WELCOME TO THE MIX / RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Richmond, VA – February 21, 2012 – The Moving Image Xchange International Film Festival (The MIX) concluded Sunday, the 19th at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, VA. The festival screened 39 short films throughout the weekend with top wins going to:
Best of Festival: Documentary, CARBON FOR WATER by Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson & Evan Abramson (NY, US); Narrative, BASED ON A TRUE STORY by Kerem Keskin (Turkey); Animation, 5 MINUTES EACH by Vojin Vosovic (Serbia/Montenegro, Canada); Other category, A FINGER, TWO DOTS THEN ME by David & Daniel Holechek (Los Angeles, US); and Experimental, GHOST OF OLD HIGHWAYS by Dan Bush (Atlanta, US).
Audience Choice Awards: Attendees were given the opportunity to vote on screenings throughout the festival weekend. Numbers were tallied up and released at the Sunday Red Carpet Awards Ceremony. The Audience Choice Award Winners are: Documentary, CARBON FOR WATER by Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson & Evan Abramson (NY, US); Narrative, UN FILS by Andre Gaumond (Canada); Animation, 5 MINUTES EACH by Vojin Vosovic (Serbia/Montenegro, Canada); Other category, THUGS THE MUSICAL! by Liam Sullivan (Los Angeles, US); and Experimental, GHOST OF OLD HIGHWAYS by Dan Bush (Atlanta, US).
The Corporate Production Award Winners: Director, Jonathan Schwartz (Los Angeles, US) and writer, Jeffrey Kraynak (Brooklyn, US), each receiving a prize package, $250 cash, and securing a position as writer & director on the short film, STRIVE, which The MIX filmed in Richmond last month.
Outstanding Merit Awards: The Social Entrepreneurship Award went to CARBON FOR WATER; The Civic Action Award, EXTINCTION; and The Legacy Xchange Award, DIVINE SPARKS.
The Top 3 Script Awards: A DIFFERENCE OF 25 CENTS by Sundae Jahant-Osborn, MAGIC OF THE STAR by J.B. Mathel, and WORMS AT TEN PACES by Kathleen Gardiner.
The remaining top script finalists were SISTER SECRETS by Alison McMahan, NO CIGARETTES IN SPACE by Sunday Jahant-Osborn, SACRIFICE THE VIRGIN by John Harris, PASS CACTUS by Kay Poiro, CUPCAKE KIDS by Donna Lisa, ACCOUNTING by Neil Valentine, THE BRADBURY EFFECT by Chris Dell'Anno, and COPENHAGEN by Tyler Kent.
Overall Grand Jury Award Winners: The overall festival Grand Jury Award Winners went to GHOST OF OLD HIGHWAYS (Best Overall Film) & RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT (Best Overall Screenplay by Jeffrey Kraynak of Brooklyn, NY), each receiving a prize package and $750 cash.
The Red Carpet Awards Ceremony closed out the festival weekend, and included top film screenings and interpretive performances by Reggie Pace, band member of the Grammy Award winning group, Bon Iver, Scott Burton of Glows in the Dark, jazz vocalist, Karla Brown, Bob Gulledge, a monologue by Isaiah Entzinger, and a performance by the American Youth Harp Ensemble who did a piece they will be performing at Carnegie Hall next month.
Despite snowy conditions Sunday, overall attendance for weekend screenings and festival events reached almost 1,700. For more info, please click on the press & media section.
MISSION & OBJECTIVE
The MIX rewards current short film projects as well as brings talented writers and filmmakers together to collaborate on the production of future projects. Participating in the competition also grants entrants a free premium listing in the Media Industry Xchange (MIX), a resource directory and collaborative forum for film and media related industries, which fosters the development and packaging of projects.
The MIX accepts short film scripts and produced shorts of all genres and niches (narrative, experimental, documentary, animation, etc.) Additionally, a secondary emphasis is placed on projects that focus on using film as a powerful medium for social change.
For this year's festival, The MIX also formed a production partnership with Strive Tennis Academy in Atlanta, GA for an exclusive Corporate Production Award. This category was a special category free for writers and directors to enter as they competed on a strict timeline to create a winning short film script and director's vision for the corporation. The writers and directors had exactly two weeks to turnaround their submission. The MIX filmmed this project in Richmond, VA in January 2012 using cast and crew from Richmond, DC, Charlottesville, and Los Angeles. The project made its premiere at the festival on Friday, February 17th at 11:15am.
Additionally, as a part of the festival's community impact project, The MIX produced a second project, a feature film, "Trading Ages." This feature explores the dynamics of generational identities, their interactions, and the relationships that exist specifically between the senior and youth population in Richmond, VA. "Trading Ages" just completed production in January, and premiered at the festival on Friday, February 17th at 11:15am.
FESTIVAL EVENT
Submissions for 2013 will open in late May, 2012. Next year's festival will be held again at the historic Byrd Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, which in September of 2011 was said to be one of the, "10 great places to see a movie in splendor" according to USA Today.
