This year’s SILVERDOCS Sterling Award for a U.S. Feature goes to OCTOBER COUNTRY directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, which documents the multi-generational story of a working-class family coping with poverty, teen pregnancy, foster care and the ineffable horrors of child molestation and war. The directors will receive $10,000 cash.

The Sterling Feature Jury noted: “We want to congratulate Sky and the SILVERDOCS team for putting together a varied and compelling competition. The documentaries we’ve been watching all week motivated a heartfelt discussion amongst us. We have chosen a film that has resonated with us long after we viewed it. It is a film that is subtle and intuitively creative while presenting important social issues in a surprising way. It showcases an extraordinary fresh talent, which left us excited to see what they do next. We are thrilled to present the grand jury award to Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher for OCTOBER COUNTRY.”

A still from "October Country"

Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher’s documentary OCTOBER COUNTRY, a Cinereach grant recipient, will be screening at AFI-Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS Documentary Festival which is taking place June 15-22, 2009. The film will be competing in the US Sterling US Feature Competition and is screening at the AFI Silver Theater 3 on Saturday, June 20th at 9:15pm and at the AFI Silver Theater 2 on Sunday, June 21st at 7:45pm. Click here to read the full indieWire article.