WINNERS

MONTH OF DECEMBER

Ultimate Sacrifices

After a stellar high school career as a top marksman and leader in the JROTC program at San Diego High School, Jennifer Moreno, a warrior, nurse, and US Army captain, became a core member of the Cultural Support Team in Afghanistan. The joint, elite female squad took part in the most dangerous combat operations in war-torn Afghanistan while providing allied forces a means to communicate with the women of that country. Her mentor, battled buddy sister remember her life and legacy from an underprivileged background, her career in the military, to her sacrifice in the line of duty.

Best Documentary - Directed by Daniel Leonard Bernardi

The Gap Between Her Legs

The Gap Between Her Legs is an experimental story about love and loss. It takes place both inside the theatre, and the real world. Bulimic girl Bella Corriveau heists from Montreal to Vancouver, with the savings of her dad's bank account. Over a latte at a French cafe on Main, she starts a love affair with anorexic girl Ivanka Jiang, a Harvard Lawyer top honors graduate.

Best Emerging Filmmaker (Over 40min) - Betty Jiang

The Forgetting Device

A man begins to suspect that something strange and sinister is responsible for his recent memory loss.

"The Forgetting Device" stars Jarod Joseph one of the stars of the hit CW series "The 100". The film also features Anand Rajaram, from the hit PBS series "Odd Squad".

"The Forgetting Device" features an unforgettable original score composed by the CSA winning duo of Rob Carli and Kristjan Bergey ("Murdoch Mysteries" and "Frankie Drake Mysteries").

Best Screenplay (under 40min) - Chris Remerowski

The Breakdown.jpg

After being raped, a young woman is gaslighted by those closest to her.

Best Producer (Under 40min) - Clarence Williams IV, Christina Araujo-Williams & Dione Williams

Best Lead (Female) - Summer Marie Thomas

(Shared)

One Pint at a Time

Craft beer generates tens of billions of dollars annually for the US economy. Despite beer’s Egyptian and African heritage, these traditions have been mostly forgotten and are rarely found in American brewing culture. Today, Black-owned breweries make up less than 1% of the nearly 9,000 breweries in operation. Eager to shift the historical perception of who makes and drinks beer, Black brewers, brand owners and influencers across the country are reshaping the craft beer industry and the future of America’s favorite adult beverage.

Best Film on African Americans, natives & visible minorities - Directed by Aaron Hosé

Best Producer (Over 40min/ Documentary) - Aaron Hosé & Brigitte Hosé

My Choice

Mike, a young university student with a white knight complex, pursues Janne, a newly paralyzed girl who doesn't reciprocate the same feelings.

Best Emerging Film Maker(Under 40 min) - Yasong Wang

(Shared)

Mt. Suswa - Life In A Volcano

Volcanoes are temperamental, dangerous and deadly. Not the ideal place for wildlife. But Mt. Suswa in Kenya is a volcano like no other: it hosts a multitude of life both above and below its
surface. Underground tunnels were formed thousands of years ago by rivers of lava whose outer layers cooled and solidified while the core continued to flow. Once the fluid lava evacuated itself completely, massive subterranean tubes were left behind.
One of these caverns is the “Baboon Parliament” as the local Masai named it. Remarkably, Suswa is the only known place in the world where olive baboons roost in caves. It is an almost unique behaviour among primates that gives us a glimpse over the reasons that drove hominids to find shelter into caves in pre-historic times.
Surprisingly so far no film has ever been made exclusively about this natural history wonder.
Mt. Suswa’s rugged flanks conceal an untouched treasure trove of biodiversity hidden inside its craters and in the deep and mysterious scars left behind by its turbulent past. But the mountain's true colours are locked up within an aura of mystique: Mt. Suswa is a fortress protected by its own inaccessibility. Its bastions are steep, barren and sharp, discouraging any unwanted visitors.
(Featured mammal species: olive baboon, rock hyrax, bat-eared fox, african wild dog, spotted hyena, kirk’s dik-dik, klipspringer, large-eared free-tailed bat, African elephant…).

Best Film on Nature & Wildlife (Over 40min) - Directed by - Oliver Goetzl

Best Cinematography - Ivo Nörenberg, Giuseppe Bucciarelli, Oliver Goetzl, Alain Lusignan & Lars Pfeiffer

The Other Woman

Based on one of Zizi’s dreams, her dark desire surfaces, becomes visible, is not veiled any more. In a dream, the logic of time and action as well as cultural censorship are abolished. The content of a dream can manifest in bizarre, senseless actions running parallel to 'normal' ones and no one in the dream is taking notice.
The story of the dream is about two women, one representing herself being confronted with the other woman, her rival. Two complete diverse characters appear on the screen, Zizi, a ‘wild’ woman, who does not seem to care about conventions and the conventional, bourgeois mother, who thrives from her secure family structure. But is Zizi's ecstatic fit in front of the crucifix not just an act of desperation as 'the thing' * remains unattainable? The conventional woman seems to possess what Zizi cannot have, but does she want it, or better ‘what is it that she wants’?
It seems that she does not want to submit to convention and that she needs to remain ‘Other’. This force of the indefinable thing which is driving her acting out is emphasized by the sound of her breath, which might raise discomfort in the viewer.
This impossible desire and its repercussions are revealed in the film. Today, these ecstatic fits are still diagnosed in cultures in which women’s emancipation is impossible.

Best Lead(female/Under 40 min) - George Hanover

(Shared)

Road 721

Road 721 is an allegory about global warming. Set in a number of California forests it tells the tale of Sam, a photo journalist from Los Angeles whose dream has been to write an essay about the state of forestry in the Redwoods as well as other wooded areas in the Western United States.

What he encounters on his journey is mysterious, puzzling and ultimately terrifying.

Road 721 is an environmental ghost story. A cautionary tale about our careless attitude toward the natural world and what occurs as a result of it.

Honorable Mention - Lucinda Luvaas

Her Own End

A mental institution patient runs into the woods in search of freedom.

Best Director (Under 40 min) - Dani Ben Halevi

Fade To Blue

Follow the story of Jason Libby, a Trans man who found his home through the world of Drag where he transforms into the remarkable “Jay Blue”.

Special jury award (Under 40 min) - Directed by Ember Lou Crowley

Liturgy of anti-tank obstacles

The reality in Ukraine split into before and after the war. Every citizen is trying to contribute to the nationwide resistance. Many people retrained for the needs of the military. Sculptors and metalworkers now make anti-tank obstacles. In the art workshops, among the artwork, anti-tank obstacles are being produced. The artists make the anti-tank obstacles, surrounded by the sculptures of angels, Cossacks, and famous Ukrainian personalities. Statues stand in the corners like a silent army. Multiple copies of Jesus Christ, like a terracotta army, froze in various poses and waiting. Masters weld metal for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Best Documentary(Under 40min) Directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy
& Sobchuk