2018 Film Selections

Awarded Titles

“More Than a Word” –
Directed by Kenn & John Little
Jury Selection Best Documentary Feature Film
http://www.morethanawordfilm.com

More Than A Word analyzes the Washington football team and their use of the derogatory term R*dskins. Using interviews from both those in favor of changing the name and those against, More Than A Word presents a deeper analysis of the many issues surrounding the Washington team name. More Than A Word also examines the history of Native American mascots and cultural appropriation.

“Water Warriors”
Directed by Michael Premo
Jury Selection & Audience Choice Best Documentary Short Film
http://www.storyline.media/waterwarriors

Water Warriors is a short film and multimedia photo exhibition about one community’s resistance against seemingly insurmountable odds.

In 2013, Texas-based SWN Resources arrived in New Brunswick, Canada to begin seismic testing to determine the extent of the region’s recoverable natural gas. The area is known for its forestry, farming and fishing industries, which are both commercial and small-scale subsistence operations that poor rural communities depend on. In response, a multicultural group of unlikely warriors—including members of the Mi’kmaq Elsipogtog First Nation, French-speaking Acadians and white anglophone families—set up a series of road blockades, sometimes on fire, preventing exploration. After months of resistance, their efforts not only halted drilling; they elected a new government and won an indefinites moratorium on fracking in the province that was announced in May 2016.

“Clear”
Directed by Maya Washington
Jury Selection Best Narrative Short Film

CLEAR follows Ember Bearheart Johnson’s first day at home after a 16-year prison sentence for a crime she didn’t commit. Reuniting with her daughter (who was an infant at the time she was incarcerated) is bittersweet as she uncovers how her family’s lives have gone on without her all these years. Through fictional narrative, CLEAR illuminates a common struggle for exonerees—namely, that coming together is easy but picking up the pieces is a whole other thing.

Documentary Feature Films

Documentary Short Films

Narrative Short Films