Celebrating the seventh year, the New Hampshire Film Festival (NHFF) kicked off this year’s festival with New Hampshire Film Night on Thursday, Oct. 11.
The night was dedicated to New Hampshire filmmakers, with the New Hampshire Jury Award won by Stephen Croke for his work on the feature film, The Busker. The New Hampshire Jury panel consisted of local industry experts including Mark Constance, Producer/Partner, a713production; Rick Broussard, Editor, NH Magazine; Dan Bolduc, District Promotions Coordinator, Regal Entertainment Group; Gina Carbone, Seacoast Media Group; and Katie McQuaid, Director, NewHampshire.com.
After 61 films, numerous workshops, and all-access parties, winners from this year’s film festival were announced at closing ceremonies on Sunday. The Grand Jury Panel made up of three well regarded industry experts judged the best overall film of the entire festival. The Grand Jury Award for best film was awarded to Dave McLaughlin for his work with “On Broadway,” starring Eliza Dushku, Joey McIntyre, Jill Flint, and Nashua-native Mike O’Mally.
The Grand Jury Award is an amazing opportunity for filmmakers to have their work seen by highly successful members of the independent film industry. This year’s Grand Jury panel members included Tracey Becker, Independent Film Producer; Carol Patten, president, CEO, and publisher of Imagine Entertainment News; and Hilary Weisman Graham, Television Producer/Filmmaker.
The New Hampshire Film Festival is proud to honor the best films and screenplay with its annual presentation of the Granny Awards. And the winners are…
- Best Feature Film: “The Sensation of Sight,” Directed by Aaron Wiederspahn
- Best Short Comedy Film: “The Job,” Directed by Jonathan Browning
- Best Short Drama Film: “The Little Gorilla,” Directed by Harry Kellerman
- Best Documentary Film: “Row Hard, No Excuses,” Directed by Luke Wolbach
- Best Animation Film: “One Rat Short,” Directed by Alex Weil
- Best Student Film: “Neptunus Rex,” Directed by Robert Scott Wildes
- Best Screenplay: “Voices,” Written by Susan Klos
“Every year the quality and the number of films we receive improve,” said Nicole Gregg, festival director. “This year’s film festival was the most competitive yet. Not only were the New Hampshire films excellent, but we had many national and international films that have won acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival, Sundance, and even Academy Award nominees.”
The 7th Annual NH Film Festival marked record film entries and attendance, with more than 6,500 patrons coming out to enjoy films all weekend. The film festival attracted more than 500 submissions, doubling the submissions from last year. The festival is one of the largest in New England, screening an average of 60 films from more than a dozen states and many different countries each year. Nearly all of the films shown would never have screened in New Hampshire without the festival.
