UFFyc Announces 2013 Awards

The Underexposed Film Festival YC took place Thursday, November 14th through Saturday, November 16th at the Community Performance Center, showcasing 39 films accepted into competition and 17 films curated by Karen Collins. The juried competition was open to independent filmmakers of all levels, and featured narrative, documentary, animated and experimental films running forty-five minutes or less. The winners of the 2013 Underexposed Film Festival were announced at an award ceremony that immediately followed the final screening on Saturday, November 16, 2103 at the Community Performance Center, 249 East Main Street, Rock Hill, SC. A panel of six judges from the film industry and academia selected the 39 films to be presented in the juried competition. Cash prizes totaling $1,950 were awarded. In addition to first, second, and third place and audience choice awards, new categories were introduced recognizing the best female director and best student film. The winners of the 2013 Underexposed Film Festival YC are:

Exposed, best in show: SLEIGHT OF HAND | Animation | 2012 | 10:00 minutes Country: Australia Director: Michael Cusack A set of techniques used by someone to manipulate objects secretly to deceive. This is a stop-animation film about illusions. A Man yearns to know his place in the world and how he fits in, when sometimes it's better not to know. In The Limelight, 2nd place AFTER THE FALL: HIV Grows Up | Documentary | 2012 | 41:00 minutes Country: USA/Romania Director: Fr3deR1cK Taylor Cast: Eric Sheffer Stevens As communism fell in 1989, Romania was gripped with an epidemic of pediatric AIDS in its hospitals and institutions. A look back with those who were on the front line, and a look forward at the hopes and challenges for those who, against all odds, are growing into independent young adults. Award sponsored by Dr. Susan Collins, DDS Out of the Shadows, 3rd place: PRAYERS FOR PEACE | Animation | 2009 | 7:38 minutes Country: USA Director: Dustin Grella Cast: Devin Grella, Dustin Grella Pastels on a slate chalkboard underscore life's impermanence as the artist confronts the memory of his younger brother killed in Iraq. Award sponsored by Sprint – Crown Pointe Ln., Rock Hill, SC Terry Roueche Audience Choice Award GARBAGE GIRL IN DAILY CONSUMPTION | Experimental | 2013 | 5:12 minutes Country: USA Director: Christopher Nostrand Cast: Daniela Florez (World Premiere) Garbage Girl is a take on our daily consumption of waste. Instead of throwing away her trash, Garbage Girl wears it externally to give us a glimpse of the garbage we individually process every day. Woman to Watch, Best Female Director: I IS ANOTHER | Documentary | 2012 | 40:00 minutes Country: USA Director: Kelly Donnellan Cast: Kelly Donnellan I is Another chronicles a 6-year period of Kelly Donnellan’s life, focusing on her struggles with agoraphobia. Confronting her fears, Donnellan films herself as she tackles the outside world, and at times, watches the world win. Award sponsored by the Arts Community Service Program of the Woman’s Club of Rock Hill, SC and an affiliate of GFWC. Best Student Film: YELLOW FEVER | Experimental/Documentary | 2012 | 7:00 minutes Country: United Kingdom/Kenya Director: Ng’endo Mukil Cast: Chipo Kureya, Margaret Njeri Mereka, Sam Nokuzola Moyo, Abriana Njeri, Fumy Opeyemi The idea of beauty has become globalized, creating homogenous aspirations, and distorting people’s self-image across the planet. A study of the concept of skin and race in the ideas and theories sown into our flesh that change with the arc of time, Yellow Fever focuses on African women’s self-image, through memories and interviews; using mixed media to describe this almost schizophrenic self-visualization the filmmaker and many others have grown up with. Award sponsored by the Arts Community Service Program of the Woman’s Club of Rock Hill, SC and an affiliate of GFWC. The winning movie, Sleight of Hand, is a very personal project for filmmaker Michael Cusack, created over a year’s time as a love poem to stop-motion animation, an art he has been working on for more than thirty years. An exploration of our concepts of free will, Sleight of Hand evokes the past in its look and style, while asking timeless questions of life, destiny, and fate. For ten years, artist, photographer, and filmmaker, Terry Roueche worked to bring a film festival to York County, SC. In 2012, the Arts Council of York County obliged. In recognition of his efforts, the Everyone Loved It, audience choice award, has been renamed in his honor – the Terry Roueche Audience Choice Award. The Underexposed Film Festival YC was sponsored by Groucho’s Deli of Rock Hill, Carolina Fresh Farms, Dr. Susan Collins, DDS, the Arts Community Service Program of the Woman’s Club of Rock Hill, SC and an Affiliate of GFWC, Sharp Business Systems, Sprint – Crown Pointe Lane, Rock Hill, and Wingate Hotel.