• 2011 Staten Island Film Festival; Lovinder Singh Gill’s “Stalemate” Wins Best Picture

    [caption id="attachment_1467" align="alignnone" width="550"]Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America, narrated by Katey Sagal, is a captivating feature length documentary that proves a beauty pageant is more than just a sash and a crown. This inspiring piece follows five women with disabilities on their journeys towards the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant and explores the lives they lead in the face of adversity[/caption]

    The 2011 Staten Island Film Festival finally came to an end and held its closing award ceremonies, and the the big winner was Lovinder Singh Gill’s “Stalemate” which won the award for Best Picture. “StaleMate” is a story about how we are 100% sure that we want something and then, in a split second, we realize we never wanted it in the first place.  Kayleigh has finally found the perfect man; unfortunately, he comes in the form of two men she is dating, Richard and Arthur. They are wonderful in different ways and are complimentary pieces to the same puzzle – Kayleigh’s heart.

    Winners:

    Best Actress, Lori Martini, from “Caught”

    Best Actor, Ernest Borgnine, “Night Club”

    Best Documentary Short, “From the Ground Up”

    Best Documentary Feature, “Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America”

    Best Drama Short, “Bright”; Best Thriller, “Between the Floors”

    Best Comedy Short, “Morning Honey”

    Best Cinematography, “Crossroads”

    Best New Filmmaker, Sean Marlon Newcombe, “Scenes From a Campaign”

    Best Staten Island Local Short, “Green Apples & Wannabes”

    Best Staten Island Local Feature, “Nightclub”

    Best Short Screenplay, “Sexcut”

    Best Feature Screenplay, “The 7-Day Diary”

    Audience Choice Short, “Gus”

    Audience Choice Documentary, “P-Star Rising”

    Audience Choice Comedy, “Sexcut”

    Audience Choice Drama, “Close-Up”

    Audience Choice Feature, “Desert Rain”

    Best Director, Salvatore Petrosino, “Crossroads”

    Best Short Film, “Gus”; Best Picture, “Stalemate”

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  • Academy Shakes Up Best Picture Rules Again

    The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on Tuesday (6/14) to add a new twist to the 2011 Best Picture competition, and a new element of surprise to its annual nominations announcement.  The Board voted to institute a system that will now produce anywhere between five and 10 nominees in the category.  That number won’t be announced until the Best Picture nominees themselves are revealed at the January nominations announcement.

    “With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we’ve been looking not just at what happened over the past two years, but at what would have happened if we had been selecting 10 nominees for the past 10 years,” explained Academy President Tom Sherak, who noted that it was retiring Academy executive director Bruce Davis who recommended the change first to Sherak and incoming CEO Dawn Hudson and then to the governors.

    During the period studied, the average percentage of first place votes received by the top vote-getting movie was 20.5.  After much analysis by Academy officials, it was determined that 5% of first place votes should be the minimum in order to receive a nomination, resulting in a slate of anywhere from five to 10 movies.

    “In studying the data, what stood out was that Academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies,” said Davis.  “A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit.  If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn’t feel an obligation to round out the number.”

    If this system had been in effect from 2001 to 2008 (before the expansion to a slate of 10), there would have been years that yielded 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 nominees.

    The final round of voting for Best Picture will continue to employ the preferential system, regardless of the number of nominees, to ensure that the winning picture has the endorsement of more than half of the voters.

    Other rules changes approved by the Board include:

    In the animated feature film category, the need for the Board to vote to “activate” the category each year was eliminated, though a minimum number of eligible releases – eight – is still required for a competitive category.   Additionally, the short films and feature animation branch recommended, and the Board approved, refinements to the number of possible nominees in the Animated Feature category.  In any year in which eight to 12 animated features are released, either two or three of them may be nominated.  When 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of four may be nominated, and when 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.

    In the visual effects category, the “bakeoff” at which the nominees are determined will expand from seven to 10 contenders.  The increase in the number of participants is related to a change made last year in which the number of films nominated in the visual effects category  was increased from three to five.

    Previously, the Board approved changes to the documentary feature and documentary short category rules that now put those categories’ eligibility periods in line with the calendar year and thus with most other awards categories.  The change means that for the 84th Awards cycle only, the eligibility period is more than 12 months; it is from September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.

    Other modifications of the 84th Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor “housekeeping” changes.

    Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees.  The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.

