Marking an exciting first year for the Colorado Film Festival, 2010?s film and screenplay competition winners boast a lineup of promising talent. This year?s spotlight is shared by many first-time filmmakers along with award-winning directors and inspired screenwriters who demonstrate a strong command for their work. Colorado Film Festival congratulates its award-winning filmmakers and screenwriters of 2010.
Jury prizes were awarded to an array of exceptional films - from a searing portrait of a lesbian Marine?s personal struggles, to a poignant documentary following elite cyclists during an arduous 100-mile bike race through mountain terrain, to a comic tale of one man?s quest to remedy his ?naturally small situation.?
Other top film winners include remarkable narratives on discovering the meaning of life, resolving inner conflicts, and protecting life?s valuables. Meanwhile, CFF?s award-winning documentaries offer new perspectives on controversial issues and honor the art of great dance.
Additionally, Colorado Film Festival?s Screenplay Competition is proud to have attracted the attention of powerful screenwriters like James Tuverson, Robert Gately, Gregg Greenberg, Christopher Jarvis, and Michael Grebb. Their superlative work guides readers through the heart breaking and the light-hearted, through comforting and disturbing times, and through affections both endearing and tumultuous; every penned word, a gripping one.
Colorado Film Festival is happy to announce and share the outstanding projects of our 2010 competition winners and finalists:
Grand Jury Prize is awarded to Ned Farr?s A Marine Story (USA). A decorated Marine officer unexpectedly returns home from the war and is quickly recruited to help a troubled teen prepare for boot camp. When the true reasons for her return become known it threatens the future for both of them. Dealing with an issue that now has tremendous relevance as American troops are stretched to the breaking point, A MARINE STORY highlights the absurdity of the military ban on gays through the personal story of one courageous woman.
Special Jury Prize is awarded to Frank Matson?s Race Across the Sky: Leadville Trail 100 (USA). The story of the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race will inspire you to "Dig Deep". At 10,000+ feet, against the misty backdrop of a former mining town, Leadville, Colorado, 1228 cyclists start the grueling 100-mile race. This epic mountain bike race was captured with 10 HD cameras throughout the course including a helicopter and an off-road motocam. Lance Armstrong brought home the trophy in 2009 - can he repeat this year?
Jury Prize is awarded to Hamish McCollester?s Jason's Big Problem (USA). A good looking, but shy man with a tragically small penis (medically known as 'micropenis') takes a fringe herbal remedy that makes him grow and grow and grow...
Colorado Film Award : Platinum is awarded to J. Ollie Lucks?s Carving the Future (New Zealand). Grass roots, youth driven community action provided the inspiration for this film. Experience a vision of vibrant future communities through the eyes of three passionate young New Zealanders as they lead inspirational projects to drive positive social change in their regions. What might a 350 future look like? How do we get there? An inspirational account of how one person can make a difference.
Colorado Film Award : Gold is awarded to Christopher Grant Harvey?s A Life With Less Meaning (S. Africa). Murray is a stationary supply salesman and is not a good one. His wife has divorced him, he has just been fired, he has no friends and his life seems to have to have lost all sense of purpose and meaning. Things change when he befriends a total stranger by the name of Leonard. The two develop a close friendship and it soon becomes clear to Murray that the
answer to the dullness in his life is to confront his ex-wife.
Colorado Film Award : Silver is awarded to Shannon Keith?s Skin Trade (Canada). The deceptive and dirty fur industry is exposed through undercover investigations, footage and interviews from those within the industry itself, from activists, and from celebrities. 'Skin Trade' takes the viewer on a journey that will shock the consumer with regard to the fraud perpetrated on the unknowing public who wish to make informed choices when shopping.
Colorado Film Award : Bronze is awarded to A.C. Lily T. Rampenthal?s The Tomb Robbery Papyrus (Germany). A real-life journey of an archaeologist entering into an archaeological / antique puzzle in quest of an ancient Egyptian royal tomb - the story of a century long search for an important royal tomb whose location is defined by an ancient manuscript: the so-called 'Tomb Robbery Papyrus' in possession of the British Museum in London.
Dramatic Directing is awarded to Philipp Wolter?s The Bridge (USA). As he crosses the bridge on his way home, June mysteriously arrives where he left off and finds himself stuck in an ever-repeating world. In his struggle to return home, ?The Bridge? tells the story of a man?s inner journey to wake up and see the one thing he?s shut himself out of: Life.
