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Local Focus 4 - Report and ResultsDear friends and sponsors of the 2011 Local Focus 4 Film Festival, We want to thank you, as members of the audience and as filmmakers, for helping to make the latest installment of our annual Local Focus film festival a success! Local Focus is a community-driven film festival that is geared towards celebrating the talents of local filmmakers, in which 39 films were screened over the course of five nights. This festival is produced through the initiative of the Multicultural Cinema Club, and it provides artists with the opportunity to have their films seen on the big screen, and to have their voices heard by members of the Kitchener-Waterloo region and beyond. We want to ensure that the opportunity for both aspiring and practiced filmmakers to access the tools necessary to create their art, and to have it viewed by the public remains alive, and it is because of your continued support that such goals are made possible. We are pleased to report that a total of 476 people attended the festival this year. We wish to thank Ontario Arts Council and Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, who provided funds for this year’s Local Focus 4 film festival. We were able to obtain a total of $8000 in funding from these generous sources, and we are proud to reveal that $3000 were given directly to the filmmakers as artist’s fees. The remaining $5000 was put towards festival expenses. The valuable sponsors of Local Focus whom we wish to thank are:
In addition, we need to thank all of the volunteers who donated their time to help make this festival run smoothly. Awards for the festival were presented from four different sources this year, including a specialty award on behalf of the Waterloo Region Museum, an award courtesy of Media Producers Group of Ontario presented to the winner of the 24 Hour Film Challenge, as well as Jury Awards and People’s Choice Awards. The 24-Hour Film Challenge AwardThe 24-Hour Film Challenge calls upon teams of filmmakers to conceptualize, create, and edit a film within a time span of one day. Each team is required to make use of a certain prop, theme, or location in their final film. The 24¬Hour Film Challenge is an annual tradition within the Local Focus festival and this year, five teams attempted the challenge, with four of the five succeeding in completing their project on time. Those four competed for the prize in this category. The award for this competition is sponsored by MPGO (the Media Producers Group of Ontario) and MCC. The winning team received $150 from MPGO, along with a $200 HD Equipment Rental Package, and a one year membership at MCC. The winner of the 24-Hour Film Challenge Award is: Waterloo Region Museum AwardThis award recognized the best film from any festival category with subject matter that reflects and/or touches either the past, present or future of Waterloo region in any way. The winner received $200 and the Waterloo Region Museum Award. The winner of the Waterloo Region Museum Award is: "Je M'appelle Julia" by Julia Gogoleva Jury AwardsThe members of this year’s jury included professionals from all sectors of the arts. For their insights and opinions on the films selected as winners in this year’s festival, we would like to thank:
The jury judged each film based upon elements of cinematography, sound, editing/continuity, quality of the stories and scripts, quality of acting, and the credibility with which the subject matter was depicted. Jury Award for Best Youth DirectorThe winner in this category received a framed certificate, $250 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club. The three nominees in this category were: "Case Study" by Torin Langen, "Je M'appelle Julia" by Julia Gogoleva, and "Life of Logan" by Brodie Cairns. The winner of this award is: "Case Study" by Torin Langen Jury Award for Best Music VideoThe winner in this category received a framed certificate, a well as $150 in credits for HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The three nominees in this category were: "Go Home & Dream" by Jon Lucas & Tallen Kay, "Strong Enough" by Brad Schinkel, and "Crawdaddy" by Brad Schinkel The winner of this award is: "Strong Enough" by Brad Schinkel Jury Award for Best Animated FilmThe winner in this category received a framed certificate, $250 in credits for HD Equipment Package, as well as a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The two nominees in this category were: "Polluted" by Dik Lee and "Chronicles of a Shirtless Vampire" by Struan Sutherland The winner of this award is: "Chronicles of a Shirtless Vampire" by Struan Sutherland Jury Award for Best Short DocumentaryThe winner in this category received a framed certificate, $300 in credits for HD Equipment Package, as well as a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The three nominees in this category were: "Return to Africa" by Paul Campsall, "A Symphony of Design" by Paul Campsall, and "Just Us" by Barbra Chrysler. The winner of this award is: "A Symphony of Design" by