“Hit the Road,” Panah Panahi’s first feature about an eccentric family that takes a road trip through sun-drenched Iranian landscapes to a mysterious destination, won the Critics-New Directors Award during the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Golden Gate Awards, which were live-streamed on Saturday, April 30.

Panahi is the son of Iranian New Wave auteur Jafar Panahi (“The White Balloon,” “The Circle”).“Hit the Road,” distributed by Kino Lorber, will open in Bay Area theaters on May 13.

Other major SFFilm Festival winners were “Master of Light,” Rosa Ruth Boesten’s portrait of artist and ex-convict George Anthony Morton as the McBaine Documentary Feature Award; “The Employer and the Employee,” by Uruguay’s Manolo Nieto, as the Cine Latino Award; “The Time of the Fireflies,” by Matteo Robert Morales and Mattis Appelqvist Dalton, about a Mexican immigrant’s life in New York City, in the Mid-Length category; “Busan, 1999,” Thomas Kim’s film about a pregnant Korean American woman returning to South Korea, as Narrative Short; “Long Line of Ladies,” by Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, about a girl preparing for the Northern California Karuk tribe’s rite of passage marking her transition into womanhood, as Documentary Short; and “Sierra,” Estonian director Sander Joon’s fanciful tale, as Animated Short.

“I was both surprised, in a very good way, and delighted with the films that were selected” for awards, SFFilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks, who curated the films in the festival, told The Chronicle. “They were not necessarily the titles you may assume a jury would naturally gravitate towards.

“I was so thrilled they celebrated Panah Panahi’s ‘Hit the Road’ because that was a very competitive lineup. And I was really delighted that the documentary jury selected ‘Master of Light.’ That is a film that has so much craft, but it’s a quieter film, not necessarily one that pops off the page, so it was exhilarating to see that selected.”

On Sunday, May 1, the Audience Awards were announced. The charming and humorous Brazilian film “Mars One,” directed by Gabriel Martins, won in the narrative category; and “Jeanette,” Maris Curran’s film about a competitive bodybuilder and queer single mother living through trauma, won the documentary category.

Topping the awards given to Bay Area-made films were Sundance best documentary winner Reid Davenport’s rumination on disability, “I Didn’t See You There” (McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature); Morgan Mathews’ “Half-Day” (Bay Area Short First Prize); and Rivkah Beth Medow’s “Holding Moses” (Bay Area Short Second Prize).

Fairbanks said SFFilm’s first in-theater film festival — and her second as programmer — exceeded her expectations.

“It’s been a ride, as these large-scale in-person events always are, especially in these moments that we are living,” Fairbanks said, referring to the challenges during the COVID-19 era. “Everyone has been so gracious and kind. The filmmakers have been floored and flattered by the receptions they have received, and that fills me with pride on behalf of my staff and the audiences.”