The winners of the Vienna Independent Film Festival were announced yesterday and here is the complete list plus a spotlight on one of winners:

Grand Prix: The Whirlpool — Directed by Denis Kryuchkov
Best Feature Film: W — Directed by Anna Eriksson
Best Director: Deirdre Lorenz (Return to New York – short film) & Graham Streeter (Unfix – feature film)
Best Original Screenplay: 8-Ball — Original Screenplay by Adrien Marquet
Best Short Film: Have a Nice Apocalypse — Directed by Dávid Géczy
Best Documentary Film: My Two Lives — Directed by Sarita Gold
Best Experimental Film: Little Planet 7406 — Directed by Goran Šporčić
Best Song: Fearless — Music by J Edna Mae
Best Music Video: Vampire — Directed by Persia White
Best Actor: Wolfgang Cerny (The Whirlpool)
Best Art Direction: An Occurence — Directed by Dien Vo
Best Editing: Touching Moon — Edited by Sophia Liu
Best Cinematography: La Pietra — Cinematography by Michael Bradley
Best Film Score: W — Film Score by Anna Eriksson
Best Unproduced Script: Stay With Me — Written by Zsolt Pozsgai

One of the winners is Deirdre Lorenz, a New York-based actor and model turned filmmaker for her short film Return to New York.

She wrote, co-starred, directed, edited and produced her 22 minute short film. However, the interesting part is that she created the award winning film entirely on her iPhone. A love letter to New York, this gritty comeback story features three women working in fashion in NYC, and is leaving audiences wanting to see more.

Deirdre has also just rereleased a tv version of the 2013 international travel romance feature film Santorini Blue. Cast includes a big Law & Order Special Victims Unit group, with the legendary Ice-T and Coco as a talk therapist and secretary, and Dann Florek, Diane Neal and the late great Richard Belzer. Deirdre was once an undercover detective on SVU, and she stars in, co-wrote and produced the feature through her company Thira Films. Santorini Blue is now available for tv audiences in 26 countries.

Congratulations to the winners of the Vienna Independent Film Festival and special thanks to Diana Ringo for this exciting news!