NEW YORK, NY:  Mustafa ÖNDER

The 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, announced the winners of its two Audience Awards: the audience choice for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature films, sponsored by AT&T.Plus One, written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, was honored with the Narrative Audience Award and Gay Chorus Deep South, directed by David Charles Rodrigues, was given the Documentary Audience Award. The winner of each receive a cash prize of $10,000.

Alice Mori (left, portrayed by Maya Erskine) and Ben King (Jack Quaid) in a scene from "Plus One" (photo by Guy Godfree)

“These stories are crowd pleasers and united audiences at the Festival,” said Tribeca EVP Paula Weinstein. “Our audiences laughed their way through the screenings of the romantic comedy Plus One lead by Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid and were moved by Gay Chorus Deep South, a timely story that uses music to unite communities around LGBTQ+ rights. We were honored to world premiere these films and know audiences elsewhere will love them as much as ours did at Tribeca.”

“So many of the people who worked on Plus One met in New York, and bringing the film back to this city has been an overwhelmingly emotional experience,” said directors Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer. “We are over the moon excited by the audience response to our film and can’t wait to share it with the rest of the world when it releases on June 14th!”

“The entire reason we made this film was to bring this message of belonging of the LGBTQ community and all other communities that are considered “the other” to as many people as possible in the world and the Audience Award at Tribeca is the ultimate celebration of exactly this,” said David Charles Rodrigues. “We are honored and humbled by this award. Thank you Tribeca from the bottom of our hearts.”

After an emotional performance in Charlotte, chorus members console each other in "Gay Chorus Deep South"

The runners-up were See You Yesterday, directed by Stefon Bristol, for the Narrative Audience Award, and Watson, directed by  Lesley Chilcott, for the Documentary Audience Award. Throughout the Festival, which kicked off on April 24, audience members voted by using the official Tribeca Film Festival app on their mobile devices and rated the film they had just viewed from 1-5 stars. Films in the U.S. Narrative Competition, International Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, Viewpoints, Narrative Spotlight, Narrative Documentary, Movies Plus, Midnight, This Used to Be New York, and Tribeca Critics’ Week sections were eligible.

Here’s some more info and context for the Tribeca Audience Award winners and runners-up.

ABOUT THE AUDIENCE AWARD WINNING FILMS AND RUNNERS-UP

WINNERS:

Plus One, directed and written by Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer. Produced by Jeremy Reitz, Debbie Liebling, Ross Putman, Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer, Greg Beauchamp. (USA) - World Premiere. In order to survive a summer of wedding fever, longtime single friends Ben and Alice agree to be each other’s plus one at every goddamn wedding they’re invited to. With Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid, Ed Begley Jr., Rosalind Chao, Beck Bennett, Finn Wittrock.
·         The Film played in the Spotlight Narrative section.

Gay Chorus Deep South, directed by David Charles Rodrigues, written by David Charles Rodrigues, Jeff Gilbert. Produced by Bud Johnston, Jesse Moss. (USA) - World Premiere, Feature Documentary. To confront a resurgence of anti-LGBTQ laws, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus embarks on an unprecedented bus tour through the Deep South, celebrating music, challenging intolerance, and confronting their own dark coming out stories. With The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Dr. Tim Seelig, Ashlé, Jimmy White
·         The film played in the Movies Plus section.

RUNNERS UP:

See You Yesterday, directed by Stefon Bristol, written by Stefon Bristol & Fredrica Bailey. Produced by Spike Lee, Jason Sokoloff, Matt Myers. (USA) - World Premiere, Feature Narrative. Two Brooklyn teenage prodigies, C.J. Walker and Sebastian Thomas, build make-shift time machines to save C.J.’s brother, Calvin, from being wrongfully killed by a police officer.
·         The film played in the Viewpoints section.

Watson, directed by Lesley Chilcott. Producers: Louise Runge, Lesley Chilcott, Wolfgang Knöpfler. . (USA, Costa Rica, Tonga) - World Premiere. Co-founder of Greenpeace and founder of Sea Shepherd, Captain Paul Watson has spent 40 years fighting to end the destruction of the ocean’s wildlife and its habitat. Part pirate, part philosopher, Watson’s methods stop at nothing to protect what lies beneath.
·         The film played in the Documentary Competition section.

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