    The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

    Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

    [ press release via AMPAS ]

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  • Sicilian Film Festival in Miami Announces 2012 Dates

    The Sicilian Film Festival, 7th Edition will be held April 11-17, 2012 at the Miami Beach Cinematheque.  The seven-day festival was created in Miami in 2006 by the Sicilian-born sculptor, musician, writer, and designer Emanuele Viscuso. Now residing in Miami Beach, Viscuso seeks to underline the importance of Sicily and Southern Italy, its cinema, literature, art, food and wine, fashion, and culture on an international platform.  While based primarily in Miami, the SFF holds events in both the United States and other cities worldwide.

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  • Record Number of Entries in Academy’s 2011 Nicholl Screenwriting Competition

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition has received a record 6,730 entries for 2011, including a first-time entry from Ecuador.  The Academy will award up to five fellowships of $30,000 each in November.

    The Nicholl Fellowships competition is open to screenwriters who have not earned more than $5,000 writing for film or television.  Entry scripts must be feature length and the original work of a sole author or of exactly two collaborative authors.  The scripts must have been written originally in English.  Adaptations and translated scripts are not eligible.

    This year, entries have come from all 50 states in the U.S., as well as from Argentina, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Vietnam.

    Since the program’s inception in 1985, 118 fellowships have been awarded, and a number of fellows have achieved considerable success.  Ehren Kruger, a 1996 fellow, wrote “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” opening later this month.  “The Details,” written and directed by 1998 fellow Jacob Aaron Estes, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.  Andrew W. Marlowe, a 1992 fellow, created and executive produces ABC’s “Castle,” for which Terri Miller, also a 1992 fellow, is a writer-producer.  Mike Rich, a 1998 fellow, wrote “Secretariat,” which opened last October.  Susannah Grant, a 1992 fellow, earned an Oscar® nomination in 2000 for her “Erin Brockovich” screenplay.

    Several other Nicholl fellows have had success in the film industry.

    Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year.  The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.

    [via AMPAS]

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  • The Weinstein Company to release “W.E.,” Madonna’s directorial debut

    [caption id="attachment_1460" align="alignnone" width="550"]Madonna on the set of W.E.[/caption]

    The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced yesterday that it will release “W.E.,” Madonna’s directorial debut of a feature film  in the U.S. W.E. is a romantic drama co-written by Madonna and Alek Keshishian. It stars Abbie Cornish (LIMITLESS), Oscar Isaac (DRIVE), James D’Arcy (MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD), Andrea Riseborough (NEVER LET ME GO), Natalie Dormer (“The Tudors”), Richard Coyle (PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME), James Fox (SHERLOCK HOLMES) and Laurence Fox (“Inspector Lewis”).

    Spanning six decades, W.E. juxtaposes a contemporary love story with that of King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson.

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  • 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival Winners; ‘Battle for Brooklyn’ is big winner

     

    [caption id="attachment_1458" align="alignnone" width="550"]Battle for Brooklyn [/caption]

    The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) announced the winners of this year’s festival held June 3 – June 12, 2011 at IndieScreen and Brooklyn Heights Cinema. Fittingly enough, a film about Brooklyn, ‘Battle For Brooklyn’ by Suki Hawley & Michael Galinsky took the Grand Chameleon Award and the award for Best Documentary.  BATTLE for BROOKLYN is an intensely intimate look at the very public and passionate fight waged by owners and residents facing condemnation of their property to make way for the controversial Atlantic Yards project, a massive plan to build 16 skyscrapers and a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets in the heart of Brooklyn. Shot over seven years and compiled from almost 500 hours of footage, BATTLE for BROOKLYN is an epic tale of how far people will go to fight for what they believe in.

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    W Zappatore by Massimiliano Verdesca was the other big winner, taking the awards for Best Documentary and Best Actress for Sandra Milo. This hilarious, quirky Italian comedy explores the question: is it better to play the music of Satan or listen to the word of God? Marcello Zappatore is 33 years old. He earns a living by playing electric guitar in a Satanist heavy metal band. However, Marcello has a physical problem: an uncomfortable itch on the side of his rib cage that soon turns out to be stigmata. Is it divine intervention or just time for a change? Marcello does not know the answer, and the stigmata is causing him many problems. In one go, he loses his girlfriend and the flat they share, and is kicked out of his band. Marcello now finds himself ready to undertake a very personal voyage between two very different and incompatible worlds… that of God and that of Rock.

