YouTube’s “Project Direct” Winners Named

Adriana Falcão of Brazil has taken home the top prize in YouTube’s first-ever Project Direct film contest for her short, Lacos. According to YouTube, hundreds of submissions were whittled down to 20 finalists, as selected by director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking and Juno) and a panel from Fox Searchlight. Winners were decided by popular vote.

Falcão will get to spend nine days at a “major international film festival” (let’s hope “major” means more like Sundance than the Buffalo International Film Fest), a sit-down with Fox Searchlight and a debit card worth $5,000. And her film will grace the front page of YouTube in seven countries.

Below is Falcão’s winning entry; the runners-up are after the jump.

Second place went to Jacob Lewis for his Gone in a Flash:

Third place went to Ben Shelton for My Name is Lisa: