The Anthem Film Festival is an annual screening of the latest libertarian films and documentaries. It is part of the larger FreedomFest event. Below is a list of Anthem Film Festival winners for the years 2011-2021.
2021 Award Winners
For more details on these films, see the Anthem Film Festival homepage.
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
–Mighty Ira [Directors: Chris Maltby, Nico Perrino, Aaron Reese]
Narrative Feature
Best Libertarian Ideals: Anthem: the Animated Movie [Director: Rob Hustle]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Rocket Stahr’s Death of a Rockstar [Director: Cole James Gentles]
Documentary Feature
Best Documentary Feature: Mighty Ira [Director: Chris Maltby, Nico Perrino, Aaron Reese]
Best International Documentary Feature: Better Left Unsaid [Director: Curt Jaimungal]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Rush to Judgment: Encounter at the Lincoln Memorial [Directors: Steve Oldfield, Ryan Anderson]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Surviving Socialism [Director: Luke Livingston]
Honorable Mention: What Killed Michael Brown? [Director: Eli Steele]
Official Selection: Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage? [Director: Maureen Castle Tusty]
Official Selection: Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World [Director: Kyle Clark]
Official Selection: Trauma to Triumph: The Rise of the Entrepreneur [Director: Harold Klein, Daniel Saulnier]
Special Awards
Audience Choice (Feature Length): Rush to Judgment: Encounter at the Lincoln Memorial [Directors: Steve Oldfield, Ryan Anderson]
Audience Choice (Short Film): Days Before the Dawn [Director: Trevor Klein]
AnthemVault Prize for Best Original Score: Rocket Stahr’s Death of a Rockstar [Director: Cole James Gentles]
Short Narrative
Best Short Narrative: A Piece of Cake [Directors: Austin and Meredith Bragg]
Best Comedy: A Piece of Cake [Directors: Austin and Meredith Bragg]
Best International Short: Growing Pains [Director: Jack Curtis]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Perfect One [Director: Matt Szewczyk]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Sundown Trail [Director: Luke Guidici]
Official Selection: One Nice Day [Sousan Salamat]
Official Selection: Police Werk [Jared Sichel, Gabriel Yaffe]
Official Selection: Real Unity [Sam Martin]
Official Selection: The Edited [Adam Choit]
Official Selection: The Intimate Touch [Michael Stoen, Ariel McMillion]
Official Selection: This is Me [Lucas Diercouff]
Short Documentary
Best Short Documentary: All We Have [Director: Matt Battaglia]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Taking Poletown [Director: Tim Hedberg
Best Libertarian Ideals: Days Before the Dawn [Director: Trevor Klein]
Honorable Mention: Off the Rails, the Lenore Skenazy Story [John Papola]
Pacific Legal Foundation: Defending Freedom Through Film Awards:
—Cyberpunk 2077’s Dystopian City Planning [Calvin Tran]
–Dream Factories [Josh Oldham]
–Legacy [Josh Oldham]
–A Working Family [Josh Oldham, Dave Penner]
Official Selection: A Message to My Youngest Son [Letitia Capili]
Official Selection: Serving Thousands: The 29 Diner Story [Dugan Bridges]
Official Selection: The Unseen [Nicholas Nikides]
Official Selection: Witness Project: Elida Dakoli of Albania [Hawk Jensen]
2020 Award Winners
For more details on these films, see the Anthem Film Festival homepage.
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
–Man in the Arena [Director: Michael Barnes]
Narrative Feature
Best Narrative Feature: Speed of Life [Director: Liz Manashil]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Mondo Hollywoodland [Director: Janek Ambros]
Documentary Feature
Best Documentary Feature: They Say It Can’t Be Done [Director: Michael “Oz” Ozias]
Best International Feature Narrative: Bassil’ora [Director: Rebecca Basso]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Money Machine [Director: Ramsey Denison]
Libertarian Ideals: How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story [Director: Sam Martin & Matt Battaglia]
Special Awards
Audience Choice Award (tie): Man in the Arena [Director: Michael Barnes] & They Say It Can’t Be Done [Michael “Oz” Ozias]
Anthemvault Prize for Best Original Score: The Common Ground Sound [Composer: Jill Riley]
Short Narrative
Best Short Narrative: A Piece of Cake [Directors: Austin and Meredith Bragg]
Best Comedy: A Piece of Cake [Directors: Austin and Meredith Bragg]
Best International Short: Growing Pains [Jack Curtis]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Perfect One [Director: Matt Szewczyk]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Sundown Trail [Director: Luke Guidici]
Official Selection: One Nice Day [Sousan Salamat]
Official Selection: Police Werk [Jared Sichel, Gabriel Yaffe]
Official Selection: Real Unity [Sam Martin]
Official Selection: The Edited [Adam Choit]
Official Selection: The Intimate Touch [Michael Stoen, Ariel McMillion]
Official Selection: This is Me [Lucas Diercouff]
Short Documentary
Best Short Documentary: The Big Skim [Director: Molly Dedham]
Best International Documentary: Where the Directives Grow [Tomasz Agencki]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Falconer [Director: Ian Reid]
Libertarian Ideals: Korematsu Versus US [Director: Matt Wood]
Best Libertarian Series: Architects of Woke: Howard Zinn, Hollywood, and the Fairy Tale of American Evil [Rob Montz]
Honorable Mention: IRIC [Sandra Tamkin]
Honorable Mention: My Name is Chip Wilson [Patrick Reasonover]
Honorable Mention: My Name is Hong Kong [Patrick Reasonover]
Honorable Mention: The Politically Incorrect Guides to Communism and Journalism [Patrick Reasonover]
Honorable Mention: Quota [Josh Oldham]
2019 Award Winners
For more details on these films, see the Anthem Film Festival homepage.
