Congratulations to Our 2022 Award Winning Filmmakers!
BEST SHORT NARRATIVE – Oscar Qualifying – TIE
The Moor
Writer: Daphne Di Cinto
Directed by: Daphne Di Cinto
Producer: Yasmine Holness-Dove, Greenlight Project, Onda Film
20 min., Narrative
The son of an enslaved African woman turns out to be the legitimate heir to the Medici dynasty and becomes the first Duke of Florence, despite his own family having trouble accepting him.
Ro & the Stardust
Writer: Eunice Levis
Directed by: Eunice Levis
Producer: Rachel K. Ofori, Elvis Nolasco
17:39 min., narrative
A free-spirited teen fulfills her terminally ill grandmother’s dying wish of building a rocket ship to launch her into outer space.
BEST DIRECTOR
Dorlis
Director/Writer: Enricka MH
Producer: Marie-Mars Prieur, Jérôme Barthélemy and Daniel Sauvage
25 min., Narrative
Nora, a 15-year-old Martiniquan teenager, has to follow her mother and 6-year-old little sister, Mélissa, to the north of the island, to live at Henri’s, her grand-father, paralyzed since a recent stroke. They settle at the old man’s to provide him daily assistance. But very soon, the atmosphere of the house and Henri’s presence make Nora’s childhood memories resurface, embodied in the fear of an aggressive evil mind.
REEL SISTERS SPIRIT AWARD
Yae: Blind Samurai Woman
Producer/Director/Writer: Akiko Izumitani
18:45 min., Narrative
In the mountains of the Edo Period Japan, when a blind woman’s samurai father is killed by a young samurai avenging his own father’s death, she agrees to be escorted to the nearest village, but she’s not as helpless as she appears.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
TARGET: ST. LOUIS VOL. 1
Director/Writer: Damien D. Smith
Producers: Emma Jackson, Damien D. Smith Sinclair Skinner, Sarah Barnes, Reesha Archibald
59 min., documentary
TARGET ST. LOUIS Vol. 1 tells the story of how the United States Military conducted secret chemical testing on citizens of St. Louis’s Northside. Told through the eyes of the survivors who bravely share their experiences of being unwitting test subjects. Long before the current scandal of lead poisoning of the water supply of Flint, Michigan, the United States Army conducted secret experiments on unknowing residents of northern St. Louis using toxic chemicals. The predominantly African American residents of northern St. Louis are the focus of this film. “Target: St Louis Vol. 1” shares their disturbing story of how these Cold War experiments occurred and the film examines the actions of the US Military that extended beyond the guarantees of public safety promised to US citizens by the Constitution.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
More Than Cute
Producer/Director/Writer: Joshinder K Chaggar
15 min., Documentary
A Seniors Bollywood dance class in Melbourne city, is the perfect intercultural setting, to discover new friendships and to unpack misconceptions about ageing. Through the lens of the traditional costume, stories are uncovered and shared. Simultaneously, underneath all the fun, color and laughter, a miraculous healing is taking place on many different levels.
BEST ANIMATION
I Was Attacked
Director/Writer: Sara Massieu
3:41 min., Animation
No matter who we are or where we are from, we are not safe, we have been attacked.
Gender-based violence still a world wide contemporary problem. Women’s voices need to be heard.
BEST EXPERIMENT – TIE
Empire of My Melodious Mind
Producer/Director/Writer: Jeannette Louie
8:17 min., Experimental
In the space of a moment, inside a cabinet, perception embarks on an epic journey through the terrain of memories that form the identity of an American born Asian.
When We Arrive As Flowers
Director: Diovanna LaBeija, Susan O’Brien
Writer: Diovanna LaBeija
Producers: Susan O’Brien, Elizabeth Raia, Giselle Byrd, Margaret Montavon and Bonnie Dolan
4:55 min., Experimental
Diovanna, a dancer realizes her transfemme identity through a choreographic journey of self-discovery, celebration, and the poetic metaphor of a flower coming to bloom.
BEST SCREENPLAY
My Daughter Is Coming
Director/Writer: Lina Tianyue Hu
Directed by: : Lina Tianyue Hu
Producer: Jen U-Win Huang
17:30 min., Narrative
A young woman reluctantly returns home to her mother, whose lifestyle she tried not to emulate, realizing they are similar in many ways and that is okay.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
So Long
Director/Writer: Teng (Miracle) Ma
Producer: Chelsea Mao, Annie SONG
25:20 min., Narrative Short
It’s a story about the future and the past. A middle-aged woman named Chen Wang Lian who works at a clinic is having a complicated life. She has been living for others all her life. But she is drowning. She is raised by someone she’s familiar with. However, she doesn’t know how or why she was born. During the late stage of Chen Wang Lian’s life, she is being tortured by sickness. Chen Wang Lian wanders between the future and the past.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Cured
Director/Writer: Yangzi She
13:48 min., narrative
This is a story about three generations of a family who treat each other’s illness.
Beauty Queen
Writers: : Myra Aquino, Eric Hwang
Director: Myra Aquino
Producers: Myra Aquino, Tita Pambid, Reuben Domingo
18 min., Narrative Short
Set in the Philippines during World War II, a young woman struggles to find purpose after losing her father.