CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2024 AWARD WINNERS

OFFICIAL FILMMAKER AWARD SPONSOR

Japanese Restaurant

Premier Dining, Shopping, and Relaxation in the Heart of Healdsburg

109 North Street Healdsburg, CA 95448

Tea Tranquility: Unveiling Heritage, Embracing Quality
Chado-En is a family business inspired by Japanese tradition, deeply steeped in the belief tea is more than a beverage. Our core team each takes the title of Tea Docent because it is our sincere desire to help guide you and share the knowledge we have gathered from around the world. We have two brands, Shinwa Japanese Green Tea. . . more than a beverage and Cha no Aji TheTaste of Tea. Shinwa is a Japanese word that means a long time ago, or once upon a time. Teas in this collection are functional teas based on the way tea was once used as medicine. Cha no Aji means The Taste of Tea, here you will find only loose leaf teas. We believe no one really wants bags, not under their eyes or in their cups. Loose leaf is so much kinder to our environment.
Please show them your patronage at this link!

$2,500 USD

THE DIAMOND
Sweden / Comedy / 14 min.

Stephan is lonely with a blinding ambition to make friends. He learns that rich people can easily make friends. One day he stumbles upon a diamond in the woods. Maybe now he can make friends.

 

Director – Vedran Rupic

Writer – Gustav Sundström

Writer – Vedran Rupic

Producer – Siamand Masoodian

Producer – Christian Kuosmanen

Key Cast – Erik Sjöström

Key Cast – Rodrigo Pozo Vizcarra

AUDIENCE FAVORITE
- A TIE AWARD -

$500 USD

JEROME
USA / Drama / 14 min

Basketball connects Jerome to his long-absent father, though not in the ways he wishes. As he struggles to accept his family’s shortcomings, Jerome questions who he and who he’ll become

 

Director – Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz

Writer – Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz

Producer – Santi Naidoo

Producer – Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz

Producer – Ben O’Keefe

Key Cast – Elias Ferguson

Key Cast – Aries Sanders

$500 USD

ONCE MORE, LIKE RAIN MAIN
USA / Comedy / 15 min

A glimpse of the life of an autistic actress running the gambit of stereotypes she has to deal with.

 

Director – Sue Ann Pien

Writer – Bella Zoe Martinez

Producer – Suzann Ellis Spurgeon

Producer – Darren Dean

Producer – Bella Zoe Martinez

Producer – Melissa Jean Martinez-Areffi

Producer – Andrew J Areffi

Key Cast – Bella Zoe Martinez

Key Cast – Matt Jones

Key Cast – Joe Mantegna

Key Cast – Sue Ann Pien

Key Cast – Sosie Bacon

Key Cast – Kristen Hager

Key Cast – Vella Lovell

Key Cast – Tracy Reiner

Key Cast – Tal Anderson

A glimpse of the life of an autistic actress running the gambit of stereotypes she has to deal with.

 

$500 USD

MOVING DAY
USA / Animation / 12 min

While a couple is moving out, a smiley drawing on one of their boxes comes to life, falls in love with another drawing across the room, and sets out on a box-hopping adventure in the hopes of reaching their beloved. This is a repeat film from Friday night..

 

Director – Sean Mirkovich

Writer – Sean Mirkovich

Producer – Sean Mirkovich

Producer – Ashley McKenna

Key Cast – Sean Mirkovich

Key Cast – Ashley McKenna

Music – Chris Woods

Animation – Sean Mirkovich

Editing – Sean Mirkovich

Cinematography – Sean Mirkovich

Sound – Sean Mirkovich

CATEGORY AWARDS

SHAPE OF RITUAL
Finland / Student / 14 min

An exploration of the significance of repetition in our lives. Four individuals pause to reflect on their daily routines, examining the fine line between mundane habits and sacred rituals. Through a day-long meditation, they uncover surprising commonalities in their experiences, revealing the hidden depths of everyday actions.

