UFFyc Announces 2015 Awards
The Underexposed Film Festival yc announced the jury prizes on Saturday, November 7, 2015. The awards were presented at a ceremony immediately following the final block of films screened at the Community Performance Center located in Rock Hill, SC. The 2015 program was comprised of 38 juried short films, selected from 200 submissions, and 20 Director’s Choice films, curated by Festival Director Karen Collins. The jurors for the 2015 UFFyc were Steve Childs, Michael Cusack, Joanna Davidovitch, Karen Keyes, Michael Rivers, Dr. Karen Stock, Frederick Taylor, Chris White, and Dr. David Wohl.
The Underexposed Film Festival yc presented ten awards in 2015 - the Grand Jury Prize; the best of each category – animation, documentary, experimental, and narrative; Cinema Carolina - awarded to the best independent film made in North or South Carolina, regardless of category, content, or subject; Woman to Watch (best female director); Best Student Film; and the Terry Roueche Audience Choice Award. The Cotton Alley Award, sponsored by Founders Federal Credit Union, is an honorary award, recognizing a filmmaker’s achievements and commitment to the art of independent filmmaking.
Cotton Alley Award
Sponsored by Founders Federal Credit Union
PATRICK FUGIT
The Cotton Alley Award was presented to Patrick Fugit for his achievements and commitment to the art of the independent film throughout his career.
At 16, he made his Hollywood movie debut in the 2000 coming-of-age tale, Almost Famous. Discovered in an international casting search, Patrick became widely known for playing the lead role of William Miller. Already a classic, Almost Famous is touted as one of the 10 best movies of the decade from 2000-2010.
Over following years, Patrick amassed a number of credits in both studio and independent films, including White Oleander, Saved!, Wristcutters, A Love Story, We Bought A Zoo, Thanks For Sharing, Gone Girl, The Strongest Man, The List, and Queen of Earth. His dedication to independent film is not limited to features. Patrick’s commitment to the independent short film can be seen in You’re a Natural, A Night with Little Richard, Isip the Warrior, and Rita Mahtoubian is Not a Terrorist, which screened at the 2015 Underexposed Film Festival yc. The feature version of Rita Mahtoubian is Not a Terrorist is in the final rounds of consideration for the Sundance Creative Producing Lab.
His current project is by the creators of The Walking Dead. Fugit stars as the lead role in Outcast, for Cinemax. Production has caused quite a stir in York County, SC over the past year, where the production has turned historic downtown York into Rome, WV. They have also been seen filming in neighborhoods and on roads in Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Chester, SC and Charlotte, NC. Outcast is set to premiere in 2016.
Grand Jury Award
the birch grove
Experimental | 2015 | 20 minutes 11 seconds
Country: USA
Director: Gabrielle Lansner
Assistant Director: Oni Brown
Executive Producer: Dean Taucher
Producers: Gabrielle Lansner, Roweena Mackay
Co-producer: Darcy Trunzo
Writer: Ellen McLaughlin
Cast: Lonnie Poupard, Jr., Matt Reeves, Colette Krogol, Hannah Tamminen, Hela Glaever
[Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner | Cinedans | Newport Beach Film Festival | San Francisco Dance Film Festival]
Caught between love and death, two brothers wrestle with their past in a dance towards reconciliation. A poetic film about the power of family ties, inspired by the novella of the same name by the Polish author, Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz. more info
Best Animated Film
The Lost Mariner
Animation | 2014 | 5 minutes 45 seconds
Country: Netherlands
Director: Tess Martin
Producers: Warren Etheredge, Brad Hutchinson
Cast: Ruud Aarden, Hank Botwinik, Kieran Dolan, Tjeerd Knoop, Jeff Hoyt
[Seattle Shorts Film Festival | Netherlands Film Festival | Raindance Film Festival | Massachusetts Independent Film Festial | Chain NYC Film Festival | Filmadrid | Seattle International Film Festival | Sunscreen International Film Festival | Fete de l'Anim]
What sort of self is left when you've lost the greater part of your past, and your moorings in time? This animated short uses photographs and cut-outs to describe the life of Jimmie, an ex-Navy man afflicted with a rare neurological disorder. Jimmie experiences life in minutes-long segments, unable to form new memories since his affliction, which also erased his previous two decades of memory. Based on the chapter The Lost Mariner, in Dr. Oliver Sacks' book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. more info
