 SR Socially Relevant Film Fest New York Wraps 2nd Edition With Multiple AwardsSR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York wraps 2nd edition with awards to the winning films, in Memoriam Lifetime of Inspiration Award to Albert Maysles and the Justice and Peace Award to Guy Davidi
By: aaward, ceremony, film fest, SR Socially relevant The following two days of the festival took place at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem, the home of legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles who was scheduled to give a Masterclass and participate in the Storytelling panel of SR 2015. SR Film festival honored Albert Maysles posthumously, in Memoriam with the Lifetime of Inspiration Award for inspiring and guiding more than one generation of filmmakers in the US and abroad. The Award was presented during the closing ceremonies by SR festival Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani. Lighter than Orange, directed by Matthias Leupold that screened at the Maysles Cinema, won the Best Documentary Award of the festival in the form of a DVD-VOD distribution deal offered by festival partner Cinema Libre Studio of Los Angeles. The award trophy was the Sona Vessel created and donated by Michael Aram symbolizing the art of storytelling. Presented by Jury member Nareg Hartounian, the award was received on behalf of the director by Simona Foersch, Press and Cultural Affairs Director at the German Consulate General in New York. The members of the Documentary Jury comprise: Beth Portello, Antoine de Baeque, Lorena Luciano and Patrick Vilbert. The Festival moved downtown to the Tribeca Cinemas from the 19th to the 21st of March, where the second part of the program was screened in the narrative and documentary feature categories and a number of short films. The winner of the Narrative Feature Category, The Challat of Tunis directed by Kaouther Ben Hania won a week-long run at the Quad Cinema and the Sona Vessel trophy. The award was presented by Nicole Ansari-Cox, and Jordan Mattos members of the Narrative Grand Jury during the closing award ceremony on Sunday. The Documentary and Narrative shorts Mamma är Gud directed by Maria Bäck and Zacharie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore directed by Alberto Segre, respectively won digital distribution deals with festival partner IndiePix and scriptwriting software offered by Final Draft for the narrative film. The awards were presented by Filippo Piscopo member of the documentary shorts Jury and Mariette Monpierre, member of the Narrative Grand Jury. The two other members of the Narrative Grand Jury are: Jacqueline Ada and Valerio Caruso. And the three other members of the Documentary Short are: Simon Brook, Sandrine Morvan and Michele Soulignac. The Copenhagen Restaurant near Tribeca Cinemas became the festival media hub with a special food and drinks menu featuring the titles of the films, while AOA Grill received the festival crowd for dinner and discussions that continued into the wee hours of the morning each day of the festival. In her presentation speech, Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani said, “I see the festival as a movement for the promotion of socially relevant film content not just a week of screenings,” SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York also awarded its annual Vanya Exerjian Award - Empowering Women and Girls award, named after Founder Artistic Director Nora Armani’s cousin actress/ film producer Vanya Exerjian and uncle Jack H. Exerjian who were victims of a hate crime 11 years ago. The award was presented to E’ Stata Lei (It Was Her), directed by Francesca Archibugi, for her film treating the issue of violence against women. For the second year in a row, the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) presented an award to one of the films of their choice from the festival's entire slate. The winner this year was We Cannot Go There Now, My Dear directed by Carol Mansour who is the winner of last year’s Documentary Award. The jury for screenwriting headed by Pulitzer Prize and multi-award winning screen and stage writer Robert Schenkkan and dramaturg Morgan Jenness, selected as best script Steppin Out! by Steve Bensinger. The award is a certificate from Final Draft and free inclusion in InkTip a website where producers look for their next projects. The award was presented by Jury members Morgan Jenness, Brigitte Gauthier and Ruth Priscilla Kirstein present at the closing ceremonies. This year, the festival held Industry panels that were hosted by the festival's academic partner The School of Visual Arts SocDoc MFA department in Chelsea. These panels covered Distribution, moderated by Mike Sargent of WBAI Pacifica Radio media partner of the festival, and included panelists Rola Nashef, Beth Portello, Jason Ward and Elliott Kanbar. The Storytelling penel was moderated by Louis Proyect and included panelists Morgan Jenness, Brigitte Gauthier, Lorena Luciano, Filippo Piscopo and Ann Collins. The Diversity Casting, co-organised by SAG-AFTRA’s Adam Moore, included panelists Jennifer Bettit Yen, Jennifer Peralta-Ajemian, Carmen Palaez, Hoji Fortuna and Pejman Jamal. The culminating panel, Next: Dialogue on the Potential of Art as a Revolutionary Tool, organized by Adam Kritzer had Jessica Vale, Cherrell Brown, and Sean Starowitz as panelists and took place at the Center for Remembering and Sharing, also one of the festival partners. Winners and panelists were offered a special thank you gift courtesy of festival partner City Winery in the form of a bottle of wine with customised Winner or Panelist labels bearing the festival laurels and logo and a festival bag. The awards ceremony was sponsored by The Fourth Restaurant and Fair Vodka. A host of VIPs, film directors, panelists, jury members and festival goers gathered on Sunday to celebrate the 2nd annual SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York, while sipping the festival’s official drink: The SR Winter Tonic based on Quinoa Vodka, anisette and an orange peel and tasting delectable hors d'oeuvres prepared by Chef Marco Moreira. Cheers to Y2 and looking forward to Y3! The Awards: 1. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 In Memoriam Lifetime of Inspiration Albert Maysles (1926-2015) The Award was presented by Festival Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani. _______________________ 2. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 The Challat of Tunis By Kaouther Ben Hania Feature Film Award Grand Prize The Award was presented by Nicole Ansari-Cox, and Jordan Mattos, members of the Narrative Grand Jury. And was received on behalf of the Production by a team member. __________________ 3. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 Lighter Than Orange By Matthias Leupold Documentary Film Award Grand Prize The award was presented by Nareg Hartounian, member of the Documentary Feature Jury and was received on behalf of the director by Simona Foersch, Press and Cultural Affairs, at the German Consulate General of New York. _________________________ 4. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 Justice and Peace Award Guy Davidi – High Hopes _______________________ 5. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 Vanya Exerjian Award (Empowering Women and Girls) E’ Stata Lei (It Was Her) by Francesca Archibugi The award was presented by Jessica Vale the winner of the same award at the inaugural edition of SR in 2014. _________________________ 6. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 Documentary Short Mamma är Gud by Maria Bäck The award was accepted by a festival team member on behalf of the director. ________________________ 7. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 Narrative Short Zacharie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore by Alberto Segre The award was accepted by a friend of the filmmaker. ____________________________ 8. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 WFCC Award We Cannot Go There Now, My Dear by Carol Mansour The award was presented by Edie Nugent of WFCC. _____________________________ 9. SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York 2015 Scriptwriting Award Steppin Out! by Steve Bensinger The award was presented by Jury members Morgan Jenness, Brigitte Gauthier and Ruth Priscilla Kirstein present at the closing ceremonies. Contact: SR Socially Relevant Film Festival NY Nora Armani or Lucie Tripon ratedsrfilms@ (212) 253 2022 Media Contact SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York ***@gmail.com 9173182290 Photos: https://www.prlog.org/ https://www.prlog.org/ https://www.prlog.org/ End
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