 

Director – Lotta Emilia Taarasti

Writer – Lotta Emilia Taarasti

Writer – Ella Kiviniemi

Producer – Anniina Leppänen

Key Cast – Milla Paloniemi

Key Cast – Ulla Aalto

Key Cast – Kaarne Karjalainen

Key Cast – Tomi Liukkonen

FROM PEN TO PAPER
USA / Documentary / 19 min

Behind bars, ink flows and barriers crumble as lifers and students unite in a transformative writing experiment.

 

Director – PAUL SUTTON

CHAUNCEY
USA / Comedy / 12 min

A grown woman, is afraid to introduce her new boyfriend to her old stuffed animal, Chauncey

 

Director – Reilly Anspaugh

Director – Daniel Rashid

Writer – Reilly Anspaugh

Writer – Daniel Rashid

Producer – Reilly Anspaugh

Producer – Daniel Rashid

Producer – Elizabeth Valenti

Key Cast – Reilly Anspaugh

Key Cast – Daniel Rashid

Key Cast – Miya Kodama

Key Cast – Doug Tompos

THE ONLY SON
USA / Drama / 15 min

Jack, a Polish Immigrant living in Los Angeles, will have to decide if he’ll sacrifice his morals to save his son’s future.

Director – Piotr Matyja

Writer – Piotr Matyja

Producer – Zofia Sablinska

Key Cast – Wojciech Fry Lewis

Key Cast – Owen Morgan

Key Cast – Tahlia McCollum

Key Cast – Adria Tennor

Key Cast – Patrick Joseph Rieger

Cinematography – Sika Stanton

Production Design – Jose Herrera

Editor – Xin Sui

EVERY SUNRISE
ITALY / MUSIC VIDEO / 2 min

A condemned man confuses dreams and memories, and he lets himself be carried away.

Director – Simone Massi

Writer – Simone Massi

Producer – Maria Elena Delia

Original Music – Fiumanò Domenico Violi

CHANGE SHAPES
USA / MUSIC VIDEO / 3 min

A music video starring Lauren Mayberry (lead singer of of Chvrches) and directed by Gabriella Kashi 

Director – Gabriella Kashi

Producer – Mashka Wolfe

Key Cast – Lauren Mayberry

MOM(s)
USA / FAMILY / 8 min

A poignant coming-of-age story of a teenager navigating the complexities of having two moms in a world steeped in father-daughter traditions.

Director – Matt Pittenger

Writer – Abby Nuccio

Executive Producer – Shawn Ryan

Executive Producer – John Ainsworth

Producer – Shawn Ryan

Producer – Valerie Dohrer

Director of Photography – Alana Hein

Student Director – Madeline Burchett

Student Director – Tyson Hall

Assistant Director – Lilith Evans

Assistant Director – Dee Arie

Casting – Shawn Ryan

Casting – Valerie Dohrer

Key Cast – Abby Nuccio

Key Cast – Kristen Howard

Key Cast – Maddie Walton

Key Cast – Lily Thornhill

Key Cast – Jaxon Robinson

Key Cast – Amauri Roe

Key Cast – Teagan Nichols-Marcy

Editor – Ethan Webber

Sound Supervisor – Jimmy Molina

Color Correction/Audio Post – Nate Gray

Accountant – Mary Ekman

CREATIVE CONTRIBUTION AWARDS

TSUTSU
GHANA / DRAMA / 16 min

Set in a small Ghanaian town at the edge of a large landfill site that spills into the ocean, the sons of a fisherman, Sowah and Okai, struggle to cope with the loss of their eldest brother who drowned during a fishing expedition. Haunted by his demise, Okai believes their brother is still out there.

 

Director – Amartei Armar

Writer – Amartei Armar

Producer – Ike Yemoh

Key Cast – Kirston-Acquah Elisha

Key Cast – Idrissu Tontie JR.

