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