Films from Switzerland, the United States, Austria and Canada have taken top awards in the 2013 US International Film & Video Festival. Three received the Grand Prix-Best of Festival designation. The fourth was selected for the One World Award, which recognizes a production that fosters international cooperation and global understanding.rn rn”Sweet Tokyo,” produced by Seed Audio-Visual Communication AG, Zurich, for Confiseur Läderach AG, Ennenda, Switzerland, was chosen Best of Festival-Corporate. The production features Läderach chocolates representatives traveling to Japan on business, but the people they meet are not who they expected. That doesn’t stop them from showing the delights of the candies and providing humor for the viewer. Luki Frieden directed with Felix Courvosier as producer and Michael Saxer, director of photography. rnrnThe visually powerful “Hummingbirds-Jeweled Messengers” from Terra Mater Factual Studios and Free Spirit Films Production, Vienna, was selected Best of Festival – Documentary. It follows the 1,000-kilomenters journey of 14 million ruby-throated hummingbirds and was published by UK TV. The film was written and directed by Paul Reddish. Executive producer was Ivo Filatsch, and narrator was David Attenborough.rn rnBest of Festival – Entertainment went to “Stars,” produced by LLeju Productions in Houston and not yet released. The story line follows a young man on a drunken road trip during which he contemplates suicide until the adventure exposes him to the simple beauty of life. Director was Derek Borte and writer was Jim Janosky. Mark Kassen, Tom Bower, and Kathryn Hahn head the cast. rnrnThe One World Award, sponsored by the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ), went to “Counterfeit Culture,” a documentary on the $700-billion world of fake products, including counterfeit pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, car parts and microchips. The film was produced by Tell Tale Productions, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and shot on location in Canada, the USA, Asia and Europe. “Counterfeit Culture” challenges consumers to take a deeper look at what appear to be harmless knock-offs at bargain prices. Film director was Halifax-based Geoff D’Eon.rnrn
rnrnOther nominees in the Corporate category were “Glorious Stockholm,” from the Stockholm Visitors Board AB, Sweden; “Energy from the Sun,” featuring EnergiMidt technology, produced by LeadIT Aps, Odense, Denmark; and, Cayman TVC “Exciting,” created for Porsche Cayman by Kemper Kommunikation GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany.rn rnCompetitors in Documentary included “Od zrna do slike/From Grain to Painting,” the story of female straw artists in the north of today’s Vojvodina, directed by Branko Istvancic for HRT, Zagreb; “Road of Death,” an exploration of drought in Somalia by freelance director Sofia De Fay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; “Operation Gold-The Spytunnel Beneath Berlin,” from Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne, Germany; “Hong Kong Connection: Reform of NGOs in China,” Radio Television Hong Kong, Hong Kong; and, “Grandma’s Eternal Forest,” the story of an 87-year old Japanese woman who practices sustainable agriculture in harmony with nature, from NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.), Tokyo.rn rnEntertainment contenders included “The Locked Room Murders, Ep. #2,” Fuji Television, Tokyo, Japan, and “Autumn at
