Tourism Film Event in Vienna honors Filmfest winner

Lee Gluckman at CIFFT awards

"Definitely Dubai," a Certificate winner in US International Film & Video Festival, on Nov. 8 won the Grand Prix award as the Best Tourism Film from CIFFT (Comité International des Festivals du Film Touristique).

The production was by Eclipse Film Production and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) from the United Arab Emirates.

Lee Gluckman, chairman of US International Film & Video Festival, is president of CIFFT and participated in the awards ceremony in Vienna. For a full list of winners, see www.cifft.com

Lee in Cannes

Status: Lee W. Gluckman Jr.
The US International Film & Video Festival party at Cannes Corporate. — at Restaurant La Pizza Cresci, Cannes.

FilmFest Friend on Location

Check out this photo of Donna Svanberg of Capitol Productions, Australia, on site filming in The Philippines. 

Donna headed the 2013 judging committee for FilmFest One World Award, sponsored by the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers. IQ recognizes a production that fosters world understanding. The winner will be revealed soon. www.filmfestawards.com 

http://www.capitolproductions.com

http://www.iqfilm.org

WRG Qatar Wins Award for UN Climate Conference Special Film

 WRG Qatar, Doha, has won a Gold Camera Award in Specialty Production and a Silver Screen for Editing for the film "COP18/CMPS Climate Change Conference." The awards were  announced in July by US International Film & Video Conference for its 2013 competition. Only 18 Gold Camera Awards were given.

The widescreen film was done for The United Nations Framework Convention opening on Climate Change. The filming crew faced special challenges to accomplish the task. Since the head table and lectern had to remain onstage at all times during the conference opening, WRG created a 25-minute centerpiece film focusing on individuals from around the world who are fighting climate change.

WRG had five weeks to research, shoot and edit the film, which involved 36,183 miles of travel across the Maldives and Madagascar, Germany and the UAE, New York and Qatar.  Middle East Event Awards last night, winning two prestigious awards.

The production also won Best Meeting or Conference from the Middle East Event Awards in Dubai. WRG is headquartered in Manchester, England.

The US International Film & Video Festival competition has been held since 1967 and recognizes outstanding Corporate, Education, Entertainment, Documentary and Student productions. Entrants from 22 countries received 113 awards in the 2013 US International Film & Video Festival. Overall entrants came from 24 countries.  

Full details on winners are posted at www.filmfestawards.com.

Films from Switzerland, U.S, Austria, Canada take top awards

“Sweet Tokyo,” produced by Seed Audio-Visual Communication AG, Zurich, for Confiseur Läderach AG, Ennenda, Switzerland, was chosen Best of Festival-Corporate. Luki Frieden directed with Felix Courvosier as producer and Michael Saxer, director of photography. .  

            The visually powerful "Hummingbirds-Jeweled Messengers" from Terra Mater Factual Studios and Free Spirit Films Production, Vienna, was selected Best of Festival – Documentary.  

            Best of Festival – Entertainment went to “Stars,” produced by LLeju Productions in  Houston and not yet released. Director was Derek Borte and writer was Jim Janosky. Mark Kassen, Tom Bower, and Kathryn Hahn head the cast.

Fake Products Report Wins One World Award

            The One World Award, sponsored by the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ), went to “Counterfeit Culture,” a documentary on the $700-billion world of fake products, including counterfeit pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, car parts and microchips. The film was produced by Tell Tale Productions, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Director was Halifax-based Geoff D’Eon. 

Winners, Best of Festival Nominees Announced

Check out the full winners list and meet the Best of Festival (Grand Prix) nominees now at www.filmfestawards.com

Board members lend talents to judging

U.S. International Film & Video Festival is fortunate to have three of its board members among its judging teams for 2013. Michael Marshall, Neil Curry and Joseph Ball have generously helped out when needed. And, considering their many commitments, we are thankful for their support.

Michael Marshall

Marshall, founder of Breathing Space Productions, Isle of Whithorn, Scotland in the UK, established a community cinema in his home area. He writes he is “passionate about passing on my skills to others – recently acting as a mentor to graduate film students in the UK, teaching digital photography and video techniques privately, as well as for several Adult Learning programmes in the southwest of Scotland.” Marshall also counts a number of wins in the competition from 1987-2004. He also lives in a beautiful place that lends itself to cameras: See http://www.isleofwhithorn.com/

Ball, publisher of Advertising Communication Times (ACT), produces a business-to-business monthly journal for company owners and executives in Philadelphia, Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware. Website: http://www.phillybizmedia.com/

Neil Curry

Neil Curry, Insight Films in Western Cape, South Africa, is the originator and producer, in collaboration with Oxford Scientific Films, of “The Elephant, The Emperor and The Butterfly Tree,” which won the Golden Panda at Wildscreen in 2004. The film tells the story of the eternal struggle between the elephant, the emperor moth - or rather its caterpillar - and the mopane tree: a saga of destruction, rebirth and survival - and the effect this has on the lives of the human beings who share the same environment and who depend on the ecosystem for their livelihood, and on the harvest of mopane worms it produces to supplement their diet. Curry now works in “retirement” in Africa. He moved there from England as a director-cameraman with the Central African Film Unit in what was then Rhodesia, and then to South Africa, to the newly created National Film Board.  Later, with his own production company, he made films about the gold and diamond mining industries, farming, exports, the arts, and wildlife.

Past Winning Topics Still Current

From "Accessibility NOW"

Sometimes it is enlightening to look back to see what was hot in the festival a few years ago. The findings either remind us of how little or how much life changes.  For example, among the Best of Festival winners from 2007 were:

“Accessibility NOW” — Corporate, produced by Animech AB, Uppsala, Sweden

“Anti-Drug Files – Lost & Found” — Educational,  from Radio Television Hong Kong, Hong Kong   

“The Battle of Chernobyl” — Documentary, Discovery Networks International, Silver Spring, Md.

All are subjects everlasting. 

FilmFest Competition Revs Up

        Life becomes so much more interesting around the office when those first entries arrive for a new competition. That's happening these days for the 2013 festival, and it feels so good.

        US International Film & Video Festival offers five mini-competitions in one by recognizing outstanding Corporate, Education, Entertainment, Documentary and Student productions. Join the mailing list to keep up with this competition, which has a March 1 deadline. Remember, student entries are welcome!