The Dark & The Wounded directed by James Picard and Jeff Dean triumphed over 87 new media films and content, to win the Grand Prize at the 8th Annual New Media Film Festival that ran June 6 to 8, 2017.
THE WINNERS ARE:
GRAND PRIZE
The Dark & The Wounded (screened in Short Category)
Director: James Picard, Jeff Dean
Country: Canada, USA
Running time: 26:24
World premiere!
To go beneath the surface of our distracted reality and get to the root of what is really happening to us as individuals, society and as a species on the planet. By getting past our fears we can become more compassionate and understanding towards ourselves and others, beyond fear, there truly is freedom.
BEST 3D
Chrysalis
Director: Ina Conradi, Mark Chavez
Country: Singapore
Running time: 7:03
L.A. premiere!
Chrysalis is a tale of personal struggles and endurance. The film is based on an old legend about the butterfly‘s struggles to evolve.
BEST ANIMATION
Bosatsu – Year of the Dragon
Director: Siddharth Ahluwalia
Country: USA
Running time: 6:13
Based on a dream and has been made with the hope of finding the Unknown.
BEST APP
Recontact: Istanbul
Director: Eray Dinc
Country: Turkey
Running time: :27
L.A. premiere!
In a recorded city, are you the one watching or being watched? Play the leading r
BEST DIGITAL COMIC
The Nothing Spirit
Written by: Grace Fiorre
Country: US
World premiere!
Her new disease caused her to lose alot of weight and for that reason the kids started to pick on her in school. She started being homeschooled, which gave her the opportunity to follower her dream and become an author.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed
Director: Jeremy Snead
Country: USA
Running time: 3:00
L.A. premiere!
Unlocked is a groundbreaking 8 part documentary series that provides firsthand stories by industry icons, celebrities, consumers, and field experts on the culture, technology, history, and future of the video game industry.
BEST DRONE
Running into air
Director: Sebastian Wöber
Country: Austria
Running time: 3:00
L.A. premiere!
Who didn’t have dreams about flying as a kid? On film it’s possible. This is me running into the air and filming cinematic landscapes on my flight over Switzerland.
BEST FEATURE
Director: Brendan Bradley
Country: Turkey, USA
Running time: 84:00
World premiere!
Stuck with vacation reservations in her ex-boyfriends, Amy Tyler decides if she can’t change the tickets…why not change the guy?
Cast Members:
Ashley Clements (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Poe Party),
Shanna Malcolm (HeyYoShanna, Bob Thunder),
Katie Wee (Return Of the Mac, 2 Broke Girls),
Matthew Scott Montgomery (So Random!, Jane The Virgin),
Amin Joseph (Baywatch, Call Me King),
Sara Fletcher (Frankenstein MD, Days of our Lives),
Daniel Vincent Gordh (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Hollywood Acting Studio),
Joey Richter (Starkid, I Ship It),
Shira Lazar (What’s Trending)
BEST MOBILE/TABLET
Cuba LIbre
Director: Felixe de Becker and Colin Bates
Country: Cuba
Running time: 6:41
World premiere!
Young business man journeys to Havana Cuba for work, only to find a beautiful distraction…
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Inertia by Orfan Inspired by the sentiments of Werner Herzog
Director: Ted Beagles
Country: UK
Running time: 4:34
Armed with only a harmonium, Orfan performs ‘Inertia’ in places where he shouldn’t be. Security descends.
BEST NEW MEDIA
My Millennial Life
Director: Maureen Judge
Country: Canada
Running time: 2:20
US premiere!
An interactive documentary follows millenials, living a reality that sees nearly half of their age group either unemployed or underemployed. Combining verité filming, interviews, video diary, text and statistics, the i-DOoc puts a human face on the quandary of finding a place in 21st century society.
BEST PILOT
Adventure Travel
Director: Ho Kwok Man, Berry
Country: Hong Kong
Running time: 4:45
World premiere!
An interactive game show. Participants will travel only with directions from TV producers and TV viewers. To earn money, participants have to finish challenges to earn virtual points.
BEST SCRIPT
Render
Written by: Kirill Kiselev
Country: USA
World premiere!
A woman who can enter the minds of artificially intelligent machines is pulled into a hidden war with a corporate government.
Top 3 Script Winners receive memberships in The Hatchery, InkTip, iPitch.tv and Sell A Script:Top 3 winners – Render, Clash of the Gods, Alan
BEST SHORT
MATE
Director: Tom Connolly
Country: UK
Running time: 7:30
L.A. premiere!
Two nihilistic colleagues hatch a plan in a cafe, paying no attention to the stranger at their table. Their good natured victim is left with a simple choice to make, upon which his future rests.
BEST SNIPLER-30 SECOND PITCH
Life Interrupted
Director: Steven Wishnoff
Country: USA
Running time: :30
World premiere!
Half Hour single -camera comedy, starring several fan-favorites about a former child actor whose life and career peaked at age 10. He is about to turn 50 with nothing in life the way he thought it would or should be.
BEST SRC – Socially Responsible Content
Ode to Lesvos
Director: Talal Derki
Country: Greece
Running time: 11:30
US premiere!
Ode to Lesvos is the inspiring story about a small group of fishermen and old ladies from the town of Skala Sikamineas on Lesvos, who received hundreds of thousands of refugees with open arms during summer of 2016. As a result of their selfless efforts the villagers were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
BEST STEAM
Adrift
Director: Cath Le Couteur
Country: Chile, USA and space
Running time: 11:00
L.A. premiere!
Exploring the mysteries and contradictions of space junk: a sometimes beautiful, but potentially destructive museum of space exploration hurtling above our heads.
BEST STUDENT
AEON a 3D Student film
Director: Derek O’Dell
Country: USA
Running time: 4:00
Aeon, a long, indefinite, period — is an abstract immersive audio-visual experience. A study on the behavior of energy over a period of time. Created using experimental 2D/3D animation techniques.
BEST TRAILER
Dream Big: Engineering Our World
Director: Greg MacGillivray
Country: Space and USA
Running time: 2:00
World premiere!
Dream Big: Engineering Our World is narrated by Academy Award® winner Jeff Bridges, and is a first film of its kind for IMAX® and giant screen theatres that will transform how we think about engineering.
BEST VIRTUAL REALITY
Et Moi – 360
Director: Herman Fredlund
Country: Sweden
Running time: 2:59
L.A. premiere!
The film is about a couple from the past dancing through memories in Berlin. The story ends in Grunau abandoned Ballroom then two urban explorers arrive.
BEST WEB SERIES
You are nothing Ep 3
Director: Mike Stivala, Mark Travis
Country: USA
Running time: 6:50
World premiere!
A web series disguised as a self-help video tutorial – or perhaps, a parody of one – that uses the crumbing life of Mitch Repter as a teaching tool for a bizarre philosophy of life.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION TO JERRY COPE – SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE CONSERVATION AWARD PRODUCER A LOVE SONG FOR EARTH (this award was only given to one other person, Leonardo Di Caprio)
Love Song to the Earth
Running time: 4:15
Special Presentation (during awards ceremony) – Love Song To The Earth video featuring Paul McCartney, Sean Paul, Colbie Callait, Natasha Bedingfield, Q’orianka Kilcher and others. Directed by Trey Fanjoy, Produced by Jerry Cope. All proceeds from the Love Song project benefit Friends Of The Earth and the United Nations Foundation. Premiered with Ban Ki-mmon in Paris at UNFCCC COP21.