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Robert
Roth, Executive Director David Lynch
Foundation (DLF), Producer "Meditation, Creativity, Peace"
Jessica Wisk, DLF
Joanna Plafsky
Anne Metzger
Adam Pressman, DLF
Bill Metzger, Chairman Palm Beach Film Institute
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Palm
Beach Film Festival
Photo by:
Studio Palm Beach/ Corby
THAT'S A WRAP!
PALM BEACH CLOSES 18TH ANNUAL FILM FEST
* * *
COMPETITION AND AUDIENCE FAVORITE
FILM AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
It was a true celebration
of film as the Palm Beach International Film Festival
celebrated its 18th installment with tremendous success.
Despite being faced with serious financial adversity, PBIFF
thrived in the true spirit of independent film camaraderie
as filmmakers from around the world enjoyed welcoming
audiences, shared their experiences and attended fabulous
parties!
After a week of screenings, festivities and fanfare, the
votes were tallied to determine the winners for Best Feature
Film, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, while audiences
voted for their favorite in categories of features,
documentaries and shorts. Winners were announced at the
closing night screening.
The Award for Best Feature Film went to Lonely Boy, directed
by Dale Fabrigar about the romantic misadventures of a
schizophrenic bachelor. Alev Aydin wrote and starred in the
film. Aydid was there to accept the award.
The Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Comedy
Warriors: Healing Through Humor, directed by John Wager.
Five severely wounded Iraq/Afghanistan veterans were given
the opportunity to explore their experiences through the
healing power of humor. This film follows their journey as
they work with professional comedy writers and A-List
comedians Zach Galifianakis, Lewis Black, Bob Saget, and B.J.
Novak, who help them write and perform their own personal
stand-up comedy routines. This exciting venture gives them
new comedic perspectives from which to view their injuries
and their lives, and culminates in one big night performing
at one of LA's top comedy clubs. Producer Ray Reo was there
to accept the award.
The Award for Best Short Film went to Sahasi Chori, directed
by Erin Galey. A dramatic thriller exploring con-artists of
the sex industry, Sahasi Chori follows Bhumika, a
13-year-old Nepali girl, traveling with her family friend
Krishna from her Himalayan home to her first job in the
city. This story is inspired by the director's firsthand
experience traveling the roads of Nepal and India, and
meeting survivors of sex trafficking.
The PBIFF Audience Favorite Award for Best Feature went to
As High as the Sky, directed by Nikki Braendlin. Margaret
has always been a little particular. But since being dumped
by her fiancée, her obsessive compulsive behaviors are in
overdrive. The last thing she needs is company. Showing up
on her doorstep unannounced is Margaret's nomadic older
sister Josephine, with ten-year-old daughter Hannah in tow,
initially an unwanted jolt to her carefully regulated life.
But their playfulness eventually wins Margaret over and she
begins to loosen her neurotic control on life. However, when
Margaret discovers the real reason for her sister's visit.
She's forced to confront the betrayed... and the long
suppressed grief at the roof of her
fastidious behaviors.
There was a tie for Audience Favorite Award for Best
Documentary, both of which were World Premieres. The winners
were Bearing Witness: the Voices of Our Survivors and
Ardeshir Mohasses: The Rebellious Artist.
Bearing Witness: the Voices of Our Survivors shares the
collective stories of six Holocaust survivors from Germany,
Poland, Greece, Netherlands, and Hungary whom endured
anti-Semitism, Kristallnacht, life in hiding, ghettos,
camps, and death marches. Director Heather Elliott-Famularo
was there to accept the award.
Ardeshir Mohasses: The Rebellious Artist takes a look at the
controversial Iranian caricaturist and his struggles with
artistic freedom. Director Bahman Maghsoudlou was there to
accept the award.
The Audience Favorite Award for Best Short Film went to The
Color of Christmas, directed by Cyrus Kowsari about a man
who walks through hell to deliver the Christmas his daughter
wants.
The Audience Favorite Award for Best of Florida went to The
Shift, directed by Lee Cipolla and starring Leo Oliva, Casey
Fitzgerald, and Danny Glover about one 12-hour shift in the
ER where a veteran nurse, who struggles with the haunting
guilt of his brother's drowning, is forced to train a new
nurse.
The 18th edition closed with Bruce Mason?s Chez Upshaw,
starring Illeana Douglas and Kevin Pollack, about an
endlessly bickering but truly devoted and quirky couple who
run a B&B that's about to sink when along comes the
opportunity of a lifetime... they turn it into a 'check in,
don't check out' last resort for assisted suicides .
Director Mason and Illeana Douglas attended the screening
and
Wrap Party.
The Palm Beach International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3)
not for profit organization supporting film programs in
local schools and dedicated to making a difference in the
lives of future filmmakers by helping them fulfill their
dreams to one-day work in the world of film.
For more information, please call (561) 362-0003
or visit the festival web site at
www.pbifilmfest.org
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