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
No Safe Spaces [Director: Justin Fok]
Tangle [Director: Malihe Ghloamzadeh]
Narrative Feature
Best Narrative Feature: Miracle in East Texas [Director: Kevin Sorbo]
Official Selection: Love Immortal [Director: Robert Joseph Butler]
Documentary Feature
Best Documentary Feature: Invalidated [Director: Luke Livingston]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Creepy Line [Director: M.A. Taylor]
Libertarian Ideals: The Fight of Our Lives: Defeating the Ideological War Against the West [Director: Gloria Z. Greenfield]
Special Awards
Audience Choice Award: Tank Man [Director: Robert Peters]
Anthemvault Prize for Best Original Score: Regulation [Composer: Sam Estes]
Special Jury Prize Award: In Money We Trust? [Director: Paul Sanderson]
Foreign Narrative
Best International Feature Narrative: aKasha [Director: Hajooj Kuka]
Best Foreign Short Narrative: Raheel [Director: Ayat Asadi Rahbar]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Bailaora [Director: Rubin Stein]
Libertarian Ideals: The Stain [Director: Shoresh Vakili]
Short Narrative
Best Short Narrative: Demand Curve [Directors: Austin and Meredith Bragg]
Best Comedy: The Surge [Directors: Jared Sichel and Gabriel Yaffe]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Regulation [Director: Ryan Patch]
Libertarian Ideals: My Name is Victimhood [Director: Jennifer Grossman]
Official Selection: The Last Straw [Katie Christofferson]
Official Selection: Love Gov2 [John Papola]
Short Documentary
Best Short Documentary: Made in Mehke [Director: Valerie Hinkle-Marshall]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Right to Bear 3D Printers [Director: Logan Albright]
Libertarian Ideals: American Consequences 2020 [Director: Fred Gundry]
Official Selection: American Craft: What Beer Can Teach Us About Well-Crafted Laws [Director: Matt Wood]
Official Selection: Architects of Woke: Judith Butler’s War on Science [Rob Montz]
Official Selection: Big Lies: The Forgotten Russian Holocaust [Igor Runov]
Official Selection: One Laptop Is a Passport to the World [Melissa Mann]
Official Selection: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution [Jake Klein]
Official Selection: State of War [Matt Battaglia]
2018 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
Skid Row Marathon [Director: Mark Hayes]
…also Best Feature Documentary
…also Best Original Score
Documentary Feature
Audience Choice Award: The Housing Bubble [Director: Jimmy Morrison]
International Feature Documentary: Cyborgs Among Us [Director: Rafel Duran Torrent]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Sweden: Lessons for America? [Directors: James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty]
Best Libertarian Values: From the Ground Up [Director: David Lasdon]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: Gringa [Directors: Lana Link and Claudia Murray]
Best International Short Narrative: The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler [Director: Paul Philipp]
Best Comedy: The Inconsiderate Houseguest [Director: Letitia Capili]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Are You Volleyball? [Director: Mohammad Bakhshi]
Best Libertarian Values: Gandhi vs. Justice [Director: Pratik Khandhadiya]
Short Documentary
Best Overall: Saber Rock [Directors: Tom and Matt Locastro]
Audience Choice Award: Off The Grid With Thomas Massie [Director: Matt Battaglia]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Wanda Wos Lorenc: The Witness Project [Director: Hawk Jensen]
Best Libertarian Values: Off The Grid With Thomas Massie [Director: Matt Battaglia]
Special Jury Award for Heroism: Saber Rock [Directors: Tom and Matt Locastro]
2017 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
Little Pink House [Director: Courtney Balaker]
…also Best Narrative Feature
…also Best Original Score
Anthem/FreedomFest Grand Prize
What Happened in Vegas [Director: Ramsey Denison]
…also Best Documentary Feature
Narrative Feature
Best Libertarian Ideals: Re-Evolution [Director: David Sousa Moreau]
Documentary Feature
Best Overall: Incarcerating Us [Director: Regan Hines]
Audience Choice Award: I Am, Or How Jack Became Black [Director: Eli Steele]
Best Intl. Documentary: Secrets of the Magna Carta [Director: Martin Durkin]
Excellence in Filmmaking: School, Inc. [Director: Andrew Coulson]
Excellence in Filmmaking, Intl. Documentary: Born Blue: The Guyana Project [Director: Geordie Day]
