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Awareness Film Festival Announces 2013 Award Winners
SANTA MONICA, CA – Amidst the summer hustle and bustle of Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, the fourth annual Awareness Film Festival drew crowds into four varied venues for a socially conscious film and arts experience from July 25-28. The four-day festival featured 90 films from 17 countries, including six world premiere feature films, many award-winning films, and many others new to the festival circuit. Half of the filmmakers were in attendance, participating in thoughtful Q&As after the screenings.
Last week, the Awareness Film Festival announced the 2013 festival winners. New this year, Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment is offering a first look distribution opportunity for this year’s grand jury-winning feature films. The winners are:
Grand Jury
Feature Documentary: 420 - The Documentary
Feature Narrative: Home
Short Narrative: Hark
Short Documentary: Wheelchair Diaries
Music Video: Alchemy
Audience Award Winners
Feature Film: Driving Blind
Student Program: There is No Place for You Here
Youth Program: A Quest For Peace
The festival weekend vibrated with energy along the Third Street Promenade. Attendees were able to stroll along Santa Monica Boulevard from the Laemmle Theatre on 2nd Street, to the Promenade Playhouse on 3rd Street, to Magicopolis on 4th Street. Non-film activities were both holistic and fun. The Zen Den, which originated at Sundance Film Festival, treated 70 filmmakers and celebrities to acupuncture, cranial sacral, and massage. A yoga class with renowned instructor Hala Khouri was followed by an energetic Vegan Boss rap performance at the Dance Doctor studio on 4th Street.
Children and pets were included in the festival. Young Cameron Nino performed as part of the Kids Aware afternoon that featured films by and for kids, recycled art projects, and eco face painting. There was even a Flash Mob for pet adoption with Megan Blake and Smiley the Dog, during which the 4th Street sidewalk swelled with people performing the Smiley the Dog dance from the Kindness “dogumentary.”
Engaging and well-attended filmmaker panels covered subjects such as how to adapt films and movie theaters for the blind and deaf, as well as how to market socially conscious films. The opening and closing nights were held at the Aero Theatre on Montana Ave, with the closing ceremonies hosted by Lori Rischer of KIIS FM. Parties were sponsored by Real Food Daily and VeggieGrill, Zevia, FRS, O.N.E. Coconut Water, and Oscar’s Cerveteca.
The festival festival will be was created as nothing will be sent to landfills, making it a Zero Waste event, in collaboration with Zero Waste Co. By rethinking, recycling, composting, and donating waste materials, all waste was diverted from landfills. The Eco Market at Magicopolis included booths from Solfusion (solar initiatives), LegalShield, Benedetta Holistic Skin Care, Farm Fresh to You, Zero Waste Co, and art by Jodi Smith, Lila Javan, Dru Doe, and Cerraeh Laykin.
Awareness Film Festival