    2011 Brooklyn Film Festival winners:

    GRAND CHAMELEON AWARD
    BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN by Suki Hawley & Michael Galinsky

    Best Narrative Feature
    W. ZAPPATORE by Massimiliano Verdesca

    Best Documentary
    BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN by Suki Hawley & Michael Galinsky

    Best Narrative Short
    RITA by Antonio Piazza & Fabio Grassadonia

    Best Animation
    A MORNING STROLL by Grant Orchard

    Best Experimental
    DAME FACTORY by Melanie Abramov

    Best New Director
    SLAVA ROSS for Siberia Monamour

    Spirit Awards
    Feature Narrative
    Documentary
    Short Narrative
    Experimental
    Animation    		 AMY GEORGE by Yonah Lewis & Calvin Thomas
    SCRAPPER by Stephan Wassmann
    GOWANUS 83 by Michael Wood
    TO BE IN ME by Marina Mello
    AMAR by Isabel Herguera
    Audience Awards
    Feature Narrative
    Documentary
    Short Narrative
    Experimental
    Animation    		 DAVID by Joel Fendelman
    BED STUY DO OR DIE by Daniel Bishop
    TEARDROP by Damian John Harper
    POSE by Ivaylo Getov
    FALLING UP by Djuna Wahlrab
    Certificates of Outstanding Achievement
    Screenplay
    Producer
    Cinematography
    Editing
    Original Score
    Actor Female
    Actor Male    		 ANNA KERRIGAN for Five Days Gone
    S. SCHAEFER, D. CRESPO, C. SILBER for My Last Day Without You
    MAGELA CROSIGNANI for Mary Marie
    TAKASHI DOSCHER for Snow on tha Bluff
    “FALL ON YOUR SWORD” for Aardvark
    MARIELENA LOGSDON for Babyland & SANDRA MILO for W. Zappatore
    RASSELAS LAKEW for The Athlete

     

     

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  • Academy Honors 2011 Student Academy Award® Winners with Medals

    [caption id="attachment_1456" align="alignnone" width="560"]The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented its 38th Annual Student Academy Awards® on Saturday, June 11, in Beverly Hills. Front row (left to right): Hallvar Witzø, Julian Higgins, Avner Geller, Stevie Lewis, Tal S. Shamir, Wonjung Bae and Soham Mehta. Back row (left to right): Theo Rigby, Anthony Weeks, Shawn Wines, Max Zähle, Karzan Kader, Zach Hyer, Bernardo Warman and Shaofu Zhang.[/caption]

    Fifteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored last night (June 11) as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards® competition awards ceremony, which featured as presenters actress Jennifer Garner, Oscar®-nominated animator John Musker, and Academy Award-winning producer Edward Zwick alongside Academy President Tom Sherak at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

    The 2011 winners are:

    Alternative category
    Gold Medal*:   “The Vermeers,” Tal S. Shamir, The New School, New York
    * Only one medal was awarded in the Alternative category.

    Animation category
    Gold Medal (tie):   “Correspondence,” Zach Hyer, Pratt Institute, New York; and “Dragonboy,” Bernardo Warman and Shaofu Zhang, Academy of Art University, California
    Bronze Medal:       “Defective Detective,” Avner Geller and Stevie Lewis, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida

    Documentary category
    Gold Medal:       “Vera Klement: Blunt Edge,” Wonjung Bae, Columbia College Chicago
    Silver Medal:      “Imaginary Circumstances,” Anthony Weeks, Stanford University
    Bronze Medal:   “Sin Pais (Without Country),” Theo Rigby, Stanford University

    Narrative category
    Gold Medal:     “Thief,” Julian Higgins, American Film Institute, California
    Silver Medal:    “High Maintenance,” Shawn Wines, Columbia University
    Bronze Medal:  “Fatakra,” Soham Mehta, University of Texas at Austin

    Foreign Student Film category
    Gold Medal:     “Tuba Atlantic,” Hallvar Witzo, The Norwegian Film School, Norway
    Silver Medal:    “Bekas,” Karzan Kader, Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, Sweden
    Bronze Medal:  “Raju,” Max Zaehle, Hamburg Media School, Germany

    The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 43 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. At the 83rd Academy Awards earlier this year, 2010 Student Academy Award winner Luke Matheny took home the Oscar for Live Action Short Film for “God of Love.” Tanel Toom, another 2010 Student Academy Award winner, also was nominated in the Live Action Short Film category for “The Confession,” and John Lasseter, a 1979 and 1980 Student Academy Award winner, was a nominee in the Adapted Screenplay category for “Toy Story 3.”

