Managing director Aurora Martin awards the Tulalip Cares Prize to Honor Riders director Ralphina Hernandez.
After much deliberation, we’re thrilled to announce the prize-winning films of this year’s Social Justice Film Festival. Here are a few highlights, and you can scroll down for the complete list of winners.
Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine—Gold Jury Prize for Feature Film—vividly documents Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and local citizens’ resistance in Ukraine.
Gold Mettle—Gold Jury Prize for Documentary Short Film—follows several soccer teams competing during Special Olympics Weekend at Villanova University. An audience favorite, the film shows the joys and struggles of players who aim high both on and off the pitch.
Honor Riders—winner of the inaugural Tulalip Cares Prize for top Native American film—profiles a group of motorcycle riders on the Navajo and Hopi reservations who set out to honor the first Native American woman soldier killed in Iraq. The ride has become a tradition through which tribal members unite to commemorate fallen warriors and heal veterans’ and their families’ pain.
“Some of the most beloved films this year featured people facing down powerful institutions and making their voices heard,” says Festival Director Anne Paxton. “Films showed us the profound impact of reframing conventional thinking and resisting injustice through theatre, sports, and dance as well as through collective political action.”
Complete List of 2017 Awards
Gold Jury Prize – Feature
Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine, directed by Mark Jonathan Harris (USA) and Oles Sanin (Ukraine)
Silver Jury Prize – Feature
American Circumcision, directed by Brendon Marotta (USA)
Bronze Jury Prize – Feature
It’s Criminal, directed by Signe Taylor (USA)
Gold Jury Prize – Documentary Short
Gold Mettle, directed by Nick Carney (USA)
Silver Jury Prize – Documentary Short
The Gathering, directed by Micki Dickoff (USA)
Bronze Jury Prize – Documentary Short
Rohingya Testimony, directed by Shafiur Rahman (Bangladesh/United Kingdom)
Gold Jury Prize – Narrative Short
The Cage, directed by Ricky Staub (USA)
Silver Jury Prize – Narrative Short
New Neighbors, directed by E.G. Bailey (USA)
Bronze Jury Prize – Narrative Short
I Seek Asylum, directed by Anna Southgate (United Kingdom)
Best Animation
The Wall, directed by Nick Baker and Tristan Klein (Australia)
Best MicroShort
Primary Colours, directed by Derek Price (Canada)
Tulalip Cares Prize
Honor Riders, directed by Ralphina Hernandez (USA)
Directors’ Choice Award
Dogs of Democracy, directed by Mary Zournazi (Australia/Greece)
Youth Visions Prize – Gold
The Sunrise Storyteller, directed by Kasha Sequoia Slavner (Canada)
Youth Visions Prize – Silver
Hell You Talmbout, directed by Denzel Boyd, Tyler Rabinowitz and Joseph Webb (USA)
Youth Visions Prize – Bronze
STOP. Directed by Jules Retzlaff (USA)
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