Thousands of people attended the Garden State Film Festival's 17th annual celebration in Asbury Park last weekend (March 27-31, 2019).
The spectacular event spanned FIVE DAYS for the first time in the Festival's history, and welcomed over 26,000 celebrities, honorees, film industry execs and movie fans to multiple iconic venues throughout Asbury Park. In honor of the recently restored New Jersey Film & Digital Media Tax Credit Program, state VIPs Governor Phil Murphy and Secretary of State Tahesha Way helped to launch the Festivities at GSFF's elegant star-studded Red Carpet Gala Networking Event and Cocktail Party.
The Festival included networking opportunities, industry workshops, informative panel discussions, open talent casting call, live screenplay reading, star-studded red carpet gala and entertaining parties - all in addition to the screenings of over 245 films from over 20 countries around the globe.
The weekend culminated with the 2019 Garden State Film Festival Awards Gala Dinner event on Sunday evening, where this year's honorees were recognized and Festival winners were announced. This was also the first year GSFF recognized actors with awards.
Several of the more notable winners at this year's
Garden State Film Festival were:
Narrative Feature
"Burning Kentucky"
Bethany Brooke Anderson, Ben Fuqua, Elsa Ramo and
Ryan Lacen, Producers
Bethany Brooke Anderson, Director
International Narrative Feature
"The Bird Catcher"
Lisa G. Black and Leon Clarence, Producers
Ross Clarke, Director
M. Carroll Raver Award for Cinematography
John Christian Rosenlund
"The Bird Catcher"
Horror Feature
"Clinton Road"
Steve Stanulis, Richard Grieco and Noel Ashman, Producers
Steve Stanulis and Richard Grieco, Directors
Narrative Short
"Missed"
Niels Neeskens and Fokke Baarssen, Producers
Fokke Baarssen, Director
Science Fiction Short
"The Beacon"
Chris Staehler, Christopher P. Purdy and
Thomas Haley-Hermiz, Producers
Chris Staehler, Director
Lou Costello Award for Comedy Short
"Swung"
Keith Armonaitis and Fokke Baarssen, Producers
Fokke Baarssen, Director
International Narrative Short
"Are You Volleyball?"
(Iran)
Nima Rabiei, Producer
Mohammad Bakhshi, Director
International Comedy Short
"Kapital"
(Russia)
Ivan Perekatov and Natalia Bannikova, Producers
Ivan Perekatov, Director
Emanuel "Manny" Berlingo Award for Best Feature Length Documentary
"Funny You Never Knew"
Andrew Hunt, Producer/Director
"One Less Flight"
Jennifer Hahn and Alan Goldsher, Producer
Jennifer Hahn, Director
International Short Documentary
"Portrait of the Milliner as yer man himself"
(Ireland/Canada)
Godfrey Jordan, Producer/Director
Animated Short
"Two Balloons"
Mark C. Smith, Producer/Director
Teresa Darling, Naomi Fish, Wendy Fuller, Beth Gavigan, Javan Ivey, Misha Klein, Sihanouk Mariona, Vanessa Pridgen, Bartiek Prusiewicz
and Suzanne Twining, Animators
Commercial
"Art of Play"
Dan Buck and Dave Buck, Producers
Homer Liwag, Director
Web Series/New Media
"Hooked"
Brittany Portman, Producer
Anthony Patellis, Director
Music Video
"Waiting Tables"
Sakinah Iman, Producer
Evan Seplow and Sakinah Iman, Directors
Trailer
"Shady Glen"
Ron Harner, Director
Feature - College
"Olympia"
(DePaul University)
Elliott Lonsdale, Lucy Lola Manda and Gregory Dixon, Producers
Gregory Dixon, Director
Narrative Short - College
"The Chrysalis"
(Quinnipiac University)
Matt Kravitsky, Richard Olsen and Ross Cohen, Producers
Matt Kravitsky, Director
Documentary Short - College
"Reberth"
(Rowen University)
Montana Marose, Peter Chamalian and Tyler Kubicz, Producers
Peter Chamalian, Director
International Narrative Short - College
"Toward the Sun"
(London School of Film)
Rosa Santis, Producer
Monica Santis, Director
Narrative Short - High School
"Grab Him by the-"
(Interlochen Arts Academy, MI)
Lane McKenna, Director
Documentary Short - High School
"Inclusion on the Air"
(Mamaroneck High School, NY)
Eli Canter, Director
The Garden State Film Festival would like to recognize films shot in the State of New Jersey with the following winners in the "Home Grown Award" categories:
Home Grown Feature
"The Incoherents"