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  • REVIEW: Steve Coogan Surprises and Delights in “The Trip”

     

    Conceptualized at first as a six-part television series for British television, director Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip,” starring English comics Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, is a strange, delightfully bittersweet mid-life crisis film of sorts, which leaves you somehow feeling as if you’ve witnessed an actual epiphany happening as it is unfolding.

    Coogan plays himself, ostensibly, and the premise is that he is invited to do a driving restaurant tour of the gorgeous Northern English countryside to sample complicated haute cuisine for an upcoming article for the Observer. He invites along (rather grudgingly) his old friend Rob Brydon, after his girlfriend gets cold feet, and cancels. The two friends, again, playing “themselves,” and using their real names, argue, do countless, hilarious imitations of celebrities (trying to one up the other on who does the best, most pitch-perfect Michael Caine), and, generally, begin to rub each other gently, ever so slightly- the wrong way. Which is to say, Brydon’s simpler lifestyle and solid, sweet marriage start to make Coogan dwell upon his own, immediate life choices. Coogan’s interior ramblings become more vocal and rise to the surface, and Brydon’s contrasting satisfyingly placid private life begins to figure more prominently as the road trip wares on.

    As the mild-mannered and dry-witted Brydon witnesses Coogan chatting with his American girlfriend on the phone moment (they are taking a “break,” she in the U.S., he in England) then bedding down a sensual concierge the next, he chides him gently, while never for a moment becoming envious of Coogan’s far flashier life career and romantic life. Well, not really. Coogan, on the other hand, pines for some sort of more relevant stability- with his girlfriend and with his children-all who currently live apart from him, and within his own legit acting career.

    It is interesting to see such an accomplished, genuinely charismatic performer actually suffering over a dearth of opportunities to really sink his teeth into artistically. Yes, he makes fun of costume drama, but there is an intriguing, authentic feeling of longing experienced, the raw wish to experience genuine greatness, which is rarely glimpsed in our fame-obsessed, reality-TV based culture. This is really what “The Trip” is all about: Realizing what’s important to you, versus your life’s circumstances at the very moment. Cogan’s choice at the end is poignant and feels quite “real.” As he is shot behind the craggy, rolling hills of the sumptuous Yorkshire countryside, which appear to have been CGI-ed right in from “Wuthering Heights,” Coogan, quoting Keats and Shakespeare as if in a dream state, would make for a truly intense, romantic presence on-screen in a juicy period piece himself. Steve Coogan, get thee-self into a Merchant Ivory film! Vimooz says go see “The Trip.” Especially if you are on a staycation this season-this is a great, sweet, summer weekend matinee movie, one that will have you both laughing and thinking about how good or crappy you really have it- or both.

    {youtube}Xxq-I_e_KXg{/youtube}

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  • 18th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival Awards

    [caption id="attachment_1306" align="alignnone" width="560"]SOME GIRLS NEVER LEARN Jerzy Rose[/caption]

    Jerzy Rose’s Some Girls Never Learn emerged the big winner of the 2011 Chicago Underground Film Festival picking up Audience Award in addition to the Made in Chicago Award. The film synopsis, ” A university has found the leg bone of Amelia Earhart. The diver responsible for the discovery is receiving mysterious messages from the famous dead pilot.  A high school science teacher travels to the underworld to bring back his girlfriend. Animals are arranging themselves into concentric circles and helium has escaped into the luminiferous aether.”

    2011 Chicago Underground Film Festival Awards

    Jury Awards:

    Best Documentary (feature)
    And Again – Adele Horne

    Best Documentary (short)
    History Minor – Ryan Garrett

    Best Experimental:
    Home Movie – John Price

    Best Experimental:
    Slow Action – Ben Rivers

    Best Narrative (feature):
    The Color Wheel – Alex Ross Perry

    Best Narrative (feature):
    Snow on tha Bluff – Damon Russell

    Made in Chicago Award:
    Some Girls Never Learn  – Jerzy Rose

    Audience Award:
    Some Girls Never Learn – Jerzy Rose

    Honorable Mentions:
    Young Bird Season – Nellie Kluz
    Second Law: South Leh St. – Mike Gibisser
    Chainsaw Found Jesus – Spencer Parsons
    Devil’s Gate – Laura Kraning

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  • 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market Announce Star-Studded Lineup

    The 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market, which will screen June 21-27, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, announced its roster of 331 films. New this year, Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its inaugural ShortFest Online Film Festival featuring ten films playing on a special section of the festival web site starting a week prior to the festival and will continue to play online for two months after the end of the festival.

