Cinequest 17 Awards

Sunday, March 11—Cinequest Co-founder Kathleen Powell presented the awards on the closing night of the festival.
(Descriptions excerpted from the Cinequest program guide.)

Director's Awards

GLOBAL VISION AWARD: to the filmmaker who defies convention and exhibits work of universal vision, making bold use of storytelling to create evocative cinema of the future.

FRESH AIR/FRISS LEVEGÕ (Hungary)
From its wry opening in a Hungarian Lonely Hearts ballroom dance to its daring ending, Ágnes Kocsis’s marvelously deadpan debut hooks you with its stark, humorous rhythms and provocative inquiry: Can love lighten up dreary lives, or can dreariness itself become its own form of love?
Director: Ágnes Kocsis
Producer: Ferenc Pusztai

 

NEW VISIONS AWARD: to the director whose film best reflects the future.

BLOOD CAR (United States)
In the near future, gas is at an astronomical $40.00 a gallon, and Archie Andrews has definitely had enough.
Director: Alex Orr
Producer: Alex Orr

 

Maverick Narrative Feature Competition

MAVERICK SPIRIT AWARD: the highest honor given to the worthy candidate that exhibits the qualities of supreme innovator, with the audacity to take film to a new level.

THE BOTHERSOME MAN/DEN BRYSOMME MANNEN (Norway)
Winner of multiple awards around the globe . . . the story of forty-year-old Andreas, who arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment and even a wife.
Director: Jens Lien
Producer: Jørgen Storm Rosenberg

 

BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM

MIDNIGHT CLEAR (United States)
‘Twas the night before Christmas and for five strangers spread out across town, events are about to lead to the unexpected as each searches for hope on a Christmas that is anything but white.
Director: Dallas Jenkins
Producers: Dallas Jenkins, Kevin Downes

SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR OVERALL EXCELLENCE

PRAGUE/PRAG (Denmark)
A couple go to Prague to bring back the remains of Christoffer’s recently deceased father while their marriage is on its own steady and painful deterioration.
Director: Ole Christian Madsen
Producer: Morten Kaufmann

Documentary Competition

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

INDESTRUCTIBLE (United States)
When a filmmaker turns the camera on himself and records his degenerating bout with Lou Gehrig’s disease, he begins an emotional and spiritual journey unlike any other.
Director: Ben Byer
Producer: Ben Byer, Rebecca Rush

SPECIAL JURY AWARD

I FOUGHT THE LAW/LOCKDOWN, USA (United States)
. . . a powerful depiction of how hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons rallies a community to fight “the system” in New York.
Directors: Rebecca Chaiklin, Michael Skolnik
Producers: Rebecca Chaiklin, Michael Skolnik

Short Film Competition

BEST SHORT NARRATIVE

DINNER FOR ONE
Director: Anita McGee

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

HALF LIFE: A JOURNEY TO CHERNOBYL
Director: David Bickerstaff

BEST SHORT ANIMATION

ONE RAT SHORT
Director: Alex Weil

BEST STUDENT SHORT

FORGETTING BETTY (New School University)
Directors: James Anderson and Robert Postrozny

Audience Awards

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE

OUTSOURCED (United States)
. . . a brilliant comedy that eschews stereotypes when a company man, who learns that his entire department is being outsourced, agrees to travel to India to train his replacement.
Director: John Jeffcoat
Producer: Tom Gorai

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

MONSTER CAMP (United States)
A rare and fascinating glimpse into a real-life version of World of Warcraft where gamer stereotypes are simultaneously shattered and confirmed.
Director: Cullen Hoback
Producer: Aaron Douglas

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT

GORDO (United States)
Director: Vince Navarro

 

Screenplay Competition Winners

First Place ($2,000 U.S.)
SON UP
A teenage graffiti artist struggles to keep out of juvenile hall—but staying loyal to his gang could send him straight to prison.
Andrew Shearer and Nicholas Sherman

Second Place ($1,000 U.S.)
ELYSIAN FIELDS
A reclusive man, seemingly trapped between two realities, strives to escape the banalities of everyday life. However, his liberation may not be as literal as he envisions.
Joel Kling

Third Place ($500 U.S.)
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
A true story about a teenage Jewish girl who survived WWII all alone by pretending to be Polish. She lived with a German family, escaped the SS, and posed as a Red Cross nurse saving the lives of soldiers.
Sheri Sussman

NARRATIVE FEATURE JURY

DALE DJERASSI, president of Djerassi Films, Inc., has produced and directed documentary films, including Nada Será Como Antes (Nothing Will Be As It Was), about the return of jazz musicians Flora Purim and Airto Moreira to Brazil, Bhutan—A Strange Survival, the story of a unique Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas and Oil on Ice, about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the controversy over drilling for oil there. Mr. Djerassi co-produced (with Barbet Schroeder) Koko—The Talking Gorilla, a feature-length documentary about the famed sign language-speaking gorilla. He produced ‘68, an independent feature film set in San Francisco in the turbulent year of 1968. He executive produced The Horse Dealer's Daughter, a short feature adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence story. Additionally, Djerassi has produced plays: An Immaculate Misconception at the Eureka Theatre Company in San Francisco and Primary Stages in New York, Calculus at the Performing Arts Library & Museum in San Francisco and Lies Have Been Told in London and Edinburgh. Mr. Djerassi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Stanford University where he also studied documentary film production. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco and is a founding trustee of both the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California, and the Vanguard Public Foundation in San Francisco.

