Winners of the 2009 Virginia Independent Film Festival Announced

On Sunday April 26th, from noon to 10pm the Virginia Film Office and the Virginia Production Alliance presented the 2009 Virginia Independent Film Festival at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond. The festival was divided into a three part screening series by category. Documentaries screened from Noon-4pm, Short Films screened from 4pm-6pm, and Features screened from 6pm-10pm.

The Festival
The films shown in the festival were produced by Virginia filmmakers and were chosen by a panel of judges who also selected a winning film in each category. The winning films in each category were announced at the festival, as was an additional Audience Choice Award in each category.

Audience Choice Award
A panel of industry professionals judged these films and had already selected one winner in each category. This year, the audience also selected its choice to win in each category.

The Winners
The judges selected the following films in each session as the winners of the festival:
Winning Documentary - The Flyingest Flying, directed by Josh Criss
Winning Short Film – Concept of Beauty, directed by Benny Oliveri and Martin Montgomery
Winning Feature Film – In the Pines, directed by Chip Johnson

The audience selected the following films to receive the Audience Choice Award in each session:

Audience Choice for Documentary – Saving Grace-Resurrecting American History, directed by Eric Allan Futterman
Audience Choice for Short Film – TIED WINNERS Tide, directed by Shane Rocheleau and Concept of Beauty, directed by Benny Oliveri and Martin Montgomery
Audience Choice for Feature Film – Recover Me, directed by Dahsheen Amin


The Festival Program

DOCUMENTARIES
Noon-4pm

Saving Grace-Resurrecting American History
58minutes
Director: Eric Allan Futterman
Producer: Historic Richmond Foundation
Screenwriter: Eric Allan Futterman
Actors: Wali Brandon
Synopsis: Laser technology rescues a decaying monument in Richmond, VA.



The Community Model in Corrections
20minutes
Director: Lucas Krost
Producer: Alexandra Krost
Screenwriter: Morgan Moss, Penny Patton, Lee Gimpel
Synopsis: The Community Model, a Virginia based program, is changing the culture of incarceration.

The Flyingest Flying
1hour 20minutes
Director: Josh Criss
Producer: Josh Criss
Screenwriter: Josh Criss
Actors: Bill Bennett, Bill Moyes, John Dickenson, Francis Rogallo, Bill Forrest, Zelda Uttal, Steve Wendt
Synopsis: The filmmaker explores the origins of hang gliding and records his experiences learning the sport at a Virginia flight park.



SHORT FILMS
4pm-6pm

Concept of Beauty
13minutes
Director: Benny Oliveri and Martin Montgomery
Producer: Scott Strimple, Jude Fageas
Screenwriter: Jude Fageas
Actors: Jude Fageas, Scott Wichman, Matthew Hall, Angela Shipley, Alia Bisharat, Eddie Tavares, Andy Brown Fadi Abuhijleh, Marcus Hyde, Benny Oliveri
Synopsis: A young man on a journey to find life's subtle beauty and inspiration



Harmony Ranch
7minutes
Director: Hal Dowdy
Producer: Mark Remes
Screenwriter: Hal Dowdy, Jennifer Massey, Joe Inscoe, Noah Percy
Actors: Joe Inscoe, Raynor Scheine, Jennifer Massey, Jan Guarino, Steve Hurwitz, Mark Joy
Synopsis: Harmony Ranch-where critters and couples come for counseling.

La Vie est Courte (Life is Short)
7minutes
Director: Sallie Keena
Producer: Joe Carabeo
Screenwriter: Joe Carabeo - Sallie Keena
Actors: Salle Keena, Charles Bevan
Synopsis: During the course of a single day, Claire must contemplate her biggest life changing decision ever... whether or not she should text the boy of her dreams.

Singed
3minutes
Director: A.A. Thweatt
Producer: A.A. Thweatt, Jasmine Kettenacker
Screenwriter: A.A. Thweatt
Actors: Carly Hays
Synopsis: An artist's exploration leads to a duality of self.

Tide
10minutes
Director: Shane Rocheleau
Producer: Jacob Dodd, Bryant Dameron, Shane Rocheleau
Screenwriter: Shane Rocheleau
Actors: Kenneth Abrams, Maddie Gunter
Synopsis: Hal is an everyman decorating the slow, expansive time stretched endlessly before him. Anna is a carefree child tied – like all of us – to the peculiar and apathetic alchemy of the universe.



Cannibal Cheerleader Camp
18minutes
Director: Paul Busetti
Producer: Paul Busetti, Ian Albetski, Colin Lamb
Screenwriter: Paul Busetti
Actors: Bridget Devlin Burke, Jenna St. John, Tara Bowen, Kerry Kearns, Rebecca Jones
Synopsis: Something in the woods is growing tired of feeding on animals and is hungry for human flesh. Five girls at a defunct camp must band together to defend themselves from its attacks.



FEATURES
6pm-10pm

In The Pines
1hour 36minutes
Director: Chip Johnson
Producer: Chip Johnson
Screenwriter: Chip Johnson
Actors: Nicholas X. Parsons, Shawn S. Singletary
Synopsis: When a prank goes horribly awry during a camping trip, one friend is left dead, one friend slowly loses his mind, and the rest are running for their lives.



Singularity
28minutes
Director: Paul Gleason
Producer: Nathan Burns, Paul Gleason, Sarah Masters
Screenwriter: Paul Gleason
Actors: Nicholas Lazo, Sarah Miles, Nathan Burns
Synopsis: There is a moment in everyone's life that is perfect. What would you do to live in that moment?



Recover Me
1hour 38minutes
Director: Dahsheen Amin
Producer: Good News Productions
Screenwriter: Dahsheen Amin
Actors: Crystal Farmer, Victor Manuel Lemus, Cameron Taylor, Nolan Clark
Synopsis: A single mother struggles to fight a drug addiction, find love, and claim her own "pursuit of happiness". Her desires are met but in a way that challenges her strength and sobriety.