    This year’s star-studded shorts feature Academy Award winners and nominees, film and television stars and studio executives.  Sarah Paulson and Wes Bentley star in After-School Special (USA); Selma Blair and Jeremy Davies in Animal Love (USA); Michael Cera stars in Bad Dads (USA); Billy Burke in David and Goliath (USA); Anthony LaPaglia in In Loco Parentis (Australia); Campbell Scott in Love, Lots of It (USA); Jason Alexander, James Avery, Sid Ganis, Amy Heckerling, Sally Kirkland, Kathy Najimy, Amy Pascal, and Joe Roth in Not Your Time (USA); Seymour Cassel and Fionnula Flanagan in the North American premiere of Pass the Salt, Please (USA); Melissa Leo in the World Premiere of The Sea Is All I Know (USA); Kirsten Dunst and Brian Geraghty in the U.S. premiere of The Second Bakery Attack (Mexico/USA); Tom Hardy in Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother (UK); Julia Stiles stars in Sexting (USA) directed by Neil LaBute; Keira Knightley and Colin Firth star in Steve (UK) directed by Rupert Friend; Adam Arkin, Clifton Collins, Jr., Carla Gugino and Jesse Spencer star in Tell-Tale (UK); and Jessica Chastain stars in and serves as a producer for The Westerner (USA).

    In addition to familiar faces in front of the camera, some recognizable names directing shorts this year include: Peter Cattaneo directs Bunce (UK) starring Stephen Fry; David Hayter directs the World Premiere of Chasm (USA); Heather Hemmens directs the World Premiere of Designated (USA); Jay Duplass directs Kevin (Spain/USA); Terry George directs the North American Premiere of The Shore (UK); Olivia Wilde and Maria Bello serve as executive producers for the documentary Sun City Picture House (Haiti) directed by David Darg.

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  • Shakeups at Little Rock Film Festival and Malaga Spanish Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1449" align="alignnone" width="560"]Little Rock Film Festival Organizers Craig and Brent Renaud with Phil Donahue[/caption]

    Just days after the close of the 5th Little Rock Film Festival, the Arkansas Times is reporting that executive director Jack Lofton is out after announcing his resignation. With Lofton out, co-founders Owen Brainard and Craig Renaud will serve as co-executive directors of the festival.

    Lofton has reportedly described the split as “amicable and mutually beneficial.”

    Additionally, co-founder Brent Renaud has been appointed executive director of the newly created Arkansas Film Institute, a “state-wide initiative to promote and support filmmaking and film culture in Arkansas.”

    And in Spain, Malaga Spanish Film Festival director Carmelo Romero fired the executive director Franjo Parejo and the general coordinator Antonio Luque this week, citing a “complete lack of trust” in the two men, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

    The decision is said to not be based on direct allegations of financial impropriety, but on an audit into the general accounts for the 2010 festival which showed irregularities but was still approved by the festival’s board without any votes against.

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  • 2011 Amsterdam Film Festival Announces Van Gogh Awards; The Secret Friend, Der Sandmann, Wish, and Happy Earn Grand Jury Awards

    [caption id="attachment_1447" align="alignnone" width="560"]Adam Bowers writes, directs and stars in the low-budget comedy ‘New Low[/caption]

    The 2011 Amsterdam Film Festival Van Gogh Awards announced the winners of the prestigious Van Gogh Awards. The Grand Jury Prize was presented to four films – The Secret Friend directed by Flavio Alves (Brazil), Der Sandmann directed by Peter Luisi (Switzerland), Wish directed by Kyle Milardo (USA) and Happy directed by Roko Belic (USA).

    The De grote Prijs van de Jury was presented to New Low directed by Adam Bowers (USA); a film about a neurotic twentysomething struggling to figure out which girl he really belongs with: the best or the worst one he’s ever known.

