1st Place
Cheantay JensenLong Beach Post
Judges Comments
Well executed film! A simple story of identity and belonging told through the unique lens of leather-making. Each of the story elements - voice-over, visuals and music brought the story forward, although for such a short piece, I felt like there were a few too many music tracks. Overall a nicely rounded film. Special mention for the editing.
Beautifully shot, nice textural details of his process, and an interesting choice of subject, something we don't see every day.
2nd Place
Matt BurkharttGreenville News
Judges Comments
Fine production quality, one more audio pass would’ve made it perfect. Great use of historical images - weaving it through the narrative with the music gave it a poetic quality. I was dreamily transported to Greenville and was saddened to see how it’s changing – good emotional appeal. I was hoping to see Winston (who appeared at the beginning) to come back towards the end, there was something moving about his connection to home. Overall beautiful imagery, presented with integrity.
Nice balance of voices here, on a topic that is facing so many communities right now. However, could have been edited more tightly. For instance, loved the skatepark anecdote but given its location in the edit, didn't seem to advance the story; Mandy Blankenship’s quote about “everybody knew everybody, played with each other’s kids” is pretty similar to Doug Denton’s earlier description of life in the mill village, not sure we need both.
-would have loved to see more people in the neighborhoods, or scenes of the interviewees in the neighborhood. Would have loved more Winston.
-some audio levels and transitions from nat sound into interview were a little inconsistent.
3rd Place
Lauren M SchneidermanThe Philadelphia Inquirer
Judges Comments
A simple film told with sensitivity. More personal memories of Paul Wilkins shared by his relatives would make it more memorable. The funeral shots are moving, although it would’ve been nice to see more of Paul’s photos in his early days (if any) that would complement the memories shared by relatives, giving us a better sense of who he was.
Judges: Mika Chance/OceanX & Zulfiya Hamzaki/Documentary Filmmaker