ROBERT HAWK, advisor to filmmakers and festivals, has his own business—ICI (Independent Consultation for Independents)—and has been a part of the film scene for 24 years. Hawk served on the Sundance Film Festival's Advisory Selection Committee for its entire existence (1987-1998), and has been on numerous festival juries, foreign and domestic. He has curated film series for the Museum of Modern Art (NY), the Kennedy Center, the de Young Museum (San Francisco) and the International Documentary Congress (Los Angeles). Hawk founded San Francisco's Film Arts Festival, showcasing independent filmmakers of Northern California. He has consulted on films as varied as Moises Kaufman's Laramie Project and Terry George's Some Mother's Son, as well as many documentaries, including Oscar winners/nominees Common Threads, In The Shadow Of The Stars, My Architect, The Times Of Harvey Milk and Troublesome Creek. Producer credits include Ballets Russes, Chasing Amy, Slaughter Rule and Trick.

SUSAN TAVERNETTI (M.A., School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California) teaches film studies in the Film/TV Department at De Anza College in Cupertino, California. An award-winning writer, her film reviews and feature articles appear online and in The Palo Alto Weekly and its five sister publications serving the Mid-peninsula, Marin County and the East Bay. A film historian, she has published articles in the anthology Hollywood’s Indian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film and the quarterly journal Film & History, as well as contributing numerous essays to the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Susan appeared in the KRON Channel 4 documentary, San Francisco in the Movies: The Silent Era. Currently she and Margo Kasdan are working on the fourth edition of their textbook, The Critical Eye: An Introduction to Looking at Movies. Susan’s love for discovering films and artists emerges in her festival coverage for filmfestivals.com and fest21.com.

DOCUMENTARY JURY

DAVID HAKIM, founder of the consulting firm Gavilano Associates, has more than 20 years experience in publicity and PR for a variety of clients. Working extensively in entertainment promotion, he has created marketing packages and campaigns for features, prime-time TV shows, and TV series entering domestic and foreign syndication. Hakim has also participated in the development and implementation of campaigns for a number of public events, film festivals, entertainment conventions and awards programs, including the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Student Film Awards and the Oscars. Having a broad background in both print and media, Hakim started in graphic arts while studying film at Loyola University. His print work includes both book and magazine publishing. As Director of Public Relations for jkParker & Associates, Hakim oversaw regional campaigns for Diet Centers of America, Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Los Alamitos Hospital and many others, including companies in the restaurant and travel sectors. In the same post at Odom & Associates, he directed national promotional campaigns for J Walter Thompson, 20th Century-Fox, MTM Productions, Warner Bros, Universal Studios and Columbia Pictures. Hakim served on San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Transition Team and sits on advisory boards for film-related events in the Bay Area. Formerly the Chairman of the Directors Guild of America’s San Francisco Executive Committee, he now sits on the National Board of the DGA. He was recently elected President of the Bay Area Film Alliance, working to promote the Bay Area as a production destination world-wide.

KIMBERLY MASSEY, Ph.D. is a Professor of Radio-Television-Film for the Television Radio Film and Theatre (TRFT) Department at San Jose State University in California. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Utah. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Massey was involved in politics working for the Texas House of Representatives. She has professional broadcasting experience--both public and commercial--in sales, programming and audience research in addition to multimedia production, testing and research. Outside of the academy, Dr. Massey consults on Internet/Web Strategy and Design. Dr. Massey has written several books on subjects ranging from media production, to media criticism to media and culture. She has published numerous communication conference papers and published several communication articles and book chapters. In addition, Dr. Massey's publication record includes numerous pedagogical materials such as Web sites, study guides (printed and electronic), media literacy guides, and digital audio podcasts. Dr. Massey also has international teaching and consulting experience. She taught multimedia at Bath City College in England while consulting with Real World Multimedia (Peter Gabriel's brainchild) where she directed audience testing and instrumentation for their CD-ROM release entitled Ceremony of Innocence based upon Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine trilogy. In the 90s, Dr. Massey was awarded a Distinguished American Lectureship Grant by the German Marshall Fund of the United States where she lectured on topics related to New Media and Multimedia in the United States.

PAM WALTON is an award-winning documentary video producer. She has a masters in Film and Video production from Stanford University. Her work has screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the International Documentary Association's Theatrical Documentary Showcase and has been included in the prestigious International Public Television Screening Conference (INPUT). Her documentaries have aired on PBS member stations in major American cities, are broadcast nationally on MTV Network's LOGO, and are distributed by New Day Films and Netflix. From 1989 to 1999, Walton was a lecturer in the Department of Communication at Stanford.

SCREENWRITING COMPETITION FINAL JURY

ERIK BAUER, Publisher, Creative Screenwriting Magazine

JOANNA BURISH, Production, Distribution, Acquisitions, Imageworks Entertainment

PHIL GORN, President Wonderphil Productions (sales and production of independent films of all genres)

STEVEN HAFT, Founder and Producer, Haft Entertainment Inc. (Producer, Dead Poets Society, Tigerland, Executive Producer MAD TV)

MARLA HALPERIN, President of Publicity and Promotion, Magic Lamp Releasing

HALFDAN HUSSEY, Executive Director, Cinequest Inc.

JANET JEFFRIES, Development Executive, Lawrence Bender Productions, A Band Apart Films

ELIOT KOTEK, Editor-in-Chief, Moving Pictures

DANA LAMBERT, Vice President of Creative Affairs, First Look Studios

EUGENE MANDELCORN, President, Film Artists Network

BOBBY MORESCO, President, Moresco Productions (Producer / Screenwriter Crash, Co-Producer Million Dollar Baby)

ERIC MORRIS, President, ELM Entertainment

LUCY SHUTTLEWORTH, Head of Development, Spice Factory

NANCY RAE STONE, Executive Vice President of Production, Beacon Pictures