6th
Annual Damah Film Festival and Awards Ceremony
was held May 4-6, 2007 at
Culver Studios in Culver City, CA
Accepted and Nominated Films | Culver Studios | Culver City | Festival Updates
Culver City, CA – May 6, 2007 – The Damah Film Festival, the nation's foremost spiritually themed festival concluded three days of premieres, workshops and parties with a gala awards ceremony on Sunday night where winners were announced in the five, fifteen and 30 minute categories along with a special Best of Show award.
In the 5-minute category, the winner was "LaLiberte de I'Interieur" (Freedom From Within) by Eric Albertson, the story of a man confined to a door-less, window-less room who is helped to freedom by a mysterious stranger.
In the 15-minute category, "5 Minutes," the story of a woman on the verge of suicide who is approached by a man claiming he is Jesus Christ, took top honors. The film was directed by Deborah Brown and filmed in Milan, Italy. Brown received the award from Batman Forever screenwriter Janet Scott Batchler.
"Joseph Henry" by Director Phil Allocco won the award in the 30-minute category, beguiling viewers with a contrast between thought and reality.
The Best of Show award was presented to Elinor Geller, who helmed "Spirit Child" a narrated and animated piece about a spirit child who lives happily in a cemetery until she unexpectedly stumbles into the dark. The award was presented by Damah juror and Japan's top film producer Kanjiro Sakura (White Out, Aegis) who sponsored the $2,000 cash prize.
"I have been involved with Damah over the past 5 years and have been greatly inspired by the short films," noted Sakura. " They have had a significant influence on me personally – both in a spiritual sense and practical sense. As a result, I have a desire to continue making influential films in Japan."
"We are very pleased with the festival this year" said the Executive Director of Damah, John Bucher. "We feel that these films truly capture the best in spiritually themed cinema."
Other highlights of the weekend included the Inside Pitch seminar with Chris Lockhart, Executive Story Editor at ICM, where aspiring writers ventured to the front of the theater, grabbed a microphone and pitched their ideas to the industry expert.
Scott Halford, the Director of the Foursite Film Festival and a first time attendee at Damah praised the festival: "Damah has been very accepting of different walks of life and is all embracing. No one was outwardly preachy, rather they were concerned with being pro-truth and it was very refreshing."
Winners were selected by a stellar cast of jurors which included X-Men helmer Ralph Winter, Janet Scott Batchler (Batman Forever), Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) and thirteen others.
For more information about the Damah Film Festival and to be added to the mailing list for next year's event, please visit www.damah.com or contact Laura Kobzeff at (916) 425-8820 info@damah.com.
2007 ACCEPTED/NOMINATED FILMS//
* indicates film has been nominated for best in perspective category
Freedom Within*
Roots
Gone*
Anything But Silent
Evocation*
Is this in my head?
Judas: One of Twelve
Endless Eternity
Harry's Second Chance*
Joseph Henry*
Broken Border*
Alex Scott: A Stand For Hope
Harvest*
The Healing*
Missing: Sri Lanka's Silent Tsunami
Heart of a Soul Surfer
MIRACULUM
Reading Time
5 Minutes*
When They Could Fly
PRETEND
Shams & Rumi: The Fragrance of Axis Mundi
FACELESS
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The Obscure Brother
Hollywood Photos of Katie Mills*
MIRAGE*
WEDNESDAY
Legacy
Reset
Fisherman*
Spirit Child*
Repressed Melodies*
Reunion
Interrogation*
What Have I Done?
Shopping Cart Named Desire
Brothers
Wrinkles*
Hajime
No I In Security
MIRACULOUS COLLISION
Earthman
TESTIFY
Certain Hill
Lone Elm
Two Creations
I Believe
All in Vain
Stories of Mercy: Rwanda
Loaded
Without Change
Secret son
Ari's Choice
Soul Collector
UNKNOWN SHORES
Cost of Compassion
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ABOUT THE CULVER STUDIOS//
You’ve been waiting and here it is….the
6th Annual Damah Film Festival.
This year again, we will be on the grounds of the uber-cool
Culver Studios, where some of the greatest movies
of all time were filmed: Orson Welles' classic "Citizen
Kane" (1941), the original "King Kong"
with Fay Wray (1933), Alfred Hitchcock's first American
film, "Rebecca" (1940), and yes, the unforgettable
"Gone With the Wind" (1939).
And for those of you who could care less about
the classics, maybe you would be impressed to know
they filmed part of the movie "Bewitched"
at the studio, and others like "The Rock,"
"Crazy in Alabama," "Stuart Little," “Armageddon," "Contact," "City
Slickers" and more. But many TV sitcoms (such
as NBC's "Mad About You" and CBS's "The
Nanny") were taped at Culver Studios. Recently,
they shot "Life With Bonnie" and "Arrested
Development" at Culver Studios, and before
that, you could have watched shows like "Bette,"
"Ladies Man," "Grown Ups" and
"Malcolm & Eddie". |
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Unlike other studios that look industrial,
Culver City Studios’ exterior facade is a
grand colonial mansion, a virtual copy of George
Washington's Mount Vernon, fronted by sweeping green
lawns, sculpted hedges, flowering rose bushes, and
the picturesque white "mansion" itself.
Without doubt, this is the most attractive of all
movie studios, and one that is clearly visible to
everyone driving down Culver City's Washington Boulevard.
(This article excerpted from Seeing-Stars.com) |
For more information, check out Culver
Studios.
The Culver Studios
9336 West Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 202-1234
Click
Here For Directions
ABOUT CULVER CITY//
“The Heart of Screenland”
We’re right in the middle of Culver City, in the
middle of Los Angeles, in the middle of everything. We
are six miles away from Santa
Monica, Venice
Beach Boardwalk, Beverly Hills, Marina
del Ray and only eight miles to the world famous Getty
Museum. So whether you’re into sidewalk circus,
sidewalk posh or sidewalk sculpture, it’s all here.
And don’t forget ice skating at the Culver City
Ice Arena or the Horn of Mary Davis of Saughall at the Museum of
Jurassic Technology.
Of course, the Damah films will be so fabulous, you won’t
be able to tear yourself away and have to schedule an
extra day to do all the sightseeing.
Festival Updates //
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once it is made available. Also, for signing up you will
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2007
Jurors | Purchase Damah Films-Volume 1-6
DVD's
Damah
2001 Winners | Damah
2002 Winners | Damah
2003 Winners | Damah
2005 Winners
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