Documentary Directing is awarded to Don Dexter?s Colorado Ballet (USA). An informational video on the Ellie Caulkins Theater and the Colorado Ballet. The film was written, shot, and edited by students at the Art Institute of Colorado.
Short Form Directing is awarded to Bryan Litt?s Educating Cooper (USA). A young man returns from his mother?s funeral expecting to resume the daily high school routine only to have the direction of his life changed by learning lessons in the power of both love and truth.
Best Cinematography Award is awarded to Rusty Armstrong?s The Shark Con (USA). THE SHARK CON takes viewers on a roller coaster ride into the big business of sharks, revealing the controversial truth about the industry, all the while trying to answer the central question? Are sharks really over-fished? Or is this just an elaborate con?
Film Editing Award is awarded to Arbi Pedrossian?s No Country for Old Yeller (USA). Lane Hick is a young, bright Hollywood assistant who works for a sleazy but succesful reality show producer. His tasks are usually inane and degrading, but reach absurdity when the boss asks Lane to have his dog euthanized. When Lane finds out the dog isn't sick, he has to struggle with the moral dilemma of killing an innocent animal to advance his career in Hollywood.
Screenwriting Award : Short Form is awarded to Roy Clovis?s The Cycle (USA). Crystal, a loving wife and mother, is the owner of a charming neighborhood bookstore in Brooklyn. Her eight year-old daughter, Corinne, enjoys spending midsummer afternoons playing in front of the store. But the tranquility of a beautiful day unravels when a teenage boy steals her bicycle. While Crystal's decision to call the police is seen as a betrayal by some of her neighbors, others choose to join the search. As events unfold, underlying tensions caused by economic disparities begin to surface. Will the search for a child's bicycle unite this fragile community or ignite a conflict that could blow it apart?
Screenwriting Award : Feature is awarded to Ned Farr?s A Marine Story (USA). A decorated Marine officer unexpectedly returns home from the war and is quickly recruited to help a troubled teen prepare for boot camp. When the true reasons for her return become known it threatens the future for both of them. Dealing with an issue that now has tremendous relevance as American troops are stretched to the breaking point, A MARINE STORY highlights the absurdity of the military ban on gays through the personal story of one courageous woman.
Documentary Film Editing is awarded to Pedro Brenner?s Gus: An American Icon (USA). An honest look at the life and times of Gus Giordano, considered by many to be the father of American jazz dance. The documentary is enriched with the words of 50 of Gus?s closest friends, family, artists and collaborators, who were interviewed to share their own memories of the moments they shared with this amazing artist, which strongly influenced their lives and careers.
Best Actor is awarded to Chris Haywood for Oliver Waghorn?s Correspondence (Australia). After responding to some poorly addressed mail with a written complaint, Quentin Samuels soon finds his routine lifestyle unraveling before him. CORRESPONDENCE is the story of one man?s quest to protect what is most important to him.
Best Actress is awarded to Julie Gauvain for Pierre Terrade and Didier Woldemard?s Crescendo (France). Steph, a young mother, lives in precarious conditions with JB, her abusive boyfriend.
How will she get out of this nightmare drifting her towards violence?
Best Music Video Award is awarded to Joseph Zentil?s The Johnstones "Bank Song" (USA). A classic robbery shot cinematically in the heart of New York City. The Johnstones take over a landmark bank during mid-day; innocent patrons are held hostage as the band relieves the bank's vault of all its money. Intertwined with a high-intensity performance the band manages to escape in a 'John Dillinger' style automobile.
First-Time Directing Award is awarded to Alejandro Montoya?s Intrepido (USA). Ricky has always wanted to be a superhero. Becky has always liked Ricky and wanted to spend time with him, but his busy crime-fighting schedule stands in her way. One day Ricky sees trouble and saves another girl, Anna, from a couple of bullies. He quickly forms an infatuation with Anna that will lead to the most important test the young hero has ever faced.
Best Experimental Film is awarded to Mark Mazur and Trent Hilborn?s Surface (USA). Earth's ozone layer has finally disintegrated, flooding the planet with deadly radiation and forcing all of humanity into underground Radial Shelters. Completely self-contained, these safe-havens allow for the continuation of human kind. When the power supply of Radial Shelter #1364 fails, Isaiah and Jacob must save their community by ascending to desolate terrain. They must venture to the Surface.