Best Libertarian Ideals: I Am, Or How Jack Became Black [Director: Eli Steele]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: Temporary [Director: Milena Govich]
Excellence in Filmmaking: A Lifetime Later [Director: Adrienne Levy]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Freedom On Trial [Director: John Papola]
Short Documentary
Best Overall: Mama Rwanda [Directors: Laura Waters Hinson]
Audience Choice Award: And My Prison Bars Bloom: The True Story of Armando Valladares [Director: Jeff Gasser]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Anastasia Lin: The Witness Project [Director: Hawk Jensen]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Silence U [Director: Rob Montz]
Special Jury Prize: Go to Where the Light Is: Escaping North Korea (The Yeonmi Park Story) [Director: Josh Oldham]
Excellence in Commercial Filmmaking: I, Whiskey: The Human Spirit [Director: Pip Gilmour]
2016 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
Can We Take a Joke? [Director: Ted Balaker]
…also Excellence in Filmmaking Award
Documentary Feature
Best Overall: Deep Web [Director: Alex Winter]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Of Dogs and Men [Director: Michael Ozias]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: Everything [Director: R. J. Daniel Hanna]
Excellence in Filmmaking: I’ve Just Had a Dream [Director: Javier Navarro]
Best Libertarian Ideals: The Return [Director: Matthew Szewczyk]
Best Libertarian Comedy: Love Gov: From First Date to Mandate [Directors: John Papola and Bradley Jackson]
Short Documentary
Best Overall: Seized [Directors: Matthew and Thomas Locastro]
Excellence in Filmmaking: People Like Us [Director: Tina Gharavi]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Mule: Living on the Outside [Director: John McDonald]
Audience Choice Awards
Narrative: Everything [Director: R. J. Daniel Hanna]
Documentary: Deep Web [Director: Alex Winter]
Anthem Vault Awards
Best Original Score: Of Dogs and Men [Composer: David Bateman, Director: Michael Ozias]
2015 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
Powers War [Director: Cameron Trejo]
Documentary Feature
Best Overall: Powers War [Director: Cameron Trejo]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Captain Jack Hall [Director: Edgar Barens]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Imminent Threat [Director: Janek Ambros]
Best International Documentary: Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know It [Directors: Torsten Hoffmann and Michael Watchulonis]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: Where We Go from Here [Director: Matthew Szewczyk]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Shelter [Director: R. J. Daniel Hanna]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Helio [Director: Teddy Cecil]
Short Documentary
Best Overall: Vision: Healing the Blind in Ethiopia [Director: Eric Perlman]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Farming in Fear [Director: Sean Malone]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Police Strike Force [Director: Deron Brunson]
Audience Choice Awards
Narrative: Where We Go from Here [Director: Matthew Szewczyk]
Documentary: Farming in Fear [Director: Sean Malone]
Anthem Vault Awards
Best Original Score: Powers War [Director: Cameron Trejo]
Best Libertarian Theme: Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know It [Directors: Torsten Hoffmann and Michael Watchulonis]
2014 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
Poverty, Inc. [Director: Michael Matheson Miller; Mark Weber, Co-Producer]
Narrative Feature
Best Overall: Atlas Shrugged III: Who is John Galt? [Director: James Manera; John Aglialoro, Executive Producer]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Last Eagle Scout [Director: Kels Goodman]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Collapse [Director: Dave McCormick]
Documentary Feature
Best Overall: America: Imagine the World Without Her [Director: Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan; Gerald Molen, Producer]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Poverty, Inc. [Director: Michael Matheson Miller]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Dog Days [Directors: Kasey Kirby and Laura Waters Hinson]
International Documentary
Best Overall: Freedom from Choice [Director: Tim Delmastro]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Exit [Directors: Klaus Erik Okstad, Olav Njaastad, Anders Somme]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: Cough [Director: Jason Kempnich]