Best Documentary Film
Sponsored by Dr. Susan Collins, DDS
Romanian
Documentary | 2014 | 23:51 minutes
Country: Romania
Director: Artur Boruzs
Producer: Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography
Writer: Artur Boruzs
Cast: Dr. Constantin Lupu
[Pakistan International Mountain Film Festival | US International Film & Video Festival | Student Art Film Festival | Mexico International Film Festival | San Francisco Film Awards | Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015 | EuroSpeleo Image'In Film Festival | Cinemaiubit International Student Film Festival]
A project, born as a solution to the contemporary existential dystopia, whose finality is consisted mostly often in neuro-psychic disorders, brings to life the myth of the cave, not only to the intercession’s initiator, as Plato suggested, but to all those who wish a moment of harmony. Thereby, the cave from Româneşti turns, from the primary place of culture’s origins, into a space of therapy through art. more info
Best Experimental Film
the birch grove
Experimental | 2015 | 20 minutes 11 seconds
Country: USA
Director: Gabrielle Lansner
Assistant Director: Oni Brown
Executive Producer: Dean Taucher
Producers: Gabrielle Lansner, Roweena Mackay
Co-producer: Darcy Trunzo
Writer: Ellen McLaughlin
Cast: Lonnie Poupard, Jr., Matt Reeves, Colette Krogol, Hannah Tamminen, Hela Glaever
[Festival de Cannes Short Film Corner | Cinedans | Newport Beach Film Festival | San Francisco Dance Film Festival]
Caught between love and death, two brothers wrestle with their past in a dance towards reconciliation. A poetic film about the power of family ties, inspired by the novella of the same name by the Polish author, Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz. more info
Best Narrative Film
Sponsored by Dixie Exterminating Company
Une Libération
Narrative | 2015 | 15 minutes 59 seconds
Country: USA
Director: Brian James Crewe
Producers: Hugh Aodh O'Brien, Brian James Crewe
Writer: Marion Kerr
Cast: Ross Marquand, Marion Kerr, Matthew Temple, Mark Jäger
[HollyShorts Film Festival | Newport Beach Film Festival | Sunscreen Film Festival | Worldfest Houston | The Indie Fest Film Awards | Skyline Film Fest | Flyway Film Fest | Santa Monica Independent Film Festival | Geneva Film Festival | Tallgrass Film Festival]
On the eve of the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation during World War Two, Juliet, an American resistance member, risks her life descending into the city's underground tunnels to deliver a secret message to fellow fighter Jean. However, a final deadly encounter with a pair of German deserters threatens to destroy the very thing she's been fighting for. more info
Cinema Carolina
Sponsored by Dr. Susan Collins, DDS
Awarded to the best independent film made in North or South Carolina, regardless of category, content, or subject. At least 75% of the principal photography must have taken place in North or South Carolina to be eligible for this award.
The Gospel of Hip Bones
Narrative | 2015 | 12 minutes 10 seconds
Country: USA
Directors: Micah Troublefield, Chris Gervais
Producer: Tim Grant
Writers: Chris Gervais, Micah Troublefield
Cast: Ernest Hinnant, Benjamin Caswell, Erika Chase
[Skyline Indie Film Fest | Indie Grits | Charlotte Film Festival | Orlando Film Festival]
A Mormon teen's reality is called into question when he meets a girl in a bikini and falls in love. more info
Woman to Watch
Sponsored by the Arts Community Service Program of the Woman’s Club of Rock Hill, SC and an Affiliate of GFWC. Awarded to the best female director. Twenty films directed by women were eligible for the 2015 Woman to Watch award.
ANNA MUSSO
Anna Musso, a native of Jefferson Park, Chicago, earned a BFA in Film Directing from New York’s School of Visual Arts. She extends her education working under her mentor, Alexander Payne. In New York, she was a member of The National Board of Review and a videographer for The Actors Studio. L TRAIN, her first solo directorial work, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was the recipient of the Women in Film Award. L TRAIN went on to screen in festivals around the world, including the Underexposed Film Festival yc, and was awarded The Chicago International Film Festival’s Chicago Award and The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Oscar qualifying Bruce Corwin Award. She lives in Los Angeles and aspires to experience the world with a film camera.
