The Envelopes Please!!!

The 10th annual DIY Film Festival is proud to announce the winners of the "Best Film" and "Best Director" categories.  The Festival has become truly and international festival, and this year's winners prove that. Actor/Writer/Director Flavio Parenti's "Quantum Butterfly" is the winner of BEST FILM.  Rodolfo Novaes has been named BEST DIRECTOR for his film "Just In Time."

DIY FILM FEST WINNERS

WINNER BEST FILM - Flavio Parenti’s “QUANTUM BUTTERFLY” “Sogno Farfalle Quantiche”  (Italy)   

Flavio Parenti is an award winning actor and filmmaker.  His film Quantum Butterfly (Sogno Farfalle Quantiche) is a brilliant blending of live action footage with animation and text.  The film follows a group of young Italians during the best summer of our hero's life.  He falls in love, he breaks the heart of his girlfriend, and is devastated when she leaves him.  His friends try to console him - and the visions and images in his head are like a journey through James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" using modern technology.  Parenti's clever technique, score, dialog and stunning visuals make this a truly unique DIY experience.  No one who watches his film can come away without feeling completely immersed in the topic, and amazed by the technique involved.  At the moment, Parenti is filming in Rome, appearing in Woody Allen's latest film (currently titled "Nero Fiddled" with Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page and Woody Allen)  We at the DIY Film Fest hope Flavio continues his passion of writing, directing and producing as well, as this film is a testament to his ability to tell a compelling story with the tools anyone can use. A tour de force of DIY filmmaking.


WINNER BEST DIRECTOR - Rodolfo Novaes for “JUST IN TIME”

Rodolfo Novaes is a writer director from Brazil studying film at the University of Westminster in the UK.  This stunning debut film, shot with the Red camera, is a clever journey of a husband who returns home to London to find his wife has been cheating on him while he was away.  He follows his wife's lover to find the man is a hired gigolo - and the gigolo doesn't realize the husband is following him.  Their ensuing encounter is both surprising and brilliant, and shows a promising career for this amazing film student.  This is his first film.


ANIMATED SHORT FILM

WINNER BEST ANIMATED FILM

Ike Ahloe’s “CLOCKED IN”
An amusing look at the adventures of a clock puncher in a computer office.

HONORABLE MENTION
Gerald Grunow’s “999.999.999”
Set in the future, brilliant animation from a German filmmaker about the power of a rose.


STUDENT FILM


WINNER BEST STUDENT FILM

Christopher Jarvis’ animated short “THE BIRD UPSTAIRS”

Winner of a number of film festivals, this Tisch school short is amazing and hilarious.

HONORABLE MENTION
Ryan Klaver’s short documentary “AMEND”  

From Taylor University, a straight forward story about a one of our nation's "Greatest Generation."

COMEDY SHORT  FILM

WINNER BEST SHORT COMEDY FILM

Nicholas Plagman’s “THE HAM SANDWICH THAT CHANGED THE WORLD”
Provocateur and comedian Nicholas Plagman's true story of how satire made it into Fox News.

HONORABLE MENTION

Derek Frey’s “BALLAD OF SANDEEP”
The comedic journey of an outsourced Indian, who turns the tables on his bosses.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Jessica Vecchione’s “ROBERT   -   PORTRAIT OF AN ART-ER”
Amazing look into an artist who creates monuments out of stone, and lives in an alternate universe of time.

HONORABLE MENTION

Cara Feinberg’s “WORKING BLIND: THREE STORIES”  

Touching and moving look into the lives of three newly blind woodworkers learning to use power tools and buzz saws by sound and feel alone.

DRAMA SHORT FILM
WINNER BEST SHORT DRAMA FILM
Daniel Watson, Rafael Cortina’s “DOUBLE TRUTH”
Powerful dramatic tale about two wayward thieves and crossing paths with a young boy on a cold day in NYC.

HONORABLE MENTION

Puppett’s “TIME SPENT”
Two friends deal with an emotionally dangerous past.

HONORABLE MENTION

Misha Sundukovskiy’s  “THE SUNSET”
Insightful tale about an unlikely friendship between two different cultures in San Francisco.

HONORABLE MENTION

Craig Macnaughton’s  “COME HERE GO WAY” (Canada)

Beautifully lensed examination of a love affair between someone who can and one who can't commit.

WINNER JURY PRIZE - EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE

Brian Paul Higgins “CURE FOR THE CRASH”

Masterful blending of documentary and fiction in a tale of modern day Hobos who ride the rails in a world fraught with danger and dreams.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Jennifer Hitchcock’s  “Dreams Deferred: The Struggle for Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine” 
Insightful journey into the "settlements" of Palestine from the point of view of Jewish citizens who are outraged or poetic about their country's taking other people's ancestral lands.

HONORABLE MENTION

Leo Grillo’s “THE RESCUER” 
Over 20 years in the making, this tale is about a man who found his life's calling in rescuing abandoned pets.

HONORABLE MENTION

Gary Null’s “DEATH BY MEDICINE”
A clarion call to understand the money and collusion behind Big Pharma, and the medicines that are killing those they're supposed to save.

HONORABLE MENTION

Kevin Malone’s “CHRISTY MATHEWSON DAY”

A small town, a local hero - and how this little town continues to celebrate its most famous son.

DRAMATIC FEATURE  

WINNER BEST DRAMA FEATURE

Robin North, Kelly Preeper's “DEAD SAINTS”

Two women in an insane asylum.  One sees the dark world for what it is, the other sees it as a religious journey.

HONORABLE MENTION

Rachael Yaeger’s “NO LOST CAUSE”  

A woman comes to terms with her car accident that left her in a wheelchair - its ultimately the faith and love of her friends and Church that get her to see the blessings in her life.

WORLD CINEMA

BEST WORLD CINEMA FEATURE

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Mirel Bran’s “ONE-WAY ROUND TRIP” (Romania)
An amazing journey with a family of Roma (Gypsies) who are expelled from France, then return to try to find a way to stay.  Everyone does their best to turn them out of the country, until they find their way to Cannes.


HONORABLE MENTION

DOCUMENTARY SHORT - Mia Mullarkey’s “HALLS WITHOUT WALLS” (Ireland) 
A young Irish painter and poet struggles with his Asperger's with the help of his loved ones.


HONORABLE MENTION

DRAMA SHORT STUDENT FILM - Shahar Amit’s “JOHNNY LOST HIS GUN” (Israel)

An impoverished woman is about to evicted from her home by two Israeli soldiers, while she waits for her son who is also in the military to come home and rescue her.

HONORABLE MENTION

DRAMA SHORT- Artemis Preeshl’s “PANCHA RATNA - FIVE GEMS” (India)
A DIY Bollywood film, shot in the countryside of India by a group of young Indian filmmakers who show how it only requires a passion for story telling to tell a compelling story - no matter where it is set.

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners.  The Gala is scheduled for March 3rd at the HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL in beautiful downtown Hollywood. 

The Gala is a combined evening with the Los Angeles Book Festival and the DIY Book Festival.  It's a cocktail party attended by a number of movers and shakers in the film and book industry.  We're going to screen about an hour worth of trailers and short films from this year's festival. Admittance is with a ticket only, ticket information can be obtained by sending an email to diyconvention@aol.com. Its an intimate event where filmmakers and writers get the chance to mingle and meet people in the film and publishing industries.

Congratulations to the filmmakers for their talent and hard work!!!