2022 AuntyLand Film Festival Awards Announced

    NEW YORK, NY, June 14, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The jury has deliberated and the audience has voted. AuntyLand Film Festival's (ALFF) inaugural festival awards were announced recently. The award-winning filmmakers will each receive a cash prize.

"The top five Grand Jury Awards and top three Audience-Festival Favorite films were recognized for excellence in independent storytelling," said Sylvia Wong Lewis, festival director.

"Bold, intersectional, and culture-focused stories prevailed across all categories. These awards recognize brilliant, visionary artists whose dynamic work will shift the culture and open new dialogues," said Lewis.

The top five Grand Jury Award winners received the most combined judges' and audience votes. The winners were: A Ring: A Short Film, directors Ray Martell Moore and Monique A. Robinson, Best Romance Film; Weep Not, directors, Lenora Thomas Douglas and Cheray O'Neal, Best Society Film; Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color, director, Cheri Gaulke, submitted by Jon Gann, Best Arts Film; City Trees, director, Kristin Reiber Harris, Best Environment & Animation Film; and Basurero, director, Eileen Cabiling, Best Global Film.

The top three Audience Awards also called 'Festival Favorites' received the most support from the public. The three films to receive the most love from the public were: Star Boy, directors Tilsa Wright, and Stephen Williamson, Best Romance Film; Carnival Queens, Tiffany Bradley, Best Culture Film; and United We Heal, Director, Ebony Roberts, Best Society Film.

The inaugural film festival, held during Women's History Month, March 8-31, 2022, featured short films (less than 20 minutes) that included the following categories: Arts, Society, Experimental, Romance, Culture, Comedy, Global, Environment, Animation, and Activism.

"We congratulate the award winners and are honored and inspired by every film in the inaugural 2022 program. We are so grateful to the jurors who brought their passion, knowledge, and insights to the table," said Lewis.

The jurors included: O.Funmilayo Makarah, Heritage Film Festival founder and director, Berlin International Film Festival manager, and member of the prestigious Los Angeles film movement, The L.A. Rebellion; Louise Fleming, a Harlem-based filmmaker/videographer, visual artist, former co-president CineWomen NY (CWNY), member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Black Documentary Collective, and New York Women in Film/TV (NYWIFT; Yoko Lytle, a Brooklyn-based doula who is also an independent filmmaker and producer of commercial post-production, graphics at top agencies; and Marjorie Clark, an independent producer and marketing executive formerly at Uniworld Group, MTV Network, Def Jam, and currently working on Jeen-Yuhs: Kanye Trilogy to be distributed at Netflix.

AuntyLand Film Festival, a community-based Tribeca, New York City event operates at the intersection of identity, gender, and age. It is the only film festival that reaches out to elder women 50 years and older. Tax-deductible donations sent via the fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas go to women and people of color writers, artists, and other public multidisciplinary arts programs. https://www.auntyland.com/donations/

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