Fearless Film Festival 3 (3F3) Names Winners

Fort Worth, Texas—Fort Worth filmmaker Evan Odell has broken the hold of foreign films on Fearless Film Festival’s top honor with Pleasant Dreams, the 3F3 2009 Best of Show winning sci-fi take on living a dream directed by Lam Chui and written and produced by Odell.

Winners include Best Locally Produced Film Forgotten Frames 2.0, the sequel to Jeremy Snead’s Fearless Film Festival 2 winning entry in the same category; The Mirror, which won Best Animation and Best Youth film, by Rachel Racanelli, director; and Best Student Film Gillface, an unconventional love story from David McGinnis, director and student at The University of Texas at Arlington. A full list of winners and the schedule of screenings is attached.

Though narratives were the trend among this year’s entries, films entered ran the gamut from sci-fi thrillers to historical drama, even a musical.

“This year’s field was quite impressive,” 3F3 organizer and filmmaker Melissa Kirkendall said. “The panel of judges had a tough time making the final selections.”

Jurors from the local film community screened entries and selected winners in 3F3, the film competition that makes moving pictures part of MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival.

Winning films in 3F3 will be screened free to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 1:15 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 18-19 in the David L. Tandy Lecture Hall in the Fort Worth Central Library. 3F3 is presented as part of the “Off MAIN!” series of performances in venues both on and off Main Street–including the library, the Jubilee Theater, UT Arlington/Fort Worth Center, Circle Theater, Four Day Weekend Theater, McDavid Studio, and Bass Hall–during MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival.

Filmmakers’ panels, new this year to the Fearless Film series, survey legal frameworks for as well as resources available to Texas filmmakers in three sessions Saturday, April 18 in the downtown library’s Chappell Meeting Room.

Panels are:

• Copyright Law & Fair Usage, 1 to 2 p.m.
  Panelists are Tamera Bennett, a copyright attorney; Linda Kordek, music talent agent for The Agency Group; Carty Talkington, feature film director/producer best known for Love and a .45; and Mark A. Nobles, producer.
• Texas Filmmakers Resources, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
  Panelists are Meg Gould, assistant director Dallas Film Commission; Bryan Poyser, director of artist services for the Austin Film Society; and Tiffany Kieran, DFW area producer and production manager.
• Texas Filmmakers Grant workshop by Bryan Poyser, 3:45 to 4:45 p.m.
  Poyser, director of artist services for the Austin Film Society, leads this Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund workshop. Since 1996, the Austin Film Society’s Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund has supported Texas filmmakers by awarding $930,000 in cash, goods and services to 265 film and video projects. Deadline for the 2009 cycle is June 1, and filmmakers who have resided in Texas for at least one year are eligible to apply for up to $25,000 in project funding. Poyser will leader filmmakers through the application process step-by-step.

3F3 is open to short films of up to 20 minutes and honors the best in categories ranging from documentary and narrative to experimental, animation, dance, music video and trailer as well as best of show. Winners are awarded cash and non-cash prizes including a coveted $5,000 rental credit with Panavision.

The film festival complements visual and performing arts showcased in MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival, now one of the nation’s top three fine arts fairs, and the short film focus was a natural, Kirkendall said.

“A short film festival works especially well for MAIN ST. because the public is able to see many films in a short period time, just as they can enjoy the work of many artists on the street. You can stop in at the library and see three completely different kinds of film, and it’s all part of a day at MAIN ST.,” Kirkendall said.

The film festival has an international appeal, and a foreign film won Best of Show in the Fearless Film Festival for each of the previous two years. Spanish filmmaker Ciro Altabas’ entry, Made in Japan, was named Best Foreign Film and Best of Show in 2008. Another Spanish filmmaker, Lucas Figueroa, took Best of Show honors for Boletos Por Favor in the premiere Fearless Film Festival in 2007.

MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival packs downtown Fort Worth each spring with a celebration of fine arts and crafts, music, film and food stretching from the Tarrant County Courthouse to the Fort Worth Convention Center in downtown Fort Worth.

More than 200 juried artists and fine crafts exhibitors will line brick-paved Main Street, joined by musicians and dancers on three stages. Performance artists and food and drink vendors complete the scene, and Fort Worth’s signature skyline blending turn-of-the-century buildings and modern skyscrapers frames this regional favorite. Admission is free.

MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival April 16-19 celebrates its 24th year in 2009 and is presented by Coors Light. Official Sponsors for 2009 are American Airlines, Chase, Sundance Square, Target, Texas Lincoln Mercury Dealers, and XTO Energy. Media Sponsors include CBS 11/TXA 21 and D Magazine as well as radio stations WRR 101.1, Mix 102.9, 102.1 The Edge, 106.1 KISS FM, 95.9 FM The Ranch, Country Legends 92.1, and Lone Star 92.5. Supporting Sponsors include Coca-Cola Bottling Company of North Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association, Fort Worth Transportation Authority, Green Mountain Energy, the Star-Telegram, and The University of Texas at Arlington.

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