Each year, a new group of filmmakers is recognized with the Official Best of Fest Award. The complete list of winners, past and present, can be browsed in the sidebar at left. (Films may be recognized in more than one Official Best of Fest Category, and many are available in convenient Official Best of Fest Gift Sets.)

Below are this year’s mid-year recipients of the Official Best of Fest Awards, announced October 16, 2010. Congratulations!

Award-Winning Films to Inspire

• Charlie Thistle (2008) | Bragi Schut, Jr. | 15 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Danzak (2008) | Gabriela Yepes | 20 min. | Drama | NR | Peru
• Dead End Job (2005) | Samantha Davidson Green | 21 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Gray Eagles (2009) | Christopher Woods | 30 min. | Family | NR | USA
• Lest We Forget (2009) | Brandon McCormick | 7 min. | Human Rights | NR | USA
• Magician, The (2009) | Taylor Alexander Ward | 9 min. | Drama | NR | USA
• Sweetener (2007) | Paul Preston | 6 min. | Drama | NR | USA
• That’s Magic! (2008) | Brandon McCormick | 15 min. | Family | NR | USA
• Two Hours in the Dark (2009) | Chip Hackler | 35 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Films for Family

• Mom Dad Where R U? (2010) | Jeffrey Leon | 51 min. | Documentary | NR | USA
• Mommo (2010) | Atalay Tasdiken | 94 min. | Drama | NR | Turkey
• Secret of Kells, The (2009) | Tomm Moore | 75 min. | Fantasy | NR | France
• Toy Story 3 (2010) | Lee Unkrich | 103 min. | Comedy | G | USA

Award-Winning Films about Romance

• Cumbia callera (2007) | René U. Villarreal | 85 min. | Romance | NR | Mexico
• Grande Drip (2009) | Angelo Salvatore Restaino | 21 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• My Name is Khan (2010) | Karan Johar | 165 min. | Drama | PG-13 | India
• One day (2010) | Thomas Leisten Schneider | 12 min. | Comedy | NR | France
• True Beauty This Night (2009) | Peter Besson | 10 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Weathered (2009) | Matt Barber, Matthew Webb | 19 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Films for Kids

• Finding My Magic (2010) | Matt McCullough | 16 min. | Family | NR | Australia

Award-Winning Films to Make You Laugh

• Kosher Pig (2010) | Eric Patton | 21 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Mind The Gap (2010) | Shaun Majumder | 8 min. | Comedy | NR | Canada
• No Parking (2007) | Jeremy Brunjes | 4 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Stuck (2006) | Bruce A. Block | 11 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Thirst (2010) | Keith Rivers | 7 min. | Comedy | NR | USA

Award-Winning Films About War

• My Neighbor, My Killer (2009) | Anne Aghion | 80 min. | Documentary | NR | USA

Award-Winning Films About Real People

• Wizard From New Zealand, QSM, The (2010) | Grant Neville | 37 min. | Documentary | NR | United Kingdom

Award-Winning Animation

• Complex Villainelle, A (2010) | University of Colorado at Denver | 8 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger, The (2010) | Bill Plympton | 6 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Kidnap (2009) | Sijia Luo | 4 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Secret of Kells, The (2009) | Tomm Moore | 75 min. | Fantasy | NR | France
• Toy Story 3 (2010) | Lee Unkrich | 103 min. | Comedy | G | USA

Award-Winning Dramas

• Arthur (2010) | John Jacobsen | 10 min. | Fantasy | NR | USA
• Billy (2005) | L. Rhoden Boyd | 14 min. | Drama | NR | USA
• Deep Sleep (2010) | Alejandro Alvarez | 16 min. | Drama | NR | Canada
• Scenic Route, The (2008) | Jonathan Fredrick | 13 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Seeing In The Dark (2009) | Helen Hatzis | 14 min. | Drama | NR | Canada

Award-Winning Documentaries

• Abandoned Heroes (2008) | David Block | 28 min. | Educational | NR | USA
• Battle of the Bozos, The (2009) | Bradley Glenn | 19 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• BirthMarkings (2010) | Margaret Lazarus | 18 min. | Alternative | NR | USA
• Cry from the Top of the World, A (2009) | Fredrik Strang | 46 min. | Nature | NR | Sweden
• Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean (2010) | Curt Fissel | 40 min. | Educational | NR | USA
• Eggshelland (2008) | Christopher Noice | 88 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Evropolis – gradyt na deltata (2009) | Kostadin Bonev | 80 min. | Drama | NR | Austria
• Gus: An American Icon (2009) | Pedro Brenner | 90 min. | Biography | NR | USA
• I Shot My Love (2010) | Tomer Heymann | 56 min. | Drama | NR | Germany
• Ingelore (2009) | Frank Stiefel | 40 min. | Family | NR | USA
• Left Behind: The Story of the New Orleans Public Schools (2007) | Vincent Morelli | 90 min. | Educational | NR | USA
• Nuclear UK? (2010) | Pablo Nieto | 33 min. | Drama | NR | United Kingdom
• Sharecroppers, The (2010) | Jonathan Shepard | 18 min. | Drama | NR | USA
• Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing (2009) | David Berez | 30 min. | Biography | NR | USA
• Stolen (2009) | Violeta Ayala | 78 min. | Human Rights | NR | Australia
• Sweet Crude (2009) | Sandy Cioffi | 93 min. | Human Rights | NR | USA
• Waiting for a Train: The Toshio Hirano Story (2009) | Oscar Bucher | 21 min. | Biography | NR | USA

Award-Winning Cause Films

• Closing Time (2009) | Todd Goldman | 11 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Mockumentaries

• FrICTION (2009) | Cullen Hoback | 89 min. | Comedy | NR | USA
• Senior Prom (2010) | Nicholas ‘Nick’ Terry | 80 min. | Comedy | NR | USA

Award-Winning Thrillers

• Hours Before (2010) | Joel Moore | 17 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Experimental Films

• It Goes (2010) | Darren Le Gallo | 11 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Black Comedies

• Registered (2010) | Mark McLain | 16 min. | Comedy | NR | USA

Award-Winning Web Series

• Book of Jer3miah, The (2009) | Jeff Parkin | 120 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Films About Redemption

• Never, Never Talk To Strangers (2010) | Noor Arnaoot | 12 min. | Drama | NR | USA

Award-Winning Science Fiction Films

• Paradise Regained (2009) | Jaraad Virani | 15 min. | Drama | NR | USA