Berndt Mader on location

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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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...