Providence, R.I. • August 2015 — The FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) proudly announced the Award Winners from its 19th Festival, on Sunday, August 9th at the annual Awards Ceremony held at The Metcalf Auditorium, RISD Museum in downtown Providence, RI. This year’s Festival ran from August 4-9th, and ended with another record-breaking year. Venues were located across the state of Rhode Island – from Newport to Woonsocket -- with the capital city serving as the hub for the film-centric activities.
The Festival screened 265 feature length, documentary and short films, from 54 countries, and 34 states across the U.S. Films were selected from a record entry base of 5,713 submissions with 73 World, North American, and U.S. premieres. The Opening Night Gala has become a crowd-pleasing event called “Flickers’ Short Film Retrospective: Journeys in Filmmaking.” This year, more than 1,900 people attended the event at the historic Providence Performing Arts Center.
The FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that supports and promotes the film arts in Rhode Island and throughout New England. Over the past two decades, the Rhode Island International Film Festival has screened 3,896 independent films and videos out of 42,935 entries, presented 905 World/North American premieres, featured over 700 entries that were locally produced, and hosted 3,358 filmmakers and crew. Since its inception, over 360,000 film lovers have enjoyed the Rhode Island International Film Festival, its film presentations and programming.
There are literally thousands of film festivals worldwide but only 19 of them have a rather unique accolade; they are qualifying Festivals for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in both the short film and documentary short division. The Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is one of these 19 Festivals and the only Festival in New England with this distinction. RIIFF has seen 38 films nominated that premiered at the Festival and to date, there have been eight Academy wins.
RIIFF has seen 38 films that premiered at the Festival receive Oscar® nominations with eight (8) winning the Award; most of the films were part of the Opening Night program. In 2014, five films that premiered at RIIFF went on to receive Academy Award nominations: “The Phone Call,” from Director Mat Kirkby, and James Lucas, writer; “Aya,” from Directors Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis; “The Bigger Picture,” from Director Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees, producer; “The Dam Keeper,” from Directors Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi; “Joanna,” from Director Aneta Kopacz. “The Phone Call” was awarded the Oscar®.
The winner of the RIIFF Best Short and Best Documentary Grand Prize holds a special honor: they become the Festival’s nominee for Academy Award consideration. The 2015 Grand Prize winners are “Picnic,“ directed by Jure Pavlovic from Croatia that takes place in Sarajevo during rush hour. The story concerns Emir who is on his way to meet his father for a weekend picnic at Igman, a semi-open penitentiary, but is late due to heavy traffic. “The House is Innocent,” directed by Nicholas Coles, USA, is a documentary that concerns Tom and Barbara's whose new home has a notorious past and it's going to take more than a fresh coat of paint to whitewash its macabre history.
The 2015 Festival was dedicated to the memory of actor/singer/activist, Theodore (Theo) Bikel, who was the recipient of the Festival’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. His diverse and countless cinematic roles have left an iconic footprint in American film history. From his debut performance in "The African Queen" (1951) to his Oscar Nominating performance as the Southern Sheriff in "The Defiant Ones" (1958), Theo Bikel’s great talent has brought to life timeless characters and music. With the creation of the role Baron Von Trapp in the original Broadway Production of "The Sound of Music" (1959), he captured the imaginations of millions. His ties to Rhode Island are longstanding as he helped to create the Newport Folk Festival, one the longest running and most prestigious music festivals in the world.
The prestigious award will then be presented to Lynne McCormack of the Providence’s Art, Culture + Tourism. The award is presented semi-annually to an outstanding artist whose work, passion, and drive epitomizes a level of excellence in the arts. Named after famed Providence entertainer George M. Cohan, who was born on the 4th of July, this award honors truly unique Americans who have made a timeless contribution to the arts and have inspired future generations of Rhode Islanders.
Presented to Chris Sparling during the Annual Rhode Island Film Forum. Presented semi-annually to an outstanding Rhode Island artist whose vision and passion reflects that Robert Burgess Aldrich, of Cranston, R.I., a successful director of many feature films and utilized a variety of genres to tell his stories. His films included “The Longest Yard,” “The Dirty Dozen,” “Flight of the Phoenix,” “Hush,” and countless others. Robert Aldrich began his career in Cranston, RI, and ultimately rose in the Hollywood ranks to be the President of the Directors Guild of America, serving from 1975-1979. This Award is presented to a director who has begun his career in Rhode Island and is following in the footsteps of Robert Aldrich, preparing to make a lasting mark on the industry.
Presented jointly in collaboration with the RI Film & Television Office.
Flickers annually adjudicates a Screenplay Competition concurrently with the RI Film Festival. Last year, 396 submissions were received from throughout the United States and across the globe. The Grand Prize winner was George Billard (New York) for his screenplay “Dispossessed."
Awards were presented by the Paige Frankovich, RIIFF Youth Jury Program Manager, and the 2015 Youth Film Jury members.
"The Champion" | Directed by: Brett Garamella, Patrick McGowan, United States, 2015.
The mission of the 34 year-old Flickers Arts Collaborative is to serve as a creative partner in the arts by uniting various media and arts disciplines that nurture the artistic process and support a vital part of our community. This includes multi-disciplinary art presentations; artistic and cultural activities; performance festivals; video and television productions and exhibition; audio recordings and broadcasts; educational outreach programs; and the FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF).
The 20th Anniversary of the Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival will take place August 9-14, 2016.