Greg Radcliff, Best Actor for USA Dramatic Short, Of a Grateful Nation

Stay Woke, The Class Analysis, Of a Grateful Nation, USA Dramatic Short Winners!

Updated May 30, 2019 The results are in for #CIAFF 2018 USA & INTL winners! USA Winners, PDF, INTL Winners, PDF. A-Z by Title/Submitter, PDF. #CIAFF 2018 Live Event DOM, PDF. If you’re a submitter, please don’t hesitate to contact us if we’ve made a spelling/attribution error or committed an oversight. Read here; CIAFF 2018 Program, PDF. Awards, #CIAFF 2017. Find updates at our Twitter.

The Class Analysis by Jim Politano & Webb Pickersgill
The Class Analysis by Jim Politano & Webb Pickersgill

Submit your film, song, music video, screenplay, or art/photography to the Colorado International Activism Film Festival #CIAFF 2019 and also, Colorado International SciFi & Fantasy Film Festival #CISFFF 2019.

Submissions for #CICHFF2020, are now being accepted. Our recent event was held Sunday, April 14, 2019, 3-9 PM at The Bug Theater, 3654 Navajo Street, Denver, Colorado. Usually, you can get tickets at FilmFreeway within a month or so of our events.

This year’s film festivals are being held at 3654 Navajo Street, Denver Colorado 80211, The Bug Theater. The venue is located in the historic Navajo Street Arts District.

Parking on the street is often plentiful and there is a parking lot located just across the street, which is $5. Learn more. Also here.

Here’s how to create an account for submitting: FilmFreeway. Submissions are now open for #CIAFF 2019, Cannabis & Hemp, #CICHFF 2019, SciFi & Fantasy, #CISFFF 2018. Contact us re: online voting opportunity via DOM. Also, when you publish articles about your work at Films for Action, we’ll link to and/or re-publish them. Just keep us posted and let us know how we can help you. We’re happy to share your links and promote your work on social media. Check out our Colorado International Activism Film Festival Facebook page.

Stay Woke Film by Langston Hughes
Stay Woke Film by Langston Hughes

#CIAFF 2018 Documentary Short Award Winners include Puerto Rico: Citizens in Peril by Rich Henrich & Danny Seymour and Skating Cuba by Matt Jeffery.

On the eve of an election, the lives of a politician trying to reconnect with the people he once represented, two African American youth frustrated by a recent police killing, and a police officer who desires to do the right thing will all collide. Stay Woke (2017), has received our award for Best Cinematography for a USA Dramatic Short Film; in addition, the film is this season’s recipient of the highly coveted Most “Hip & Cool” for a USA Dramatic Short and Best Titles, Graphics, Art/Animation for a USA Dramatic Short.

Stay Woke (2017) director, Langston A. Hughes made his decision to pursue film as a career while sitting in the audience at Southern University listening to Spike Lee talk about his path to becoming a filmmaker. A few years later, Langston found himself in film school working towards a similar end. He writes, “My aim in filmmaking is to make films that are relevant, timely, and timeless.

Langston’s interest in these topics piqued when he came to the University of New Orleans shortly before the killing of Mike Brown and the inception of the Black Lives Matter movement. He says, “I have watched it grow and gain momentum. I have seen it take on some good fights and also some bad ones….”

He continues, “In broad brush strokes, my goal was to paint a picture of an encounter with the police and an African American youth in which all parties play a role in what happens in the end. I wanted to go for a gray zone ending because, except for in a very small number of cases, there is usually something that the victim could have done to ease his brutal treatment. So the plot lives in the gray zone, but I also address at the end what I believe to be the solution to the problem. That solution is love. As the blame game ensues, things only spiral out of control.”

 

Meanwhile, in a quiet mining town’s local bar, an Aryan Brotherhood biker, a wealthy black businessman, a peaceful Muslim, a poor Hispanic couple, and the Vietnam Vet bar owner are thrust into a corrosive argument.

The Class Analysis (2014), directed by Webb Pickersgill, written by Jim Politano and produced by Melissa K. Webb, is the recipient of this season’s award for Best Acting for a USA Dramatic Short. Also, Best Production Design for a USA Dramatic Short and Best Costumes, Make-up and SFX for a USA Dramatic Short.

The film is an intense, controversial and shocking sci-fi drama about six racist bar patrons that get into a heated violent argument, only to find peace in a most unexpected way. It’s also Winner of the Best Short Film award at the Sci-On International Film Festival in Reno, Nevada.

As a cinematographer, Webb has credits in feature film, short film, new media (web series), commercial, and TV. He has worked with a wide variety of cameras, formats and technologies including RED (Epic, Scarlett, One), Sony (F5, F3, EX3, EX1, F350), Canon (5DmkIII, 5DmkII, 7D, 60D, XLH1), Panasonic (HPX500, HVX200).

Webb has directed the photography for 9 feature films and several award-winning spots. At the 9th annual Phoenix Film Festival he was awarded the Arizona Filmmaker of the Year.

Puerto Rico: Citizens in Peril by Rich Henrich & Danny Seymour is an Award Winner at #CIAFF 2018
Puerto Rico: Citizens in Peril by Rich Henrich & Danny Seymour

When he’s not directing amazing films, The Class Analysis director is a bass player! Webb lives in Louisville, CO with his awesome wife Sharon and his 3 children Ashley, Trinity, and Zion.

Webb writes about his work at his blog. “My biggest influences over the years include bands like Rush and Dream Theater. My favorite bassists include Geddy Lee, Stuart Hamm, Billy Sheehan, John Myung, Victor Wooten, Flea, Jaco Pastorius, John Patitucci, and Brian Bromberg.”

Of a Grateful Nation is this season’s recipient of Best in Show for a USA Dramatic Short and Best Direction for a USA Dramatic Short. In addition, Greg Radcliff has earned the Best Actor for a USA Dramatic Short award. Filmmaker Adam J. Reeb is a veteran of the United States Navy.

Unprescribed by Steve Ellmore and Allegiance Films, July 27th at DOM
Unprescribed by Steve Ellmore July 27th at DOM

On a similar note, in 2019, one of our submitters, Steve Ellmore, plans to screen his film about veteran suicide and cannabis legalization, Sat., July 27th at Denver Open Media (DOM). Learn more about this event.

Are you interested in Cannabis and Hemp topics, in general? Check out Colorado International Cannabis & Hemp Film Festival #CICHFF2020.

Cannabis is simply the scientific name given to the Marijuana plant. Some states, such as Colorado, have legalized the plant for recreational use much like alcohol. While many states and territories have passed legislation making the distribution and use of Cannabis legal for patients diagnosed with cancers and other medical conditions, others still arrest and jail innocent people for using it. With the federal government agreeing that there are, in fact, many valuable uses for cannabis & hemp, one has to wonder when the use of the plant will become common across DC, Alaska, Hawaii and the states.

Other #CIAFF2018 nominees and winners in the USA Dramatic Short category include 808 by Meilani Wenska, Cashed by Serena Ryen, Disclosure by Thomas Penton, and Make America Black Again by Leon Robinson. Submit now, #CIAFF 2019.