That’s a Wrap! Vashon Island Festival 2024 Awards Announced
4 min read
Vashon Island Film Festival (VIFF) just wrapped their third annual festival August 11th. They announced the recipients of RED BICYCLE AWARDS at a ceremony held in The Backlot of the island’s cultural landmark, Vashon Theatre.
The jury awards were selected in an anonymous voting process by actor Dian Bachar (Orgazmo, BASEketball), writer/director Justin Foia (Point Defiance, DOE), and VIFF alums Olivia Kuan (The Herricanes, VIFF 2023), writer/director Paris Zarcilla (Raging Grace, VIFF 2023), and actress/producer Decker Sadowski (Juniper, VIFF 2022). The audience awards were determined by attendees.
The Winners Are…
The Quartermaster Award for Excellence in Feature Filmmaking went to director Guan Hu’s Black Dog, which follows a man named Lang as he returns to his hometown after being released from jail and strikes up an unlikely connection with a stray dog. The film also took home Best Director (Guan Hu), Best Screenplay (Ge Rui and Guan Hu), and Best Cinematography (Gao Weizhe).
Guan Hu’s film Black Dog Wins Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography & The Quartermaster Award for Excellence in Feature Filmmaking
Director Guan Hu’s Black Dog (North American Premiere), Un Certain Regard Award and Palm Dog Grand Jury Prize Winner at Cannes 2024, takes place on the edge of the Gobi Desert in Northwest China, as Lang (Eddie Peng) returns to his hometown after being released from jail. While working for the local dog patrol team, led by Uncle Yao (Jia Zhang-Ke), that is clearing the town of stray dogs before the Beijing Olympics, he strikes up an unlikely connection with a black dog (Xiaoxin) and the two lonely outcasts find purpose in each other.
Audience Award!
The Audience Award for Best Feature went to director Brendan Gabriel Murphy’s Fluxx which finds actress Vada Pierce desperate for answers after she awakens in a bathtub with no memory of prior events and discovers that her home has been ransacked and her husband is missing.
Short films
The Burton Award for Excellence in Short Filmmaking went to director Jack Dunphy’s Bob’s Funeral, which also won the Audience Award for Best Short, a multi-media documentary that mixes family videos with various animation styles in search of the root of generational trauma and familial estrangement.
Production Design matters…
Best Production Design went to Brandon Tonner-Connolly for I Saw the TV Glow, which is a once-in-a-generation horror film that follows suburban teenager Owen, whose classmate Maddy introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show that is a vision of the supernatural world beneath their own.
Best Editing & Best Original Music
Best Editing went to Kathryn Robson & Chris Gibson and Best Original Music went to Chris Ruggiero, both for Resynator, which chronicles director Alison Tavel’s journey through the unsettling secrets and complex truths of her late father, inventor Don Tavel, who built a synthesizer prototype before his death when she was only ten months old.
Best Actor
Best Actor went to Everett Blunck for Griffin in Summer, the fourteen-year-old title character who spends summer vacation putting on a dramatic new play until his attention drifts to kindred spirit Brad, a zoned-out handyman and failed performance artist.
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actor went to Eryk Lubos for Swarm (Rój), the patriarch of a family self-exiled on a remote island until his wife expresses a desire to return to the world from which they are hiding.
Best shortCUTZ (sponsored by C’Mon Barber, owned and operated by islander Tara Morgan) went to Boo by Jake Conroy, chronicling the adventures of a young girl after moving to a remote island. Jake wins a year of free haircuts and passes to the Vashon Theatre.
VIFF 2024 Exceeded Expectations
“We met our goals and even exceeded our expectations,” concludes VFI President, CEO of distributor and sales entity The Forge, and longtime island resident Mark Mathias Sayre. “Our audience fell in love with the films, and the filmmakers fell in love with the island. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.”
For those planning WAY ahead, the 4th Annual Vashon Island Film Festival will take place August 7-10, 2025. See you next time!
Today’s RabbleRouse News MOMENT OF VENN
About Vashon Film Institute
Founded by veteran independent film producer and distribution executive Mark Mathias Sayre, the Vashon Film Institute is dedicated to fostering independent filmmaking in the Pacific Northwest, including the Vashon Island Film Festival; the Quartermaster Lab (“Qlab”), a collective of filmmaking programs; and VFIpresents, its production and release arm. Its Board of Directors presently includes five individuals with island roots: Eric Perley, Isaac Mann, Peter Serko, Jess Tilden, and Kim Voynar.
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