2023 AWARD WINNERS

Strong Yaqui Women
Director Miroslava Gonzalez
in Indigenous/Native Peoples

Electric Light Oversoul
Submitter Leslie Brockett
in Best Photo

A Certain Night
Director Sumin Kim
in Best LGBTQIA+ Film

We are the Earth
Director Zoé Rose
in Best Original Song/Music Video

I Promise You
Submitter Keeley Russell
in Best Original Song/Music Video

A Donation Conversation
Director Andy Adkins
in Health and Wellness

JOE238
Director Colleen Stymeist-Wood
in Health and Wellness

The Last Bullet
Director GBU
in Short Film
AIKĀNE
Directors Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
in Best LGBTQIA+ Film

Love
Submitter Heather Pirie
in Best Original Song/Music Video

Hedgehog
Director D. Mitry
in Best Short Film

Werk
Directors Emilia Mendieta Cordova, Charley Young
in Best Original Song/Music Video, Female Filmmakers

Blue Square Heart
Director William Venus Means
in Best Short Film

As Prescribed
Director Holly Hardman
in Best Message Driven Film, Female Filmmakers , Health and Wellness

Through Hell to LOVE
Writer David Sorbello
in Best Screenplay/Script

Show me the Vision
Directors Roc Flowers, Matilde Bergamini
in Best Original Song/Music Video

Ivy Grace
Directors Allie Delury, Mariah Harkey
in Best Short Documentary

Blackbird
Director Morgan Davies
in Health and Wellness

Eyes Wide Open (From "North Star")
Submitter SoundWave Studios Music Group
in Best Original Song/Music Video

No Address
Writers Julia Verdin, James Papa
in Best Screenplay/Script

A Name in Your Book
Director Elizabeth Mantia
in Best Original Song/Music Video, Female Filmmakers

That's So Gay
Writer Dr. Tamecca Rogers
in Best Screenplay/Script

ACCEPT YOU're a STRANGER
Director Accept Cookies
in Best Original Song/Music Video

ShirtTugger
Director Noah Himmelstein
in Health and Wellness

Places To Go!

Transporation

Meet The Filmmakers

Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson (Aikane)

Director and animator Daniel Sousa is an Oscar-nominated animation director who uses the themes embedded in myths and legends to examine archetypes of human nature.

A valiant island warrior, wounded in battle against foreign invaders, falls into a mysterious underwater world. When the octopus who rescued him transforms into a handsome young man, they become aikāne, bound by love and trust, and an epic adventure begins.

Noah Himmelstein (Shirttugger)

Noah Himmelstein, is an established theatre director turned first time filmmaker. His work has been seen on stages in New York, regionally around the US and in Europe. noahhimmelstein.com

After another nocturnal binge, Max spends the following day dodging “food noise” whilst keeping his dark secret from his boyfriend.

Morgan Davies (Blackbird)

Alma, a young black teenager recovering from Bulemia meets Noa, new roommate at an eating disorder treatment center. Seemingly, the two could not be more different, yet they will soon find they have more in common than they realize.

William Venus Means (Blue Square Heart)

A drag queen is forced to reconsider his shockingly violent art when his estranged, conservative mother makes a surprise appearance at his show in an attempt to reconnect.

Steph Griffith (Ivy Grace)

A Christian, Republican woman from South Carolina makes a challenging decision following a hypoplastic left heart syndrome diagnosis in a post-Roe v. Wade world.

Sumin Kim (A Certain Night)

After being out of town for a while, Russell comes back home to the life he left behind. Facing his ex-boyfriend Aaron, and confronting the only family he knows, his brother Robert, who is against his sexuality.

D. Mitry (Hedgehog)

As the war starts in Ukraine, six years old Nina is sent to her grandma’s remote village. In the shack outside, Nina discovers a badly wounded Russian soldier.

Miroslava Gonzalez (Strong Yaqui Women)

A mother recalls stories from her youth about her indigenous lineage and sets off on a journey to understand her place in a long line of resilient Yaqui Warriors.

Drew Ann Rosenberg (Daddy's Eyes)

In this haunting tale of hope and despair, a mother and her daughter, separated for over twenty years by race, fame, and heroin addiction, struggle to find each other before it’s too late. This modern Greek tragedy examines the sacrifices that must be made to make it to the top of the music world.

Holly Hardman (As Prescribed)

Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan – all belong to a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines (benzos). News and entertainment media portray them in terms of addiction and abuse or as innocuous medications that relax nerves. AS PRESCRIBED documents a strikingly different narrative, following eye-opening stories of invisible illness and disability. Boston-based survivor Geraldine Burns leads a grassroots army of “good patients” that help other victims and advocate tirelessly for benzodiazepine harm awareness. But resistance is strong. Geraldine and her cohorts are opposed by powerful forces that include pharmaceutical giants and a medical culture that has denied the problem for decades.