    The Cinematic Vision Award was presented to The Greater Good directed by Chris Pilaro & Kendall Nelson (USA). The Greater Good looks behind the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate in America today. The film re-frames the emotionally charged issue and offers, for the first time, the opportunity for a rational and scientific discussion on how to create a safer and more effective vaccine program.

    The Van Gogh Award was presented to Bert’s Plan directed by Yair Shvartz (USA). Bert is a struggling middle-aged writer attempting to get his book published. Downtrodden and plagued with rejection, Bert comes up with a plan. In a twist of hilariously dark, ironic and serendipitous events, Bert’s original plan takes an unexpected turn.

    The Prodigy Auteur Prize was presented to Victim, directed by Leon Rowe (USA). Victim is a psychological thriller about a man who is plagued by guilt, anger and vengeance struggling with a decision that will change his life forever.

    2011 VAN GOGH AWARDS:

    De grote Prijs van de Jury: New Low directed by Adam Bowers
    Cinematic Vision Award: The Greater Good directed by Chris Pilaro & Kendall Nelson
    Van Gogh Award: Bert’s Plan directed by Yair Shvartz
    Prodigy Auteur Prize: Victim directed by Leon Rowe

    Grand Jury Prize: The Secret Friend directed by Flavio Alves
    Grand Jury Prize: Der Sandmann directed by Peter Luisi
    Grand Jury Prize: Wish directed by Kyle Milardo
    Grand Jury Prize: Happy directed by Roko Belic

    Best Director: The Story directed by Steve Bellamy
    Documentary Directing Award: Lift Up directed by Philip Knowlton & Huguens Jean
    Dramatic Directing Award: A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation directed by Stefan Leuchtenberg & Martin Wallner

    World Cinema Directing Award: Ronan’s Escape directed by A.J. Carter
    World Cinema Directing Award: Unravelling directed by Kuldip Powar

    Excellence in Cinematography Award: Out of the Darkness directed by Stefano Levi
    Excellence in Cinematography Award: Hipolito directed by Teodoro Ciampagna
    Excellence in Cinematography Award: Vous Etes Servis directed by Jorge Leon
    Excellence in Cinematography Award: The Big Uneasy directed by Harry Shearer

    World Cinema Cinematography Award: Protect The Nation directed by C. R. Reisser
    World Cinema Cinematography Award: Small Change directed by Cathy Brady
    World Cinema Cinematography Award: Beatboxing – The Fifth Element Of Hip Hop directed by Klaus Schneyder
    World Cinema Cinematography Award: The Girls in the Band  directed by Judy Chaikin

    Best Documentary Film Editing: I am Nancy directed by Arlene Marechal
    Best Dramatic Film Editing: Vicissitude directed by Will Jobe
    Best Feature Film Screenplay: Face to Face directed by Michael Rymer
    Best Short Film Screenplay: IFAKAT directed by Orhan  Tekeoglu

    World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award: May I Be Frank directed by Gregg Marks, Conor Gaffney, Ryland Engelhart & Cary Mosier
    World Cinema Dramatic Film Editing Award: Vento directed by Marcio Salem
    World Cinema Screenwriting Award, Feature Film: Behind the Eight Ball directed by Mike Graveline
    World Cinema Screenwriting Award, Short Film: DILF directed by Geoff Edwards

    Special Jury Prize, World Cinema Documentary: Sharkwise directed by Lieven Debrauwer
    Special Jury Prize, World Cinema Dramatic: Sofia directed by Shervin Kermani
    Special Jury Prize, World Cinema Short: Return directed by Cyd Chartier Cohn
    Special Jury Prize, World Cinema Student: Landlocked directed by Jerry Melichar
    Special Jury Prize, World Cinema Music Video: Corrupted Scene Behind the Stage directed by Ivan Mena Tinoco
    Special Jury Prize, World Cinema Animation: Los Estrandados directed by Derek Evanick
    Special Jury Prize, Dutch Documentary: Mila’s Journey directed by Annie Perkins & Rinku Kalsy
    Special Jury Prize, Dutch Dramatic: In Transit directed by Kees-Jan Husselman
    Special Jury Prize for Originality: How It Ended directed by Gabriel Nussbaum
    Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence: Streets of Flamenco directed by Marisa Lloreda Saez
    Special Jury Prize for Acting, World Cinema: Spinster directed by Pip Satchell
    Special Jury Prize for Acting: Sissy directed by Bonnie Root

