ISFFH Closes with Surprise Celebrities Honoring Filmmakers
After five days of screenings and celebration, the annual International Student Film Festival Hollywood (ISFFH) closed its 5th year with a grand gala celebration and awards ceremony held at Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn in North Hollywood. Student filmmakers from around the world gathered in anticipation with their guests and industry professionals waiting for the Awards to be announced. As the ceremony was about to begin, filmmakers and guests were honored with a surprise visit by Director/Producer/Writer, Garry Marshall and Award–Winning Actor, Hector Elizondo. After congratulating the evening’s guest of honor, A.C. Lyles; the two spent more than 30 minutes sharing stories, taking questions, and encouraging the next generation of filmmakers to pursue their dreams.
A.C. Lyles, Senior Producer at Paramount and longest working executive in Hollywood received the LifetTime Achievement Award in honor of his long association and his outstanding contribution to the motion picture industry. Mr. Lyles shared with the filmmakers how his persistence paid off and encouraged them to keep striving for their dreams, his passion for film started as a young boy and continues today.
The ISFFH began its 5 day event with a reception for the filmmakers hosted by Actors Certified Training (ACT) in the heart of the NOHO Arts District in North Hollywood. Filmmakers had the opportunity to mingle with each other and industry professionals while enjoying refreshments and screening films from Sweden. A discussion was led by Tim Lampros, Founder and CEO of ACT and author of “Hollywood Quagmire.”
Films were screened throughout the event at Beverly Garland’s Theater at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in North Hollywood. Each screening segment was followed by a question and answer period facilitated by a professional from the film industry with the filmmakers and the audience. The ISFFH encourages the filmmakers to actively engage the audience in discussion to further build their enthusiasm, self-confidence and public speaking ability. At the same time, it is an opportunity to entertain, enlighten, educate, and engage the audience.
Eleven countries were represented at the closing event as awards were presented to this year’s top student filmmakers from around the world. This year’s awards were Best Junior High School Animation: Some Like It Heavy directed by Aidan Terry; Best Junior High School PSA: Imagine if it Were You directed by Mally Armitage, Kyle Vest, and Katie Hayes; Best Junior High School Documentary: No CHild Left Behind: Failure is Not an Option directed by Caleb Baechtold, Jordan Powell, and Ollie Skelton; Best High School Claymation: The Hell Patrol directed by Brady Serwitz and Max Maddox; Best High School Animation: Writer’s Block directed by Kevin Horowitz and Jacob Schwartz and Fruits and Vegetables directed by Royce Brown; Best High School Drama: Online directed by Josh Smith; Best High School Romantic Drama: Get a Date directed by Max Strebel and Ashlyn Perri; Best High School Poetic Drama: The Smile directed by Max Sokoloff; Best High School Comedy: Heart Attack directed by David Harris; Best Foreign Language High School Documentary: LO-LA / His and Hers directed by Daniel Machluf and Shalechet Dizrael; Best Foreign Language High School Drama: 15 Minutes directed by Noa Barash; Best Foreign Language Drama: Paragraph 15 directed by Esad Ekinovic, Mirza Ekinovic and Jannik Tai Mosholt; Best Foreign Language Children Drama: Milan directed by Michaela Kezele; Best Animation: Modul directed by Marek Uhlir; Best Documentary: Sounds Of Silent Cinema directed by Jeff Callaway and Craig Forrest; Best Horror/Thriller: The Descendent directed by Robert Glickert; Best Dark-Comedy: Til Death Do Us Part directed by Bryan Nest; Best Comedy: Deacon's Mondays directed by Lowell Frank and Destin Daniel Cretton; Best Romantic-Comedy: Growing Old Disgracefully directed by Edward Osei-Gyimah; Best Children Drama: Lucky Penny directed by Chris Commons; Best Cast Ensemble: Love You Mum directed by David Ockenden; Best Micro Budget Film: The White Room directed by Carsten Kurpanek; Best Period Piece Drama: An American Tragedy directed by Doug Meyer; Best Controversial Drama: Holding Hands directed by Brett Meyer; Best Drama: Nothing But The Best directed by Roger Ramer; Humanitarian Award: Somewhere in the City directed by Ramsey Denison; and the Grand Jury Award: House of the Olive Trees directed by Thouly Dosios.
The ISFFH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of filmmakers, please visit the ISFFH website for more information and to support the festival www.isffhollywood.org.
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