The James River Film Festival recently announced the winners of this year’s Juried Shorts Competition. Fifty-three films were entered into the competition, from which nine finalist films were chosen. All finalist films were screened on Friday, March 19 as part of the James River Film Festival and the competition winners were announced afterwards by the judges. First, second and third prizes were awarded, as well as a Virginia Filmmaker Award and a People’s Choice Award. The juried competition was co-sponsored by the Virginia Production Alliance and the Virginia Film Office.
The first place prize of $700 was awarded to Apart by Richard Martin (Vancouver, BC). The second place prize of $500 was awarded to Twist of Fate by Karen Aqua (MA). The third place prize of $200 was given to two films which tied for the award, The Miracle by Jeffrey John Smith (IL) and Non-love Song by Erik Gernand (IL).
The Virginia Filmmaker Award went to J. Darin Wales from Virginia Beach for his film Plink, which was also an official selection of the 2010 Virginia Independent Film Festival. The People’s Choice Award went to Twist of Fate, the second place prize winner.
Complete list of this year’s finalists and winners:
* Richard Martin (Apart, 8 min.), 1st place, $700
* Karen Aqua (Twist of Fate, 9 min.), 2nd place $500, and People’s Choice Award $200
* Jeffrey Jon Smith (The Miracle, 29 min.), 3rd place tie $200
* Erik Gernand (Non-Love Song, 8 min.), 3rd place tie $200
* J. Darin Wales (Plink, 9 min.), Virginia Filmmaker Award $200
* David Ellsworth (Surface Kinetic, 14 min.)
* Dennis Iannuzzi (Vitruvius’ Toybox, 6 min.),
* Barton Landsman (Banana Bread, 9 min.),
* Hans Montelius (Mannen med kulorna, 15 min.),
The juried shorts competition is an integral part of the James River Film Festival, an annual festival celebrating independent film, video and animation. Each Spring the festival brings nationally and internationally-known independent filmmakers to Richmond to screen and discuss their work. Since 1994, the festival has staged more than 270 workshops, screenings, and seminars and has awarded over $28,000 to independent filmmakers.
For more information about the James River Film Festival and the Richmond Moving Image Co-op, visit http://www.rmicweb.org/index.html