(left to right) Aubin Peterson, Mike Peterson, Jason Crawford (BROTHERHOOD), Rachel Hicks (AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY), Andre Jones (MR. OKRA), Mark Landsman (THUNDER SOUL), Amy Grappell (QUADRANGLE), Ryan O'Nan (THE DRY LAND), Emilia Mello (WASTE LAND), Jason Berman (THE DRY LAND), Michael Nash (CLIMATE REFUGEES)
2010 DALLAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS
“THE DRY LAND” RECEIVES THE $25,000 TARGET FILMMAKER AWARD
FOR BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
“WASTE LAND” RECEIVES THE $25,000 TARGET FILMMAKER AWARD
FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY” RECEIVES $20,000 IN CASH, GOODS AND SERVICES FOR THE MPS STUDIOS TEXAS FILMMAKER AWARD
“CLIMATE REFUGEES” RECEIVES THE ENVIRONMENTAL VISIONS AWARD
“QUADRANGLE”, “PROCESSION” AND “RUNAWAY”
ARE NAMED WINNERS
FOR BEST SHORT FILM, STUDENT SHORT AND ANIMATED SHORT
AND
AUDIENCE AWARDS GO TO “BROTHERHOOD” FOR NARRATIVE FEATURE, “THUNDER SOUL” FOR DOCUMENTARY AND “MR. OKRA” FOR SHORT
DALLAS, TX, April 16, 2010 – At the first “Dallas Film Society Honors” presented by the Gail L. and Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation awards event in the four-year history of the DALLAS International Film Festival, Ryan Piers Williams’ THE DRY LAND was announced as the winner of the unrestricted $25,000 cash prize for the Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative Feature and Lucy Walker’s WASTE LAND received the unrestricted $25,000 cash prize for the Target Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The Documentary competition jury also gave a Special Jury Prize to Michael Pertnoy’s and Michael Kleiman’s THE LAST SURVIVOR and a Special Mention for Editing (for Claire Didier’s work on the film) to Mark Landsman’s THUNDER SOUL.
DALLAS Star Award recipient John Lee Hancock (THE BLIND SIDE) made the presentation of the Target Filmmaker Awards during an evening that also included the presentations of the DALLAS Star Awards to Academy Award nominated director Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE) and cinematographer Wally Pfister (BATMAN BEGINS, THE PRESTIGE, THE DARK KNIGHT), as well as the Texas Avery Animation Award to Pete Docter (UP).
Hancock’s award was presented by “Prison Break” producer Garry Brown, Darabont received his award from longtime Dallas area film critic Philip Wuntsch, and Pfister’s DALLAS Star Award has handed to him by longtime friend and Dallas Film Society Chairman Michael Cain. Docter was introduced by REEL FX Entertainment’s Animation Director Bryan Engram.
Dallas Film Society Executive Director Tanya Foster said, “The Dallas Film Society Honors” event was created to provide an exciting and glamorous event honoring our filmmakers to match the presentation and reverence shown them and their films throughout the festival. We are very fortunate that the Gail L. and Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation joined the DFS family and provided us with the means to put on the kind of show that this film festival and frankly, Dallas are known for.”
Matt Harlock’s and Paul Thomas’ AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY was the recipient of MPS Studios’ Texas Filmmaker Award and $20,000 in cash, goods and services. Robert Byington’s HARMONY AND ME received a Special Jury Prize. The presentation was made by MPS Studios’ Meredith Stephens with Bill Hicks’ niece Rachel Hicks on hand to accept the award.
Amy Grappell’s QUADRANGLE won the award for Best Short. Special Jury Prizes went to David Call’s B.U.S.T., Chris Teague’s MONKEYWRENCH and Kelly Sears’ VOICE ON THE LINE. Daniel Elliot’s JADE received a Special Mention for Acting for Aisling Loftus’ performance in the film. The award for Best Student Short went to Beth Spitalny’s PROCESSION. Shorts jurors Jon Korn and Kaz Radwanski presented the awards. Reel FX ENTERTAINMENT XXChief Operating Officer Kyle Clark presented the award for Best Animated Short to Cordell Barker’s RUNAWAY.
Will Cannon’s BROTHERHOOD won the Audience Award for Best Narrative, while Mark Landsman’s THUNDER SOUL won for Best Documentary and T.G. HERRINGTON’s MR. OKRA won the Audience Award for Best Short. DALLAS IFF Artistic Director James Faust and Senior Programmer Sarah Harris presented the awards.
The winners of the jury prizes for Best Short, Best Student Short and the Audience Awards each receive production and scheduling software from Entertainment Partners.
Introduced by TXU Energy’s Chief Marketing Officer Michael Grasso, Lou Diamond Phillips (whose film TRANSPARENCY will premiere at the Film Festival tomorrow) presented the prizes for the TXU Energy Fast Forward Video Contest. Alex Nelson’s, Drew Mowrey’s and Zach Zador’s film LIGHTS OFF won the $7500 award for Garland High School, Michael Nowak’s THE EFFECT OF ONE took the $2500 prize for Richardson High School and Ladon Ghannadpour’s and Brandon Cantrell’s ENER G’Z: PSA won the $1500 award for Garland High School.
