The Santa Cruz Film Festival (SCFF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the support and promotion of moving image arts in California’s Greater Monterey Bay Area, announced the winners of the Grand Jury Prizes and Audience Awards last night at the Festival’s Closing Night immediately before the screening of the work-in-progress documentary of Rocky Romano’s Ruffo.
Jury Prizes were awarded in five categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, EarthVision Environmental Film, Emerging Filmmaker (for a first or second-time feature filmmaker) and the inaugural Spirit of Action Prize (for a film that explores and celebrates those who advocate for change and/or whose goal is to call action to important and relevant social, economic, political and cultural issues. The audience voted separately for awards across ten categories.
“Winning an award at a festival is a terrific achievement for any filmmaker, and those wins can be leveraged to either negotiate distribution agreements and/or generate attention for further filmmaking opportunities.” said Director of Programming, Julian Soler. He continued, “The Santa Cruz Film Festival is honored to celebrate, support and promote the further professional development of our awardees, as well as all of the filmmakers whose work was presented to our enthusiastic audience.”
The 2011 Santa Cruz Film Festival presented 167 films representing 33 countries including 69 that were produced by Santa Cruz/Monterey filmmakers (an SCFF record) among over 900 that were submitted for consideration. A record 4600 attended the Festival representing a 5% increase from 2010.
JURY PRIZES
The Festival selected 5-6 films for each jury category. The Emerging Filmmaker Prize is selected by the Festival among the films included in the all of Jury Competitions.
The 2011 Santa Cruz Film Festival Juries were comprised of industry professionals, community leaders, previous SCFF award winners, filmmakers and local media:
Narrative Feature Jury
Paul Hills and Jonnie Hurn – 2010 Jury Winners, Do Elephants Pray?
Tyler Johnston – Director, Portland Maine Film Festival
Dennis Morton – Co-Host, Film Gang, KUSP 88.9 FM
Documentary Feature Jury
Jane Julian – Programmer, Durango and Port Townsend Film Festivals
Brent Leung – 2010 Jury Winner, House of Numbers
Robert Pollie – Host, The 7th Avenue Project, KUSP 88.9 FM
EarthVision Environmental Film Jury
Virginia Johnson – Executive Director, Ecology Action
Cambria Matlow – 2010 Jury Winner, “Burning in the Sun”
Ed Schehl – Filmmaker and Founder, EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival
Spirit of Action Jury
Charlie Hall and Bevin Bell-Hall – 2010 Audience Award Winners, “La Vie en Verte: The WAMM Movie”
Jim Brown – Executive Director, The Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County
The Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature was presented to “Goodbye, Cruel World (Adiós Mundo Cruel)” by Jack Zagha Kababie, a classic Mexican comedy about an out-of-work accountant that teams up with a merry band of thieves who together plan a dramatic heist.
The Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature was presented to “PressPausePlay” by Sweden’s Victor Köhler and David Dworsky, an exploration of how modern technologies have impacted the creation, distribution and consumption of art and media.
The EarthVision Environmental Film Grand Jury Prize was presented to Marshall Curry’s “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,” the story of the radical environmental activist group, and how the US defined and treated “terrorism” prior to 9/11.
The Inaugural Spirit of Action Jury Prize was presented to David Mueller and Lynn Salt’s, “A Good Day to Die,” the remarkable and inspirational story of Native American rights activist, and founder of the American Indian Movement, Dennis Banks.
The Emerging Filmmaker Prize was presented to Dusty Bias’ “Prairie Love,” a dark comedy of love, murder and lies from the frozen plains of North Dakota.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Ten audience awards were presented to the following films:
Narrative Feature (tie)
Falling Overnight, Conrad Jackson, USA
The Land of the Astronauts, Carl Colpaert, USA
Morton Marcus Memorial Award for Best Documentary Feature (tie)
An Ecology of Mind, Nora Bateson, USA
EarthVision Environmental Film
Play Again, Tonje Hessen Schei, USA
Narrative Short
Half Moon, Sarah Adina Smith, UK
Documentary Short
El Andalón, Consuelo Alba, USA
Locally-Produced Work
Everything Which Is . . . Yes, John Vincent Barrett, USA
Animated Film
Daisy Cutter, Enrique García and Rubén Salazar, Spain
Experimental Work
All Flowers in Time, Jonathan Caouette, Canada
Student Work (University-level)
Sin País, Theo Rigby, USA (Stanford University)
Evan Kuhn Memorial Award for Best Youth Film (Under 18-years-old)
Blank Canvas, Hannah Sullivan, USA
SPECIAL MENTION
Given by the Festival to a film that had a unique and special impact and response. Just Like Us, Ahmed Ahmed, USA
About the Santa Cruz Film Festival
Having just completed its 10th year, the Santa Cruz Film Festival celebrates innovative and original filmmaking in and for the Greater Monterey Bay community. Since 2002, SCFF has screened over 1,100 independent films and videos including scores of quality, locally produced works to tens of thousands of enthusiastic and dedicated film lovers, generating over $2 million in revenue for Santa Cruz.
Whether fact or fiction, commercial or avant-garde, live-action or animation, the Santa Cruz Film Festival celebrates the diverse art of talented filmmakers. SCFF presents artists who create films and videos in all genres from around the world in one of the most thought-provoking, entertaining, fun-filled, educational regional film festivals in the country. The Festival has been proud to not only showcase new creative talents, but also to provide an interactive experience where filmmakers, musicians, performers, artists and the community can come together to share their art and ideas and to have an enlightening and fun time.
The Santa Cruz Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The tax identification number is 30-0053845. Donations are tax-deductible. Visit our website for more information: santacruzfilmfestival.org.