Short Documentary
Best Overall: No Vans Land [Director: Sean Malone]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Don’t Cage my Speech! A Student Schools his College [Director: Ted Balaker]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Before Snowden: Behind the Curtain [Directors: Bill and Tricia Owen]
Audience Choice Awards
Feature length: Poverty, Inc. [Director: Michael Matheson Miller]
Short: The Ticket: Stories of School Choice in Education [Director: Bob Bowdon]
Links
Blogcritics: Anthem Filmi Festival: Mind Reboot, 7/24/14
Blogcritics: Anthem Filmi Festival: A Dark Future, But With a Few Laughs, 7/21/14
2013 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
L1ttl3 Br0th3r [Director: Cyrus Saidi]
Documentary Feature
Best Overall: Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve [Director: Jim Bruce]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Hating Breitbart [Director: Andrew Marcus]
Best Libertarian Ideals: America’s Longest War [Director: Paul Feine]
Best International Documentary Feature: Post Lebanon [Director: Lior Agur]
Short Documentary
Best Overall: I, Pencil [Director: Nick Tucker]
Excellence in Filmmaking: The Last Week: How Lawsuits Doomed an American Icon [Director: Curtis Briggs]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Act of Terror [Directors: Gemma Atkinson and Fred Grace]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: L1ttl3 Br0th3r [Director: Cyrus Saidi]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Knocked Down [Director: Reaves Washburn]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Son of Man [Directors: Janek Ambros]
Audience Choice Awards
Documentary Feature: What if Cannibas Cured Cancer [Director: Len Richmond]
Short Documentary: I, Pencil [Director: Nick Tucker]
Short Narrative: L1ttl3 Br0th3r [Director: Cyrus Saidi]
Honorable Mention
Documentary Feature, Libertarian Ideals: Rebel Evolution [Director: Anna Zetchus Smith]
Short Narrative, Audience Choice: The Pilgrim [Director: Sean Buttimer]
2012 Award Winners
Anthem Film Festival Grand Prize
The Afghan Nightmare [Director: Klaus Erik Okstad]
Documentary Feature
Best Overall: Ayn Rand & The Prophecy of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ [Director: Chris Mortensen]
Excellence in Filmmaking: An Inconsistent Truth [Director: Shayne Edwards; written and produced by Phil Valentine]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Nullification: The Rightful Remedy [Director: Jason Rink]
Short Documentary
Excellence in Filmmaking: Everything is Incredible [Directors: Tyler Bastien, Trevor Hill, Tim Skousen]
Best Libertarian Ideals: Don’t Mess with ‘Firefly’ [Director: Ted Balaker]
Short Narrative
Best Overall: The Parachute Ball [Director: Peter Boothby]
Excellence in Filmmaking: Closing Bell [Director: Janek Ambros]
Best Libertarian Ideals: The Conversation [Director: Courtney Balaker]
Following is a video clip of the 2012 Anthem Film Festival Awards…
2011 Award Winners
PRI Prize for Excellence in Filmmaking and Libertarian Ideals
The Cartel [Director: Bob Bowdon]
Best Film
Best Narrative Feature: alleged [Director: Tom Hines]
Best Documentary Feature: The Cartel [Director: Bob Bowdon]
Best Short Drama: Bright [Director: Benjamin Busch]
Best Short Comedy: Final Census [Director: Shawn Monaghan]
Best Short Documentary: Gentle Men [Director: Jesse Gibbons]
Best International Narrative Feature: Butterfly Crush [Director: Alan Clay]
Best International Documentary: Overdose [Director: Martin Borgs]
Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Filmmaking
Narrative Feature: Marathon [Director: Biju Viswanath]
Documentary Feature: Cool It [Director: Ondi Timoner]
Short Drama: Tyttonen [Director: Fabian Giessler]
Short Comedy: Fairy Tale of London Town [Director: Louis Neethling]
Special Jury Prize for Libertarian Ideals
Narrative Feature: Lady Magdalene’s [Director: J. Neil Schulman]
Documentary Feature: Indoctrinate U [Director: Evan Coyne Maloney]
Short Drama: Threnody [Director: Sean Buttimer]
Short Comedy: Et Miaow Alors [Director: Adrian Westbrook]
Short Documentary: The Sea is a Harsh Mistress [Director: Jason Sussberg]
Grand Jury Special Presentation
Zero Percent [Director: Tim Skousen]
Audience Choice Awards
Narrative Feature: alleged [Director: Tom Hines]
Documentary Feature
Cool It [Director: Ondi Timoner]
Zero Percent [Director: Tim Skousen]
Short
Bright [Director: Benjamin Bush]