DALLAS IFF Artistic Director James Faust said, “We enjoyed a thrilling film festival with amazingly talented filmmakers and so many exceptional films that our audiences in more than a few cases happily found seats in the aisles so they wouldn’t miss out on any of it. And the competitions were just as spirited. It’s a lot of fun giving a film fest jury a challenge to choose one great film over several other great films”
Michael Cain, DALLAS Film Society Chairman, added “We understood very well going into this year that the eyes of the city of Dallas, the film festival community across the country and the international film community would be on us as we and Dallas took true ownership of this film festival. So, it could not be more gratifying to once again deliver the programming, peerless presentation and hospitality that have built our reputation on from year one.”
JURY AWARDS:
TARGET NARRATIVE FEATURE: THE DRY LAND
DIR: Ryan Piers Williams (USA)
Cast: America Ferrera, Ryan O’Nan, Wilmer Valderrama, Jason Ritter, Ethan Suplee, Melissa Leo
TARGET DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: WASTE LAND
DIR: Lucy Walker (Brazil/UK)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: THE LAST SURVIVOR
DIR: Michael Pertnoy, Michael Kleiman (USA)
SPECIAL MENTION, EDITING: THUNDER SOUL (for Claire Didier)
DIR: Mark Landsman (USA)
MPS STUDIOS TEXAS FILMMAKER AWARD: AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
DIR: Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas (UK)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: HARMONY AND ME
DIR: Robert Byington (USA)
ENVIRONMENTAL VISIONS FILMMAKER AWARD: CLIMATE REFUGEES
DIR: Michael Nash (USA)
SHORT: QUADRANGLE
DIR: Amy Grappell (USA)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: B.U.S.T.
DIR: DAVID CALL (USA)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: MONKEYWRENCH
DIR: Chris Teague (USA)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: VOICE ON THE LINE
DIR: Kelly Sears (USA)
SPECIAL MENTION, ACTING: JADE (for Aisling Loftus)
DIR: Daniel Elliot (UK)
STUDENT SHORT: PROCESSION
DIR: Beth Spitalny (USA)
SPECIAL MENTION: YOUNG LOVE
DIR: Ariel Kleiman (Australia)
ANIMATED SHORT: RUNAWAY
DIR: Cordell Barker (Canada)
AUDIENCE AWARDS:
NARRATIVE: BROTHERHOOD
DIR: Will Canon (USA)
Cast: Jon Foster, Trevor Morgan, Lou Taylor Pucci
DOCUMENTARY: THUNDER SOUL
DIR: Mark Landsman (USA)
SHORT: MR. OKRA
DIR: T.G. Herrington (USA)
TXU FAST FORWARD VIDEO CONTEST WINNERS:
$7500 prize winner – LIGHTS OFF
DIRS: Alex Nelson, Drew Mowrey, Zach Zador (Garland High School)
$2500 prize winner - THE EFFECT OF ONE
DIR: Michael Nowak (Richardson High School)
$1500 prize winner – ENER G’Z
DIRS: Ladon Ghannadpour, Brandon Cantrell (Garland High School)
2010 DALLAS IFF JURY MEMBERS:
Narrative Feature JURY includes:
Christian Gaines
Christian Gaines is the director of Film Festival Strategy, Data Syndication, and Business Development for IMDB.
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson is a film critic and contributing writer for such publications and outlets as Daily Variety and Indie Wire.
Documentary Feature JURY includes:
Britta Erickson
Britta Erickson is the Festival Director for the Starz Denver Film Festival. She also produced the documentary CONVENTION.
Paul Saltzman
Paul Saltzman directed and produced last year’s Target Documentary Filmmaker Award winner PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI.
Heidi Van Lier
Heidi Van Lier is a progremmer for the Slamdance Film Festival. She also directed CHI GIRL and is the author of The Indie Film Rule Book.
MPS STUDIOS TEXAS COMPETITION JURY includes:
David Lowery
David Lowery wrote, directed and produced last year’s MPS Studios Texas Competition winner ST. NICK.
Orian Williams
Orian Williams produced CONTROL and SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE.
Chris Holland
Chris Holland is the Director of Festival Operations, IFP.
ENVIRONMENTAL VISIONS COMPETITION JURY includes:
Anna Clark
Anna Clark is the author of Green, American Style. She is also the President of Earth People.
Dr. Troy Stuckey
Dr. Troy Stuckey is the Research Associate Professor of Earth Science, SMU.
Kristen Sudelia
Kristen Sudelia is the Eco Advocate for Hotel Palomar.
Short COMPETITION JURY includes:
Jon Korn
Jon Korn is a Shorts Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival.
Kaz Radwanski
Kaz Radwanski directed last year’s Shorts Grand Jury Prize winner, PRINCESS MARGARET BLVD.
Student COMPETITION JURY includes:
Khary Jones
Khary Jones directed last year’s Student Shorts Competition Grand Jury Prize winner, HUG.
David Whillock
David Whillock is the Dean of College of Communication, TCU and Professor of Television and Digital Media, TCU.
