiner Wars”), will get the party started for a rollicking indie awards show.  Award This! sponsors and partners include Filmocracy, the Frida Cinema, Storyblocks, Artist Vodka and charity HashtagLunchbag. 

Last years presenters included Angie Wang (“MDMA,” and the upcoming “Shotgun Bride”), Esther Ku (“Girl Code,” “Last comic Standing”), Erick Weber, editor of The Awards Ace, Kimberly Browning (“All Hallows Eve 2,” “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty”), Bil Dwyer (“Hot in Cleveland,” “The Larry Sanders Show”), Matt Weinhold (“Trekkies,” “Beware the Batman”), David Huntsburger, (“Bill Nye Saves the World,” and host of the “Space Cave” podcast), Michael Cornacchia (“Hannah Montana: The Movie,” “Happy Feet”), Kevin Avery (“Comedy Central,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”), James Kerwin (one of the founders of “Star Trek Continues” “When the Train Stops”), Ron Placone, co-host of “The Jimmy Dore Show”),  Laura House, “Where the Heart is,” and show runner for “Secret Life of Boys”), Suzy Nakamura (“Avenue 5,” “Modern Family”), Chris Mancini (one of the founders of “Comedy Film Nerds”), Chris Gore (Film Threat founder), Alan Ng, managing editor of Film Threat, and Dante James, Film Threat writer and pop culture critic.

Film Threat’s Award This! is an event with a clear mission — to champion independent films in a variety of exciting categories in order to bring greater awareness to the growing number of exceptional independent films available on numerous platforms including VOD and streaming services. Recognizing these films during the height of award season creates a well-deserved visibility for these artists and creators.

To watch last years’ Film Threat’s Award This!

About Film Threat

Film Threat is an independent movie review site, podcast, and YouTube channel specializing in reviews, news, filmmaker interviews, deep-dive podcasts, festival coverage, and DIY filmmaking tips. Founded by Chris Gore, Film Threat evolved from a fanzine to a successful, nationally distributed magazine in the 1990s that covered indie film icons at the birth of their careers. Since its debut, the outlet has earned immense respect from the industry and is known for the quality of its content. Film Threat’sprint edition was retired when the website launched in 1996, with the site continuing the original mission to champion the work of independent filmmakers. At the helm of FilmThreat.com is Chris Gore who also hosts the Film Threat Podcast. Gore is the author of several books including the most notably, The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide as well as a filmmaker having co-written and produced My Big Fat Independent Movie. Chris has hosted shows on FX, Starz, IFC and was the film expert on G4TV’s Attack of the Show.

The Film Threat website is one of the leading independent film sites and Film Threat’s reviews are recognized by Rotten Tomatoes as part of the Tomatometer Score.

Award This! is composed of the staff of Film Threat’s editors and critics which number 30+ worldwide along with an advisory board of media figures and independent film luminaries. The winners are selected by the editors of Film Threat along with the advisory board. 

Award This! Eligibility Requirements are here.

Where to follow Film Threat leading into this year’s Award This!

Website: https://FilmThreat.com/

Facebook: @FilmThreat

Instagram: @FilmThreat

Twitter: @FilmThreat

Award This! website and social media:

Website: https://www.AwardThis.com/

Facebook: @AwardThis

*Screenmancer is a longtime fan of Film Threat, and the “Directress” category isn’t how we’d frame that particular award. 😉

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