Alex Emanuel, Jared Barel, Jeff Auer and Jordan Barel, Producers
Jared Barel, Director
Home Grown Documentary Feature
"Roadie My Documentary"
TJ Hoffmann, Producer
Andy Strohl, Director
Home Grown Short
"Scar"
Alison Hale, Jo Sanford, David Ramirez and Spencer Bacon, Producers
Alison Hale, Director
Home Grown Comedy Short
"Masters"
Mark Ward and Shannon Meehan, Producers
Mark Ward, Director
Home Grown Documentary Short
"First Steps"
Lou Marillier, Chloe Mamelok and Sara Obeidat, Producers
Lou Marillier and Chloe Mamelok, Directors
Home Grown Music Video
"Everybody Said"
Brian Ostering, Producer
Amanda Duncan, Director
Home Grown Commercial
Nike Spec Commercial "Can't Catch the Dark"- 126 (38)
Jordan Hidalgo, Director
Home Grown Student Short - College
"Catalina"
(Montclair)
Afrotwin Productions and Paola Ossa, Producers
Poala Ossa, Director
Home Grown Student Documentary Short - High School
"Sonic Highways Middletown"
(Middletown South High School)
Keeley Giblin, Jolene Gianone and Toria Pater, Directors
Home Grown Student Short - High School
"Tillie"
(Fieldston)
Olivia Anton, Writer/Director
Home Grown Student Short - High School Honorable Mention
"The Art of Observation"
(Howell High School)
Annie Fleisch, Director
Home Grown Student PSA - High School
"Are you Enough"
(Communications High School)
Summer Ward, Director
The Garden State Film Festival Movie Music Competition Winners:
Best Theme From A Comedy
He's A Beautiful Boy (Theme from Lil' Balzac)"
Composer: Jan van Oene
Performed by: Jan van Oene, Evan Lincoln, and Shannon Burke
Best Orchestration From A Documentary
World Water Puerto Rico - Main Theme
Composer: Kenneth Blaine
Performed by: Kenneth Blaine
Best Theme From A Home Grown Feature
"The Hospital Room"
Composers: Alan Parness & Larry Weissblum
Performed by: The Stonebridge Jammers
Best Orchestration From An Animation
"Never Give Up"
Composed, orchestrated and conducted by: Sandrine Rudaz
Performed by: Seattle Studio Musicians
Best Musical Score from a Short
"Circus Fantasy"
Composer: Kevin Stahl
Conducted by: Kevin Stahl
Best Musical Score from a Feature
"Fox Medicine"
Composer: Josh Coffey and Otto Sharp
Performed by: Josh Coffey, Otto Sharp, Stephen Montgomery
Home Grown Alternative Rock
"How the Hell Am I Getting Home?"
Composer: Milan Lazistan III, John Busse, Edwin Estevez Jr.
Performed by: Milan & The Sour Goat III
Best Ballad From A Short Film
"Wild One" (The Ballad of Brando)
Composer: Philip Curcuru
Performed by: The Atomik Age Project
Best Pop Song
"Far Away Places"
Composed by: Toni Cornell
Performed by: Toni Cornell
Best Orchestration From An Animated Short
"Skip Rescues Pip"
Composer: Cristina "Trinity" Vélez-Justo
Best Music From a Home Grown Student -Elementary School
"MP News Theme"
Composer: Robert Shiffman
Best Home Grown Pop Duet
"You"
Composed by: Marc McBarron
Performed by: Marc McBarron Kessler and Aileen Quinn
Garden State Screenplay Competition Winner
Drew Henriksen
"A Brooklyn Christmas"
The Garden State Film Festival ("GSFF") is proud to announce the winners for its first ever acting awards:
Best Actor - Feature Film
Jeff Burrell - "Robin"
Best Actress - Feature Film
Sarah-Sofie Boussnina - "The Bird Catcher"
Best Supporting Actor - Feature Film
Jacob Cedergren - "The Bird Catcher"
Best Supporting Actress - Feature Film
Talulah Riley - "The Last Witness"
Best Actor - Short Film
Dan Franco - "The Recursion Theorem"
Best Actress - Short Film
Casey Landman - "Scar"
Best Supporting Actor - Short Film
Matt Riker - "Let Mercy Come"
Best Supporting Actress - Short Film
Michelle Hurst - "Baby Won't You Please Come Home"
Ensemble Acting
"Breathing"
Ali Ataeehoor, Salar Daryamadj, Hamed Sheikhi, Saeed Ahmadi, Hesam Kalantari, Meysam Damanze, Sajad Rostami and
Arash Gholam Azad
Honorees
Honorary Chair
Broader Vision
John R. Elliott Hero Campaign for Designated Drivers
MVP
Kim Waltrip
Educators of the Year
Erin Gomez & Linda Krebs
Exceptional Women in Film Award
The Garden State Film Festival Rising Star Award for Acting
A complete listing of all winners can be found at: https://www.gsff.org/winners/
Videos