Flavio Alveshas reason to celebrate…

The 49-year-old Brazilian writer, screenwriter, and film director’s picked up an audience award at this year’s SXSW Conference & Festivals in Austin for his film The Garden Left Behind.

Alves’ film, which he co-wrote with John Rotondo, picked up the award in the Visions category.

The Garden Left Behind, which stars Carlie Guevara, centers onTina Carrera, a Mexican trans woman, struggling to make a life for herself as an undocumented immigrant in New York City.

Meanwhile, Jorge Teresoand Fernando Maldonado, co-directors of the film Gloomy Eyes, picked up the Storytelling award in the Virtual Cinema category.

One final round of winners from the festival will be announced on March 19 when the Headlinersand 24 Beats Per Second Audience Award winners will be unveiled.

Here’s the full list of Audience Award winners:

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: Saint Frances
Director: Alex Thompson

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Audience Award Winner: For Sama
Directors: Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: The Peanut Butter Falcon
Director: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Audience Award Winner: Running With Beto
Director: David Modigliano

VISIONS
Audience Award Winner: The Garden Left Behind
Director: Flavio Alves

MIDNIGHTERS
Audience Award Winner: Boyz In The Wood
Director: Ninian Doff

EPISODIC PREMIERES
Audience Award Winner: Ramy
Showrunner: Bridget Bedard

GLOBAL
Audience Award Winner: Cachada: The Opportunity
Director: Marlén Viñayo

FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Audience Award Winner: Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins
Director: Janice Engel

SXSW Film Design Awards

EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Audience Award Winner: Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse
Directors: Brian Mah, James Ramirez

VIRTUAL CINEMA JURY AWARD WINNERS
The 25 projects in the Virtual Cinema, which ran Monday 3/11 through Wednesday 3/13, were eligible for 360° Video: Documentary, 360° Video: Narrative, Interactive, Storytelling, Best Use of Immersive Arts, plus special jury awards. The 2019 Virtual Cinema jury was composed of  Eliza McNitt, Laura Mingail, and Lori Schwartz.

360° VIDEO: DOCUMENTARY – Send Me Home
Director: Cassandra Evanisko

360° VIDEO: NARRATIVE – Metro Veinte: Cita Ciega 
Director: Maria Belen PoncioINTERACTIVE – Runnin’ 
Director: Kiira Benzing

STORYTELLING – Gloomy Eyes 
Director: Jorge Tereso, Fernando Maldonado

BEST USE OF IMMERSIVE ARTS – Home After War
Director: Gayatri Parameswaran 

SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION – The Future of Experience 
Director: Jessica Brillhart