Key Cast – Victor Incoom

Key Cast – Gabriel Narh Addo

BACK OF THE NET
UK / DRAMA / 15 min

Director – Klara Kaliger

Producer – Athanasia Bartzoka

Producer – Ola Andrzejewska

Writer – Ella Dorman-Gajic

Key Cast – Ella Dorman-Gajic

Key Cast – Maureen Casey

Key Cast – Lucy Jane Rae

Key Cast – Muki Zubis

Key Cast – Tom Goodman-Hill

Key Cast – Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson

Key Cast – Dolly Webb

Key Cast – Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco

(No cash prizes)

 

MAITIGHAR
Nepal/ Drama / 15 min

Director of Photography – Romain Wilhelm

DEATH TO THE BIKINI
Canada / Dramedy / 17 min

After a festive evening with her friends in Pokhara, Nepal, a young high-school student returns home, surprised that she is being forced by her mother into an arranged marriage.

 

Director – Justine Gauthier

Writer – Justine Gauthier

Producer – Léonie Hurtubise

Key Cast – Mia Garnier

Key Cast – Etienne Cardin

Key Cast – Aksel Leblanc

Key Cast – Olivier Leblanc

Key Cast – Johnnovan Jobin

Key Cast – Eve Pressault

Key Cast – Eric Robidoux

DoP – Gabrielle Bergeron

Editing – Marie-Pier Grignon

Artistic Direction – Yola van Leeuwenkamp

Sound – Jacob Marcoux

Sound – Ilyaa Ghafouri

Sound – Joey Simas

Music – Viviane Audet

Music – Robin-Joël Cool

CHANGING ROOMS
France / Drama / 18 min

A powerful drama about a brother and sister coping in the aftermath of her sexual assault.

 

Actor – Marius PLARD

48 HOURS
Iran / Drama / 20 min

Based on a true story from the director’s own life: After three years in prison, Nader is given a furlough to go home for a visit. He has 48 hours to become a father to his four-year-old daughter.

 

ACTRESS- BARAN KOSARI

ONE LAST SUMMER
France / Dramedy / 13 min

As the summer comes to an end, three nerdy friends play one last game of Warhammmer, but their friendship gets rocky when they encounter two vibrant young women who are fellow campers.

 

 

Composer – SIMON MEURET

 

THE FINALISTS

THE BIG WAIT
Australia / Documentary / 13 min

In a remote desert town in Australia, population two, a couple manages an emergency airport and keeps vacant cottages in pristine condition, waiting for visitors who never seem to arrive.

 

 

Director – Yannick Jamey

Writer – Yannick Jamey

Producer – Yannick Jamey

Producer – Lucy Pijnenburg

Director of Photography – Yannick Jamey

Director of Photography – Lucy Pijnenburg

Music – Ernst Reijseger

THE FALL OF PHAETON
Reunion (France) / Drama / 13 min

A teenage boy from a blue-collar neighborhood chases after his mother’s runaway dog, inadvertently having to face a reality he wasn’t seeking.

 

 

Director – Aurélie Filain

Writer – Aurélie Filain

Producer – Khir-Din Grid

Key Cast – Edouard Galaor

Key Cast – Delixia Perrine

Key Cast – Jean-Laurent Faubourg

A STUDY OF EMPATHY
Germany / Drama / 15 min

Dana wants to show empathy. Penelope wants to explore empathy in a bold, artistic experiment.

 

Director – Hilke Rönnfeldt

Writer – Hilke Rönnfeldt

Producer – Asbjørn H. Kelstrup

Key Cast – Sara Klein Larsen

Key Cast – Emilie Claudius Kruse

A HUGE THANKS ALL FILMMAKERS IN THE 2024 SEASON

ALL FILMMAKERS OF THE OFFICIAL SELECTION (OF ANY YEAR) HAVE A LIFETIME INVITATION TO SUBMIT FUTURE PROJECTS WITH SUBMISSION FEES WAIVED.