VISIONFEST 13: THE OTHER FESTIVAL, which kicked off last night with a ‘standing room only’ screening, announced its 2013 IVA (Independent Vision Award) nominees immediately following the ‘kick-off’ show, in the Tribeca Cinemas’ Varick Room.

Festival co-director, Bruno Derlin, officially revealed the honor roll to enthusiastic applause and cheers, as participating filmmakers present kicked back with some cocktails and chatter during the festival’s after-party.  The narrative feature, HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME, by Morgan K. Nichols, and the short subject, HAPPINESS, by Chris King, led the nominations list with 7 nods apiece, with Official Opening Night Selection, TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE, by Michael Ferrell, following close behind with 6 mentions.  “I’m actually glad we switched our awards template two years ago to announcing nominations on opening night, as this process generates a truly electric and buzzing atmosphere throughout the film festival,” stated Bruno Derlin, adding that: “It promotes a sense of friendly competition and often finds filmmakers starting friendships with others nominated in their categories – not to mention the fact that it stirs each filmmaker’s desire to see those other nominees.”  Asked about the films that did not receive nominations, Derlin quickly replied:  “We have a rigid pre-selection process during our programming stages and just being in the VF line-up is a challenge that each participating filmmaker has already conquered.  To me, all the films in our line-up are the cream of the crop.  The IVA nominations just single out some areas of outstanding achievement; they’re not saying that any one film is better than the next, but that there are individual contributions that, we feel, elevate the overall attributes of the film being singled out.”

Among some of the distinctions achieved with this year’s IVA nominations, are the fact that both of the top nominated films are directed by VF alumni and that both are up for the festival’s top prize, which is the Domani Vision Award.  Both filmmakers, Morgan K. Nichols and Chris King, are also competing in the Directing and Writing categories.  With narrative features traditionally copping the majority of nominations, it was quite refreshing to see short subjects, such as HAPPINESS, THE FIRST HOPE, PALIMPSEST andMY PAIN IS WORSE THAN YOUR PAIN get into the mix with multiple nominations in many of the top categories, although the other VF narrative features: TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE, PALACE LIVING, andBROKEN SIDE OF TIME, also pulled some fine numbers, with six, five, and three nods, respectively, and all in major categories.  Another very refreshing factoid revealed itself in the Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award, a special statuette named after the late, legendary Lynchian thesp, Jack Nance, to honor acting performances that touch on “scene stealing” attributes.  Three of that category’s nominees: Davis Desmond and Lili Reinhart, both singled out for their star-making turns in Jeremy David White’s THE FIRST HOPE, and Sophia Rose Vail, nominated for I FEEL STUPID, are under the age of 18, and one of them, Davis Desmond, whose resume` showcases his availability to play roles within the ages of 8 and 12, is the youngest actor ever nominated for this award.

The IVA Ceremony will take place at Tribeca Cinema 2, on Sunday, June 30, 2013, at approximately 8:30 p.m. following the ‘Official Closing Night Selection’ screening.  Admission is free, however, seat reservations are highly recommended, and these can be made with festival staff, at the VF Hospitality desk at Tribeca Cinemas.  The full list of nominees follows below:

THE 2013 INDEPENDENT VISION AWARDS (IVA) NOMINATIONS

Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent

Gorman Bechard (BROKEN SIDE OF TIME)

Larry Brand (THE COEXIST COMEDY TOUR)

Chris King (HAPPINESS)

Morgan K. Nichols (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Adam Hall (MY PAIN IS WORSE THAN YOUR PAIN)

Production

THE COEXIST COMEDY TOUR (James Carpenter / Rebecca Reynolds)

PALACE LIVING (Biljana Ilic)

PALIMPSEST (Ben Nabors)

TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE (Michael Ferrell, Chris Prine, Devin Sanchez)

VI (Andrew Fairbank)

Directing

Katie Halper (COMMIE CAMP)

Sang Kim (FAREWELL JIMMY)

Chris King (HAPPINESS)

Morgan K. Nichols (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Michael Ferrell (TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE)

Writing

Chris King (HAPPINESS)

Morgan K. Nichols (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Adam Hall (MY PAIN IS WORSE THAN YOUR PAIN)

Zack Ordynans (PALACE LIVING)

Michael Ferrell (TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE)

Short Subject Narrative

FAREWELL JIMMY

THE FIRST HOPE

HAPPINESS

I FEEL STUPID

PALIMPSEST

The Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award

Davis Desmond (THE FIRST HOPE)

Lili Reinhart (THE FIRST HOPE)

Elizabeth Lardie (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Sophia Rose Vail (I FEEL STUPID)

Clark Middleton (MY PAIN IS WORSE THAN YOUR PAIN)

Acting (Male Lead)

Michael Andolini (FAREWELL JIMMY)

Michael Dix Thomas (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Aaron Refvem (LIFT)

Joel Nagle (PALIMPSEST)

Michael Ferrell (TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE)

Acting (Female Lead)

Lynn Mancinelli (BROKEN SIDE OF TIME)

Sierra Hersek (HAPPINESS)

Alyssa Mann (PALACE LIVING)

Kathleen Wise (PALIMPSEST)

Devin Sanchez (TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE)

The Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography

Gorman Bechard (BROKEN SIDE OF TIME)

Ryan James Detzel (DRIVING BLIND)

Per Kvanbeck (GOLDEN)

Owen Donovan (PALACE LIVING)

Eduardo Fierro (SIDE EFFECTS)

Documentary

COMMIE CAMP

THE COEXIST COMEDY TOUR

DO NOT DUPLICATE

DRIVING BLIND

SYSTEM PREFERENCES

Editing

Larry Brand (THE COEXIST COMEDY TOUR)

Chris King (HAPPINESS)

Morgan K. Nichols (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Anya Belkina (SYSTEM PREFERENCES)

Chris Prine (TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE)

Production Design

Roberto DiPietrantonio (HOW TO MAKE MOVIES AT HOME)

Jace Ford (ILLUSION)

Ioannis Scohorakis (PALACE LIVING)

Brian Rzepka (SIDE EFFECTS)

Eric Davis (VI)

DVFS Visionary Award

Jeremy David White (THE FIRST HOPE)

Jason House (THE GASKETTES)

Milena Pastreich (I FEEL STUPID)

Jessica Hester (ILLUSION)

Justin S. Lee (IRIS)

Short Form Score

Anna Drubich  (THE COLLECTOR’S GIFT)

Jace Ford (ILLUSION)

Nathan Matthew David (IRIS)

Jherek Bischoff (MY PAIN IS WORSE THAN YOUR PAIN)

B.J. Blue (VI)

Short Form Screenwriting

Sang Kim (FAREWELL JIMMY)

Austin Reynolds  (THE FIRST HOPE)

Kjell Kvanbeck  (GOLDEN)

Kieran Valla & Brett Swanson  (LIFT)

Alex Lubliner (PRETTY)

Sound Design

Jean Tsai  (THE COLLECTOR’S GIFT)

Credits t.b.d. (HAPPINESS)

William D. Caballero  (SEED STORY)

Ken Calhoun  (SYSTEM PREFERENCES)

Lars Rasmusen  (37)

Two other “Special Jury” prizes, one for Overall Technical and Creative Achievement and one for Social Consciousness are scheduled for announcement at the IVA Ceremony, but those are not revealed in advance, as they are not based on Jury votes, but are selected by the Board of Trustees of the Domani Vision Film Society.  VF runs thru June 30, at Tribeca Cinemas, NYC. 

For additional information, please contact Kate Mistretta via e-mail:  kate@visionfest.com

Visit our website for full line up: http://visionfest.com/film_festival/films/2013/