First-Time Champion
Austinite Berndt Mader wins DIFF's Texas Filmmaker Award
By Kimberley Jones, 12:38PM, Sat. Apr. 9, 2011
Last night, Austin writer/director Berndt Mader won a major prize at the Dallas International Film Festival for his feature debut, Five Time Champion.
At Friday night’s “Dallas Film Society Honors” presentation, Mader was announced the recipient of MPS Studios’ Texas Filmmaker Award, which came with $20,000 in cash, goods and services.
Five Time Champion, a coming-of-age drama shot in nearby Smithville, world-premiered last month at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival (go here to read the Chron’s interview with star Dana Wheeler-Nicholson).
Five Time wasn’t the only SXSW alum to take home a prize; other awardees included Wuss, Elevate, and Surrogate Valentine.
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Berndt Mader, Five Time Champion, Dallas International Film Festival, Wuss, Elevate, Surrogate Valentine