Tale of troubled teens takes SXSW film prize

"Short Term 12", a drama set in a center for troubled teenagers, took top honors for narrative feature film at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and based on an eponymous short he made in 2008 that won a Sundance jury prize, the film stars Brie Larson as a 20-something foster home supervisor with a difficult past of her own. Cretton is also the director "I Am Not a Hipster", a drama set in the indie music and art scene in San Diego, California where he lived for 10 years. It was released in January and also screened at the Sundance festival. "Short Term 12" was among eight narrative features in competition at SXSW, where interactive technology events concluded Tuesday leaving the indie film segment to continue unfolding as the new-music portion gets underway. The prize for best documentary went to Brooklyn-based director Ben Nabors' "William and the Windmill", the tale of a young Malawian who builds a windmill from junk parts to lift his family out of poverty.