Run Fast
Narrative | 2014 | 21 minutes 52 seconds
Country: USA
Director: Anna Musso
Producer: Adam Wagner
Executive Producer: Alexander Payne
Writer: Anna Musso
Cast: Robert Forster, Yetide Badaki
[Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Palm Springs Shorts Fest | Aspen ShortFest | Montreal International Black Film Fest]
Vivian is a young Kenyan runner who travels to Los Angeles to compete in her first professional marathon. Her sponsor, Peter, an aging former runner, is thrilled to see his long-shot prospect demonstrate true potential in her first race. But when he eagerly prepares to take their partnership to the next level, Vivian confronts him with the realities awaiting her back in Kenya. more info
Best Student Film
Ten films directed by students were eligible for the 2015 Best Student Film award. The youngest student filmmaker was 12 years old.
father
Narrative | 2014 | 24 minutes 00 seconds
Country: USA
Director: Hanna Västinsalo
Producer: Hana Kazim
Writer: Hanna Västinsalo
Cast: Talyan Wright, Craig Bachmann, Alisha Seaton, Logan Kishi
[Humphrey Bogart Film Festival | Festival Internacional de Cine Contracorriente]
It’s grandfather’s funeral. A young girl tries to say goodbye to her grandfather, come to terms with her father’s lack of faith in life after death and find a way to choose love here and now. more info
Terry Roueche Audience Choice Award
Voted for by those in attendance
I’ve Just Had a Dream
Narrative | 2013 | 7:25 minutes
Country | Spain
Director | Javier Navarro
Producer | Javier Navarro
Writer | Javier Navarro
Cast | Andrea Mas, Estela del Carmen
[Il Festival Cortos Tomares | X Festival Boadilla Del Monte | Kimera International Film Festival | The Indie Fest | Festival Luna De Cortos | Bovino Independent Short Film Festival | International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration and Equality]
Irene is eight and she just woke up from a horrible dream. more info
The 2015 Underexposed Film Festival yc took place over November 4 – 7, 2015 at the Community Performance Center, Amélie’s Uncorked, and Dina’s Place at Winthrop University’s DiGiorgio Student Center. More than thirty-five filmmakers were in attendance including Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous, Saved!, Gone Girl), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Independence Day), Wrenn Schmidt (Outcast, Boardwalk Empire), Devin McGee (One Tree Hill), Meredith Jackson (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water), Gabrielle Lansner (the birch grove), James Bell (Polybius), Roja Gashtili (Rita Mahtoubian is Not a Terrorist), Elizabeth Stratton (Polybius), Brian James Crewe (Une Libération), Terry Davis (COLORS: Bangin’ in South Carolina), Anil Dhokai (Pulse of the City), Liv Dubendorf (The Hollerin’ Contest at Spivey’s Corner, NC), Emma Peñaz Eisner (Will I Scatter Away?), Jamie Forsman (Une Libération), Roja Gashtili (Rita Mahtoubian is Not a Terrorist), Brian Gersten (The Hollerin’ Contest at Spivey’s Corner, NC), Jonathan Landau (Pushing Buttons), Marty Landau (Pushing Buttons), Julia Lerman (Rita Mahtoubian is Not a Terrorist), Christopher Neville (Playing Yesterday Today), Micah Troublefield (The Gospel of Hip Bones), as well as several members of the cast and crew from Outcast, the new Cinemax show by the creators of The Walking Dead.
Question and answer sessions were held after many of the blocks of films. These sessions were live-streamed on Periscope, and were available for 24-hours after the broadcast aired.
Directed by Karen Collins, the Underexposed Film Festival yc is produced by the Arts Council of York County, and is sponsored by the City of Rock Hill; Groucho’s Deli of Rock Hill; Amélie’s French Bakery & Café; Carolina Fresh Farms; Dr. Susan Collins, DDS; Founders Federal Credit Union; Wells Fargo; Winthrop University; York Technical College; Country Inn & Suites by Carlson; Courtroom at the Gettys; Dixie Exterminating Company; RiverSystems I.T. Consulting; Sharp Business Systems; Springs Creative; Yi Wok Asian Bistro; Anonymous; B & B Distributors; Gala Affairs; Karen McAlister
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