It was hard to tell who was more excited about the Best Documentary award given Saturday night to ‘PAVY’ — the presenter Lisa Duhé Lourd or the director, Carrie Simon.

Iberia Film Festival fans and loyal Teche Area residents spent the day at the Essanee Theater Saturday to view one to three blocks for a total of 25 film shorts submitted by international creative pioneers, some vying for their first film festival award.

One senior project from a former University of Louisiana at Lafayette film program graduate, “Pearl Motel” by Chris Jones, won Best Student Film. Two others were from the relatively new film program at Episcopal School of Acadiana in Cade. Student filmmakers Will Bako of Lafayette for “Fallen Angel” and Isabelle Berthelot of Youngsville for “Out of Body,” were represented by their teacher due to a summer French language study trip to Canada. “Out of Body” won a Director’s Award, a new category

Dale Van Brocklin’s “Wildlife of the Atchafalaya Basin” won a Director’s Award for Best Nature Film, an acknowledgement that also piggybacks his submission last year of “Birds of the Atchafalaya Basin.”

Attendees at the Focus on Film luncheon with guest speaker Chris Stelly were greeted as they entered the Sliman Theater Jan. 17 by the natural sounds and beauty of his 2018 festival submission.

Families, friends and community partners cheered for their favorites as the screening day progressed through the three film blocks. Many patrons bought day passes to see all of the submissions were allowed to come and go as needed. Others unable to attend all day selected the block they wanted to see. Immediately after the last block, after a brief pause for counting the People’s Choice ballots, awards were presented.

Andre Rangiah and André Verdun Jones of Franklin and New York, respectively, were the big winners of the night with three awards for “Quiet and Clear,” a tale of southern culture riddled by incest and unwanted sex. Troy Hogan won the Director’s Choice for Best Actor and the film noir portrayal won Best Louisiana Film and People’s Choice Award.

Three films won two awards each. “PAVY,” by director Carrie Simon, cinematographer/editor Mark Davis and executive producer Vicky Branton, won for Best Documentary and Best Local Film. James Edmunds won the Director’s Choice Award and Best Experimental Film for “Modern Conveniences,” which was an audience contender for best comedy, whether or not it was submitted for the category.

Perhaps the most delightful acceptance speech of the night was given by Mikeal Burgin of Mount Vernon, Iowa, who asked the audience to give themselves a hand for being such a hospitable community and creating a most enjoyable film festival. He had two projects in the festival and his film “Low Self Esteem” won Best Actress for Amy Radloff and Best Narrative Film.

Besides the high school student who was in Canada the night of the awards, the winner for Best Mobile Media (iPhone produced), Manuel Verde of Mexico City, Mexico, was not in attendance. He will receive his Live Oak Award via international shipping.

Expectations have already started for next year’s film festival, confirmed by founder and director of the event Mark Boyancé. New this year were the Director’s Choice Awards given as his selections for films and participants that he believed deserved special recognition, whether or not they were chosen by the national judges whose decisions were made by industry standards.