Best Documentary Feature is awarded to Charlie Hill Smith?s Strange Birds in Paradise - A West Papuan Story (Australia).An expedition of imagination and discovery to the hidden Indonesian province of West Papua that exposes its sad history and desperate hopes but culminates in a joyful and defiant musical celebration.
Short Film Award is awarded to Randy Wilkins?s Osvaldo's (USA). The Dominguez family is forced to confront a future of uncertainty after the matriarch?s passing. It is on this night that they begin the road to understanding.
Best Animation is awarded to Joaquin Baldwin?s Sebastian's Voodoo (USA). A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.
Feature and Short Screenplay Competitions
1st Place Screenplay : "My Dirty Secrets" by James Tuverson. With a manipulative predator as a tutor, a teenage boy is drawn into the lurid world of Internet prostitution when he struggles to keep himself and his younger brother from being separated after their single mother disappears. The only adult he trusts is a social worker, a grieving mother who establishes a unique phone friendship with a kid in way over his head.
2nd Place Screenplay : "Going Solo" by Robert Gately. A mother, housebound for three decades with agoraphobia, faces her worst nightmare when she accompanies her estranged daughter to Carnegie Hall, where they struggle through zany, madcap consequences and rediscover the importance of family and love.
3rd Place Screenplay : "Friends and Romans" by Gregg Greenberg. A pair of extras from classic mafia movies attempts to prove their acting abilities by staging Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at a Staten Island theater.
4th Place Screenplay : "Culling Hens" by Christopher Jarvis. The uneducated wife of a ploughman becomes jealous of his attention to a mare.
5th Place Screenplay : "Erasure" by Michael Grebb. A psychiatrist suspects doctors are experimenting on patients at the local mental hospital, Meanwhile, a private detective works a missing-persons case that seems somehow connected. As their stories converge, both discover that nothing is as it seems.
Colorado Screenplay Award : Platinum is awarded to "The English Katerina Tsavalou" by Angeliki Coconi. A young interpreter loses her identity while translating the words of a Greek actress, at the premiere of the actress' film. Soon the audience wont' be able to tell the actress and the interpreter apart.
Colorado Screenplay Award : Gold is awarded to "Below the Waist" by R. Ian Simpson. A searing dark comedy about a coming-of-age...and the 'age of coming'. Vanessa, a brilliant, introverted 16-year old, goes to often-aberrant lengths in order to learn how to 'feel' again after a car accident at the hands of her best friend, Jepp, leaves her permanently paralyzed below the waist. The emotional severance between she and Jepp is as pronounced as the split in a spinal column, and through a gritty rehabilitation, Vanessa's journey back to herself includes self-injury, promiscuity, drug abuse... and perhaps love.
Colorado Screenplay Award : Silver is awarded to "When Eyes Go Dark" by Annie Elizabeth Ryan. A journalism intern helps a Chicago detective investigate the suspicious death of his brother, a cold case detective in Montreal, Canada.
Colorado Screenplay Award : Bronze is awarded to "Shoreline Times? by Chip Casner. Two high school students who have been rivals since childhood, vie for the attention of the women?s field hockey captain, while their misfit friend plots revenge against the football team.
Screenplay Official Finalists
"The Apostles' Creed" by KC Schrimpl - "Boo Hoo Flanagan" by Robert Gately - "Deep Creek" by Evan McNamara - "Through the Woods" by Halley Gross - "Dreamer in Exile" by Tyler Ham Pong - "In My Skin" by Menelek Lumumba - "Cinders" by Carol Frances Likins - "Tappers" by Kevin Coleman
"Out of the Box" by Aaliyah Miller & Lawrence King - "The Beekeeper" by Sean Jourdan
Screenplay Honorable Mentions
"Pan Habilis" by Ryan Spalding - "Parable" by Charles Cooper - "Machismo" by Vidur Nauriyal - "Countdown To Bliss" by Michael Levin - "The Burning Plain" by Luis De Vega - "Outrider" by Daniel D. Molinoff - "Carla" by Christoph Schinko - "Ace of Aces" by Geoffrey Breuder - "The Helping Stone" by Robert Tolz - "Emails from Heaven" by Carissa Channing-Steefel - "Not Safe No More" by Kimberly Coleman - "The Wedding Guest" by Teresa Allison - "Bakker's Dozen" by Daniel D. Molinoff - "Partners" by KC Schrimpl -
"The Road to Atonement" by John Maffucci
###
More Stationary Bike Press Releases
No comments:
Post a Comment