Paul Campsall Jury Award for Best Short FilmThe winner in this category will received a framed certificate, $300 in credits for an HD Equipment Package and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The three nominees in this category were: "Queen of The Highway" by Brad Schinkel, "Serra" by James Golden, and "DELIVERIES" by James Anthony Usas. The winner of this award is: "DELIVERIES" by James Anthony Usas Jury Award for Best Feature DocumentaryThe winner in this category will receive a framed certificate, $600 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, as well as a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The three nominees in this category were: "Matices, 'Temporary' Migration in Canada" by Aaraón Díaz Mendiburo, "Count Us In" By Azam Fouk Aladeh, and "Aakideh: The Art & Legacy of Carl Beam" by Paul Eichhorn & Robert Waldeck The winner of this award is: "Aakideh: The Art & Legacy of Carl Beam" by Paul Eichhorn & Robert Waldeck Jury Award for Best Feature FilmThe winner of the Feature film category received a framed certificate, $800 in credits for an HD Equipment Package as well as a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). Although there was only one accepted submission in this category this year, the jury gave this film an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars, an excellent rating. The winner in this category is: "Dead Genesis" by Reese Evenshen Jury AwardThe recipient of this award was the overall favourite of each member of the jury. They will receive $500 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC), and a beautiful trophy that was handcrafted by a local artist. The Jury voted for the short documentary film trilogy "Ribbons of Green" by Dragan Doric People's Choice AwardsThroughout the course of the festival, we asked the members of the audience to rate all of the films they viewed using the five-star rating system. The film that received the highest average amount of the stellar five-star rating received the People’s Choice Award for their respective category. People’s Choice Award for Best Youth DirectorThe winner in this category will get a certificate, $200 credits for HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The films that received the highest rating in this category are: "Roses Are Red" by Zack Ramelan, "Life of Logan" by Brodie Cairns, and "Penguin" by Connor Barnett. The winner of this award is: "Life of Logan" by Brodie Cairns People’s Choice Award for Best Music VideoThe winner in this category will get a certificate, $200 credits for HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The highest voted films within this category are: "Go Home & Dream" by Jon Lucas & Tallen Kay, "Strong Enough" by Brad Schinkel, and "Zap Zap" by Spencer Osborne & Nick Montgomery. The winner of this award is: "Go Home & Dream" by Jon Lucas & Tallen Kay People’s Choice Award for Best Animated FilmThe winner in this category will get a certificate, $200 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The films that received the highest number of votes in this category were: "Polluted" by Dik Lee and "Chronicles of a Shirtless Vampire" by Struan Sutherland. The winner of this award is: "Chronicles of a Shirtless Vampire" by Struan Sutherland People’s Choice Award for Best Short DocumentaryThe winner in this category will receive a certificate, $300 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The films that received the highest votes in this category were: "Return to Africa" by Paul Campsall, "Ribbons of Green - The Woods" by Dragan Doric, and "Gerima" by Bezayit Menker & Mohammed Obaiullah. The winner of this award is: "Return to Africa" by Paul Campsall People’s Choice Award for Best Short FilmThe winner in this category will receive a framed certificate, $300 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The films that received the highest votes in this category were: "Stolen" by Michael Martins, "Too Low" by Peter Szabo, and "DELIVERIES" by James Anthony Usas. The winner of this award is: "DELIVERIES" by James Anthony Usas People’s Choice Award for Best Feature DocumentaryThe winner in this category will get a certificate, $600 credits for HD Equipment Package, and a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). The films with the highest votes in this category were: "Matices, 'Temporary' Migration in Canada" by Aaraón Díaz Mendiburo, "Count Us In" By Azam Fouk Aladeh, and "Aakideh: The Art & Legacy of Carl Beam" by Paul Eichhorn & Robert Waldeck. The winner of this award is: "Aakideh: The Art & Legacy of Carl Beam" by Paul Eichhorn & Robert Waldeck People’s Choice Award for Feature Film categoryThe winner in the Feature Film category receives a certificate, $800 in credits for an HD Equipment Package, as well as a One Year Membership at The Multicultural Cinema Club (MCC). Although there was only one accepted submission in this category, the audience voted very positively in favour of this film, allotting it an average rating of 4 stars. The winner of this award is: "Dead Genesis" by Reese Evenshen |
