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Portland International Film Festival Fans Pick Their Favorites

Portland, OR. The Northwest Film Center has announced its 2019 Audience Award winners. Drawing an audience of 38,000, the Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is the biggest film event in Oregon, premiering more than 100 international shorts and feature films to Portland audiences annually.

Throughout the Festival, attendees were given the opportunity to register their opinions on each of the 90 features and 55 shorts screened.

PIFF is a non-competitive festival—other than audience awards—and focuses primarily on work from outside the United States, but American features, documentaries, and shorts are also included.

Earning top audience accolades for Best Narrative Feature is Woman at War (Iceland/France/Ukraine) by director Benedikt Erlingsson. It follows the story of a choral teacher living a double life as an environmental terrorist. Below is the trailer for the film:

Director Lila Avilés is the winner of this year’s Best New Director award for her debut feature, The Chambermaid (Mexico).

Our Bodies Our Doctors (United States) by director Jan Haaken took the Best Documentary Feature award. Documentarian Jan Haaken’s sixth feature highlights a significant group of individuals in the highly politicized world of women’s reproductive health rights: the doctors and nurses who have taken an oath to provide safe and ethical procedures for those who need their help.

The Wolf House (Chile/Germany) director Joaquín Cociña & Christóbal León takes home the Audience Award for Best Animated Feature.

Fish Out of Water (United States) by director Josh Brine is the recipient of the Best Oregon Short Film Award.

PIFF43 will be held March 5-19, 2020.

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.