Films from England, Japan and the Netherlands took top honors in the 2012 U.S. International Film & Video Festival. Work from Jack Morton Worldwide, London, was selected Best of Festival-Corporate. Entertainment BOF went to a film from Kansai Telecasting Corporation, Osaka, and a documentary from Fuji Television Network Inc., Tokyo, was BOF in that category. The One World Award was given to a Netherlands’ production. The awards were announced June 27, 2012.
“Ericsson History Film” by Jack Morton for Ericsson traces the company’s involvement in the development of technology from Lars Magnus Ericsson in 1876 through fixed line, mobile and into “The Network Society.”
“Lessons,” by Kansai, winner in Entertainment, is a teleplay about the special relationship of two young girls who have lived without the love of their mothers. It was directed by Yoshishige Miyake and is based on a novel by Shiho Tanimura. This story searches for the answer to the meaning of family love in these complex times.
“Pioneers in the Land of Rubble-Recovering from the 3/11 Disaster” by Fuji Television is about the efforts of residents of several small towns to rebuild their spirits, their fishing and retail businesses, and their villages after the 2011 tsunami caused by a 9.0 earthquake. Fuji Television Network recorded more than 30,000 minutes of film footage and interviews in the nine months following the tsunami.
The One World Award, sponsored and selected by the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ), Zurich, Switzerland, went to “Heritage Saved is History Preserved.” This production by NV Bergkwartier, a restoration organization, explains how citizens pushed for restoration in the borough of Deventer to create a tourist city of today. The area, one of the oldest in the Netherlands (768 A.D.), was entirely in ruins after World War II.
All three Best of Festival winners also received First Place Gold Camera Awards. The One World winner also won a Certificate for Creative Excellence in the FilmFest competition.
Other nominees for Best of Festival were:
• Corporate — “Kazan Gateway “from DTV-MA, Moscow; “I am Veracruz (Yo soy Veracruz)”, entered by the Government of the State of Veracruz, and “We Are Maersk” from Copenhagen Film Company ApS.
• Documentary — “Lantern Floating Hawaii 2011,” from Shinnyo-en Hawaii, Honolulu; “Romeo and Juliet: A New Vision” from Stella Motion Pictures, Hampton, Australia, and “The Untold Stories of the Tsunami in Japan – March 11, 2011,” by Fuji Television Network Inc., Tokyo.
• Entertainment — “Early Autumn” from Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Co. Ltd, Nagoya, Japan, and “Father of the Bride: The Sounds of Snow,” Mainichi Broadcasting System Inc., Osaka, Japan
The overall competition recognized competitors with 20 First Place Gold Camera statuettes, 28 Silver Screen Awards, 60 Certificates for Creative Excellence and four Student Awards. Twenty-three countries produced winners in this 42nd annual competition, which drew more than 1,100 participating entries from 29 countries.
Full details on winners are posted at www.filmfestawards.com.