Absolute Anger
Chris Green
Best feature Drama Canada
Chris Green is a filmmaker from Toronto, Ontario. He is a graduate of the Ryerson University Film Studies diploma program, and he has produced several short films including Arnie Juice, which played in four film festivals across Canada, and Trials and Revelations which premiered at the Action on Film Festival in Los Angeles, and several Film Festival screened films that have played more than a dozen Film Festivals.
Deep Blue
Howard Allen Best Feature Drama
Canada /Antigua & Barbuda Showcase
Howard Allen is a film and television director/producer and the founder of HAMA Productions. While his career in television spans more than 35 years, he made his feature film directorial debut in 2001 with the release of The Sweetest Mango a romantic comedy based on how he and his wife met and fell in love.
The Sweetest Mango became Antigua and Barbuda’s first locally produced feature film and the first indigenous feature film for the Eastern Caribbean. It has become an iconic film that is still being screened after appearing at several film festivals in North America and the Caribbean and made its world-television premiere on the Caribbean Cable Network Caribvision via DirecTV. It is now archived at the Toronto International Film Festival Bell Lightbox Reference Library.
David Rouben
Art Of Hope
Best Short Documentary Canada
Born and raised in Toronto. I got the knack for filmmaking when I went through journalism school. Currently pursuing a degree in education, and was given a unique opportunity to meld the two of those passions together.
Behind The Mask
Honorable Mention
Heath Fletcher
Canada
A guru in creative marketing, photography, video & film production and design, Heath’s charismatic and magnetic approach brings a heightened level of enthusiasm and possibility to all that he does. Heath has been supporting creative projects through visionary leadership and influence in Canada for over 30 years.
Amy Miller
Best Feature Documentary
Maufacturing The Threat Canada
Amy Miller is an award winning writer, director and producer based in Montréal. Her documentaries have been screened in over 100 festivals throughout the world, and have been broadcast in over a dozen countries. She remains dedicated to developing critical documentaries for transformative social change and helping out grassroots campaigns for justice.
Tibi Tendlu; The Dirt that Binds Us
Mari Gardner
Honorable Mention
USA
Gardner went to Eswatini as a Fulbright Fellow of the African Regional Research program to study the benefits of using participatory filmmaking and photography as a vehicle for self reflection, healing trauma and empowering community. The 2 year film and photography project resulted in a book and a documentary film that were driven entirely by the female participants. It was a collective effort that not only led to personal growth within the the group, but continues to inspire the Eswatini communities at large, slowly chipping away at the patriarchal society. The female directors' goal is that their film, Tibi Tendlu, the Dirt the Binds Us, is able to ignite hope in women around the world.
When Hope Breaks Through
Matthew Wagner
Honorable Mention
USA/CanadaMatthew is a Michigan-based director & cinematographer. His previous documentary “Charro & Steed” has won awards (including “Best Director,” “Best Editing,” and “Best Documentary” at film festivals in the Great Lakes region and across the United States. He is passionate about telling stories in a way that leaves an emotional impact to inspire change.
Broken Promise
Kurt Norton
Honorable Mention
USA
After a successful career working as a licensed Private Investigator specializing on death penalty cases, Kurt switched paths to focus on documentary filmmaking. He co-directed and co-produced THESE AMAZING SHADOWS in 2011, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, distributed through IFC, and had multiple broadcasts on the PBS series Independent Lens. He followed by producing the documentary, BEING GEORGE CLOONEY, a lively look into the world of the audio dubbing of Hollywood movies for the international market (2016 – Netflix Worldwide); THE S WORD, a stirring glimpse into the lives of suicide survivors; co-produced THE DEEP SKY (2017) a narrative feature.
BronX BandA: Arturo O'Farrill & The Bronx
Taylor Krauss
Honoable Mention
USA
Taylor Krauss recently produced & directed feature documentary BRONX BANDA: ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE BRONX; short documentary NUCLEAR FALLOUT about the Enewetak Clean-Up Veterans fight for health care justice; DP'd four seasons of AXIOS ON HBO; and is currently directing a feature documentary about the 2014 genocide against the Yezidi in Iraq.