AUSTIN, Texas -- Oscar-winner Shawn Christensen can now add South By Southwest Film Festival winner to his resume, as his much anticipated film Before I Disappear won the festival's audience award in the narrative feature category on Saturday.
Before I Disappear is based on Christensen's short film Curfew, which in 2013 won the Academy Award for best live action short film. In the film about loneliness and self-discovery, suicidal New Yorker Richie (played by Christensen; pictured above) follows the same plot as in Curfew but with more bells and whistles. His suicide attempt is thwarted after an estranged sister (Emmy Rossum) asks him to babysit his 11-year-old niece Sophia (Fatima Ptacek).
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The film debuted Monday at the Alamo Ritz with the cast in attendance. After announcing the winners for the Audience Awards (see full list below), SXSW added an additional Saturday screening for Before I Disappear at the Stateside Theatre at 6:30 p.m.
The big win comes days after SXSW unveiled the winners for the Jury Awards. Fort Tilden, a film about two 20-something women hilariously struggling to travel from New York City to a nearby beach, won the narrative feature category instead of Before I Disappear.
Meanwhile, Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez took home the prize in narrative spotlight. The drama highlights Chavez's civil-rights journey while balancing his family responsibilities.
Cesar Chavez will be screened again Saturday at Topfer Theatre at 9:30.
Almost 6,500 films, a 14% increase from last year, were submitted for SXSW's film festival this year, with 246 shortlisted for inclusion.
Here is the complete list of 2014 SXSW Film Festival Audience Award winners (to see additional screening times, visit SXSW.com):
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Vessel
Director: Diana Whitten
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: DamNation
Director: Ben Knight & Travis Rummel
VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: Yakona
Director: Anlo Sepulveda & Paul Collins
MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: Exists
Director: Eduardo Sánchez
EPISODIC
Audience Award Winner: Silicon Valley
Director: Mike Judge
SXGLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: The Special Need
Directors: Carlo Zoratti
FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: The Case Against 8
Director: Ben Cotner & Ryan White
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