Animation COMPETITION JURY includes:
Reel FX Entertainment
Reel FX Creative Studios, founded in 1993, is an award-winning creative studio where accomplished artists and preeminent technology converge to produce extraordinary creative solutions. Their services include visual effects, animation, design and creative editorial.
DALLAS IFF kicked off with a groundbreaking Opening Night Gala presentation, taking over all eight screens of the Angelika Film Center that showcased multiple films highlighting the great diversity (narrative, documentary, Texas made, classic Mexican cinema, shorts, etc.) within the program this year. Honorary Chairs Mayor Tom Leppert and Laura Leppert along with festival guest Bill Paxton welcomed 1,600 Dallas filmgoers to the festivities that featured films including BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK, MULTIPLE SARCASMS, NOSOTROS LOS POBRES, SKATELAND and a special Shorts block.
Highlights included a nod to the Mexican Bicentennial that included a special programming block, a posthumous DALLAS Star Award (designed from Steuben Crystal, courtesy of Neiman Marcus) presentation to Pedro Infante as well as a presentation of the DALLAS Star Award to Guillermo Arriaga following a screening of his film THE BURNING PLAIN at the Landmark Magnolia and a special “Conversation with…” at the Latino Cultural Center. Other film artists participating in programmed “conversations” included Karen Black (with Women In Film.Dallas at the DALLAS IFF Filmmaker Lounge at Hotel Palomar) and John Lee Hancock following the presentation of his DALLAS Star Award at the Angelica Film Center. Amber Heard received the Film Festival’s inaugural DALLAS Shining Star Award prior to the screening of her film, THE JONESES at the Angelica Film Center.
The festival also featured Talk/Show panels presented by The Studios at Las Colinas at the Nasher Sculpture Center with participants including producer Doug Mankoff (THE JONESES), SenArt’s Jeff Lipsky, WMA/Endeavor’s Mark Ankner, Doug Jones (HELLBOY, PAN’S LABYRINTH), SFX masters Neville Page and Rob Hall, director Tim McCanlies, author Will Clarke, and musician Bubba Kadane (Bedhead) and Filmmaker Speakeasy panels presented by TXMPA at Central 214 with participants including producer Garry Brown (“Prison Break”), IMDB’s Christian Gaines, Slamdance programmer and filmmaker (CHI GIRL) Heidi Van Lier and Justin Hilliard (THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE).
The festival will close with DALLAS IFF with encore presentations of award winners and sold-out screenings on Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 at Studio Movie Grill Dallas at Royal Lane and 75 (11170 N. Central Expressway).
Other notable attendees at this year’s DALLAS International Film Festival included America Ferrera, Amanda Seyfried, Wilmer Valderrama, Shiloh Fernandez, Heath Freeman, Kelly Monaco, Barry Corbin, Zach Gilford, Kathleen Quinlan, William Devane, Jon Foster, Lou Taylor Pucci, Trevor Morgan, Adrienne King, Glenn Morshower, James Keach, Drew Waters and Clint Howard.
Overall, the 2010 DALLAS International Film Festival showcased 62 features and 98 shorts for a total of 160 films from 25 countries.
THE DALLAS FILM SOCIETY
The Dallas Film Society celebrates films and their impact on society. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, The Dallas Film Society recognizes and honors filmmakers for their achievements in enhancing the creative community, provides educational programs to students to develop better understanding of the role of film in today's world, and promotes the City of Dallas and its commitment to the art of filmmaking. The annual DALLAS International Film Festival, to be held April 8 -18, 2010, is a presentation of The Dallas Film Society. In addition to producing one of the largest festivals in the Southwest, The Society produces numerous year round events, screening series and partnership programs with arts organizations around the city. For more information, visit www.dallasfilm.org
The Gail L. and Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation The Gail L. and Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation is a 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization created to assist the building and growth of other foundations through leadership, management, marketing, and public relations. Established by Dallas-area business leader and philanthropist Arthur E. Benjamin, the Foundation’s core focus is to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and animals, support young adults through educational efforts, and aid women in breast cancer recovery.
SPONSORS Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Airstar Space Lighting Texas, Barefoot Wine, Behringer Harvard, Brierley+Partners, BRILLIANT Magazine, CBS Radio, Central 214, Colibri Promotions, Convergenc Network Solutions, D Magazine, DART, Design Expediting Services Int., Deux, Digital 3 Printing, El Creative, e-Rewards, e-Miles, Faulkner Design Group, Hotel Palomar, Informate DFW Magazine, M3 Films, Match.com, Mockingbird Station, Modern Luxury Dallas, MODIA Home Theater Store, Movie Magic, MPS Studios Dallas, Neiman Marcus, Paul Paredes, Post Asylum, Pure Evil Music & Sound, REEL FX ENTERTAINMENT, The Residences at Palomar, Screen International, Southwest Airlines, Stella Artois, Stoli Vodka, Studio Movie Grill, Target, The Dallas Morning News, Time Warner Cable, The Container Store, TM Advertising, TXU Energy, Univision 23, vitaminwater, West Village, WFAA-TV, Whole Foods Market, World Affairs Council, WRR Classical 101.1 FM.
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