All the exceptional films screened at DCIFF in Washington DC March 4-8th were in competition and it is with great pleasure that we congratulate the winners and wish both the creators and the films great success going forward.
Best High School Films
First Place: The Program (USA/2019/17 mins) directed by Autumn Morgan
Second Place: Happy Pill (USA/2019/7:18mins) directed by Wyatt Richards
Third Place: Static (USA/2019/4:45mins) directed by Jackson Little.
Best Metro DC Film
The Imminent Expiration of Seth Dodson (USA/2019/11:36mins/fiction) directed by Alex Craig
Best Narrative Short (fiction)
Maradona’s Legs (Germany/2019/20mins) directed by Firas Khoury
Best Series Pilot/Episode
Good Genes (USA/2020/19mins) directed by Hannah Welever
Best Documentary Short
Our Alexandria (USA/2019/17mins) directed by Robin Hamilton
Best Documentary Feature Film
Medicating Normal (USA/2019/76mins) directed by Lynn Cunningham and Wendy Ractliffe
Best Animated Short Film
Chapped (USA/2019/7.52 mins/stop-action animation) directed by Chelsea Rugg
Best International Film
Sema (Speak Out) (Dem.Rep. of Congo/2019/45mins/feature) directed by Macherie Ekwa Bahango
Best Feature Film
Love Type D (UK/2019/95mins) directed by Sasha Collington
Best of Fest
Life In Synchro (USA/2020/53mins/documentary) directed by Angela Pinaglia
This week we are joined by Michael Stillwater, director of the 2012 Best Documentary Award winner. Shining Night continues to be seen around the world. Most recently, the film received the Audience Choice Award among 25 documentaries at the Friday Harbor Film Festival. Michael writes on how to maintain your film’s journey after the festival comes to a close.
Our 2012 Best Documentary award at the DC Independent Film Festival for Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen was both an unexpected honor and an early confirmation of the film’s public acceptance. Since then, 15 other festivals have selected Shining Night, including the Eugene International Film Festival where we also won Best Documentary.
Enliven Your Screenings
The film offers a glimpse into the life of Morten Lauridsen, considered one of America’s greatest contemporary composers. We were fortunate to have the subject of our film appear in-person at numerous screenings, including the Carmel Art & Film Festival, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience and our opening at the Danish Film Festival in Copenhagen.
Lauridsen’s strong interest in the project translated into a willingness to take part in screenings when possible. One challenge we faced was coordinating appearances with his schedule at USC where he is a music professor. We found that screenings he took part in achieved significantly increased attendance and enthusiasm.
Clarify Your Niche / Diversify Your Opportunities
Shining Night features a unique focus on choral works. As a result, we’ve receivedscreening invitations from choral groups or festivals around the world, helping to fuel the film’s journey. These screenings often included performances by choruses and piano accompaniment by Lauridsen.
We chose the Hal Leonard Corporation, the world’s largest publisher of written music, for Shining Night’s DVD distribution. Their position in the music-publishing world and their previous relationship as Lauridsen’s music distributor proved to be an ideal platform for sales. We also had early interest from KCET, Southern California’s largest public television network, to broadcast the film as a result of Lauridsen’s close relationship with them. Additional broadcast opportunities included pay-per-view, library and university sales. We also released a film-companion photo/textbook, Morten Lauridsen’s Waldron Island Reflections, by GIA Publications.
Strategic decisions made in marketing and promotions are vital to fostering your film’s journey. To this day, we are still responding toscreening requests. Our choices have sustained excitement and gained new audiences while we continue developing our film series, In Search of The Great Song.