    Jury Prize – Dutch Short Filmmaking: Riding Bikes with the Dutch directed by Michael Bauch
    Jury Prize – International Short Filmmaking: Falling Apart directed by Christopher Valori

    World Cinema – Experimental Film: Extincion II: La Cuadratura De Los Círculos directed by Fernando Usón Forniés
    World Cinema – Animated Film: Searching directed by Hyun Joo Cho
    World Cinema – Music Video: Stretch directed by Arturo Cubacub
    World Cinema – Student: Mezzanotte Obscura directed by    Lori Petchers
    World Cinema – First Time Director: I’m Just Saying directed by Brian Douglas

    Best Action Film: Slashimi directed by Anthony Powell
    Best Avant-Garde Film: Hallucination directed by Christian Jean
    Best Biography: Klondike’s Calling directed by Paola Rosà & Antonio Senter
    Best Children’s Film: Little Gobie directed by Tony Tang
    Best Comedy: The Winking Boy directed by Marcus Dineen
    Best Coming of Age Film: Een Kleine Duw directed by Philippe Verkinderen
    Best Crime Film: Una Calle Sin Salida directed by Robert Fernandez-Ferreira
    Best Drama: The Price of Sex directed by Mimi Chakarova
    Best Educational Film: Harvest of Loneliness directed by Adrian Salinas, Gilbert Gonzalez & Vivian Price
    Best Environmental Film: Liquid Amber directed by Maggi Payne
    Best Fantasy Film: A Complex Villainelle directed by Nathan Billington, Rebecca Forth, Bart Ovaitt & Ryan Porter
    Best Horror Film: Message directed by Lee Yat Fung
    Best Human Rights Film: Children in Exile directed by Chris Swider
    Best Mockumentary: Frontman directed by Ben Hyland
    Best Musical: Mr. Foley directed by D.A.D.D.Y.
    Best Personal Narrative: Beautiful Enough directed by Claire Oakley
    Best Romance: I Love My Woman directed by Otis Kriegel
    Best Romantic Comedy: Sombras Nada Mas directed by Max Valverde
    Best Sci-Fi Film: Cockpit:  The Rule of Engagement directed by Jesse Griffith
    Best Spiritual Film: The Time Machine directed by Mark Kendall
    Best Sports Film: One Revolution directed by Amanda Stoddard
    Best Student Film: Amanda directed by Michael Tanner Cusumano
    Best Urban Film: Storie Urgenti directed by Joseph Edward Rozzo

    SCREENPLAY COMPETITION WINNERS:

    Feature Screenplay Competition

    First Place: You’re Sick written by Donn Warr Lewis
    Second Place: Halfway Home written by David Schroeder
    Third Place: The Quarry written by Adam Ford-smith

    Short Screenplay Competition

    First Place: Push Bike written by Tracey Walker
    Second Place: Sunset Fire written by A. Wayne Carter
    Third Place: Born as Ghosts written by Mark Skinner

    Official Finalists

    American Trash written by David Kornfield
    Beyond the Horizon written by George Ferris
    Borderline written by Joshua Paolino
    Courting Death written by Heather Silvio
    Cradle of the Stars written by Joey Kent
    En Route written by Philip Howe
    Neon Cactus written by Philip Sedgwick
    Poetease written by Jeffrey Morin
    The Kiarsidia written by Bruce Golde
    The Only Living Man with a Hole in His Head written by Todd Colby Pliss
    There is a Season written by Stuart Creque
    Too Fat to Fly written by Anthony Amenta

    Honorable Mentions

    180 Proof written by Adam Sumner
    A Mind of Glass written by Louise Dautheribes McKerl
    China Girls written by Gary Riester
    Drosselbart written by Effie Bathen
    Eaglet written by Eugene Gavrilenko
    Ghost Light written by Philip Marcoccio
    God’s Architect written by Michael Mares
    Happiness in Pieces written by Krzysztof Rostek
    Hunting Paradise written by Craig Harwood
    Meet Jane Doe written by Jacqueline Gault
    Murder in the Lakelands written by Patrick Nash
    Pot Shop written by Judah Ray Neiditch
    The Parting Glass written by Philip Marcoccio
    T.W.I.N written by Malaika Langa
    Wrigly & King written by Cornelius Murphy

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