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Aspen Filmfest crowds chose Mark Bozek’s documentary “The Times of Bill Cunningham” as their favorite movie of the 2019 festival.
The profile of the late New York Times photographer won the Audience Award, Aspen Film announced Tuesday.
Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit” also won an Audience Special Mention prize.
Aspen Film executive and artistic director Susan Wrubel described the winners — chosen by audience ballot — as “quite indicative of the mood and of the community and the politics of our time.”
The festival ran from Sept. 23 through Sunday and featured 23 movies, including some of the most anticipated and acclaimed from the festival circuit.
“’The Times of Bill Cunningham’ is a delightful and moving story of a behind-the-scenes cultural icon who brought joy to so many through his work,” Wrubel said. “’Jojo Rabbit’ is a film that certainly polarized the audience with its bold satire, however, its message of tolerance and understanding ultimately rang through.”
The festival drew crowds for screenings of titles like Terrance Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” the Judy Garland biopic “Judy,” Bong-Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” documentary “Cracked Up,” and buzzy prestige pictures like “The Report,” “Seberg,” Honey Boy” and “The Laundromat.”
“Aspen Film is so proud to have the ability to bring films of this caliber to this community,” Wrubel said. “The response to Filmfest was overwhelming, and our films sparked a lot of dialogue, which is one of our goals.”
The festival also included the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Cinematic Arts to Bob Rafelson, the longtime Aspenite and ground-breaking director, producer and writer. The festival closed Sunday with a screening of his 1990 epic “Mountains of the Moon.”