Winners named for the 2011 Magnolia Film Festival

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Glen Bryant, director of the 2011 Magnolia Independent Film Festival said this weekend was a great opportunity to meet inspirational film makers.
“The filmmakers at the Mag were an amazing group of people,” Bryant said.
Bryant said he felt the workshops were a success this year in helping to make the “Mag” into a film festival for film makers.
“Flim makers go to these festivals to get their product out,” Bryant said. “What we wanted to do was give them something that can take with them. Something they can use year-round and serve the needs of the film maker.”
Bryant said this year’s event has energized him for next year’s event. He said organizers have a lot of great ideas to improve the festival and make it more “film maker friendly.”
The first workshop on “How to make the most of your Film Festival Experience” was designed to help film makers improve their craft, and market their work.
The workshop lead by Sam Haskell provided success and motivation from the opposite end of the “success ladder.”
“We want to establish ‘the Mag’ as a force to be reckoned with,” Bryant said.
Winners include Best Narrative Feature: True Nature by Patrick Steele; Best Short Narrative: Contact Zone by Gustavius Smith; Best Documentary: Made in India by Vaishali Sinha & Rebecca Haimowitz; Best Comedy: Oh Sister! by Susan Hippen; Best Student Film: I’m Afraid I am Hitler by Ruchika Lalwani; Best Home Grown: Blood Feud by Johnson Thomasson; Best Cinematography: Lukos by Michael Williams; Best Director: Jesus Comes to Town by Kamal Iskander; Elena Zastawnik Award for Best Written Film: Wolf Call by Rob Underhill; Ron Tibbet Award for Excellence in Film: Her Seat is Vacant by Bohdana Smyrnova.
Bryant said, from his perspective, the winner of the Ron Tibbet Award for Excellence in Film told a very personal story that was very well executed.
“As an amateur film maker, to get that kind of emotion from a group of actors is awesome,” Bryant said.
For more information about the Magnolia Independent Film Festival, go to http://www.magfilmfest.com [3].