13th Tallgrass Film Festival was a repeat success
The 13th annual Tallgrass Film Festival concluded Sunday and it was a hit, said Tallgrass Director of Programming Nick Pope at the festival’s closing night party at Abode Venue.
“This closing night was close to 600 people, so that’s one of the biggest ones we’ve ever had,” he said. “The feedback is unanimously good.”
He said it was also a hit with more than 50 visiting filmmakers who came to Wichita to present their works. In all, 203 films were shown from more than 1,700 submissions this year.
Pope says curating the program can be tedious, “but when you find a gem, when you find that something that you know will connect with the audience, especially something like ‘Double Digits,’ that’s why we do this. We are looking for films that people would not otherwise not only know about, but if they did know about it, not even sure how they would hunt them down.”
The screening of “Double Digits” was certainly one of the festival’s biggest successes. The film’s director, Justin Johnson, attended from Los Angeles and won the festival’s award for best film by a first-time filmmaker.
“I’m thrilled,” Johnson said of the award. “It’s just so great to be here, and having seen a lot of the other documentaries from other first-time filmmakers, there’s just so much good stuff here. Like, every film was good.”
Here are the winners of Tallgrass’ film awards:
▪ Vimeo Audience Awards
Vimeo Audience Award, narrative: “It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong,” directed by Emily Ting
Vimeo Audience Award, documentary: “Unbranded,” directed by Phillip Barbeau
Vimeo Audience Award, short film: “Bis Gliech,” directed by Benjamin Wolff
▪ Golden Strands and programming awards
Best emerging student award: “The Girl, Whose Shadow Reflects the Moon,” directed by Walaa Al Alawi (Syria)
Best Kansas short film award: “Epic of Hershey,” directed by Douglas McGinness
Golden Strands Award, outstanding female filmmaker: Emily Ting, “It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong”
Golden Strands Award for courage in filmmaking: “Pervert Park,” directed by Frida and Lasse Barkfors
Golden Strands Award, outstanding cinematography: “Omo Child: The River and the Bush,” Sebastian Humphreys
Golden Strands Award, outstanding ensemble cast: “Tangerine”
Golden Strands Vanguard Award for dedication to the craft of filmmaking: R.G. Miller, “The Shadow People”
Golden Strands Award, best first feature: “Double Digits: The Story of a Neighborhood Movie Star,” directed by Justin Johnson
Golden Strands Award, outstanding documentary short film: “Last Day of Freedom,” directed by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Golden Strands Award, outstanding narrative short film: “Guest Room,” directed by Joshua Tate
Golden Strands Award, outstanding documentary feature: “The Armor of Light,” directed by Abigail Disney and Kathleen Hughes
Golden Strands Award, outstanding narrative feature: “Take Me to the River,” directed by Matt Sobel
This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 4:13 PM with the headline "13th Tallgrass Film Festival was a repeat success."