Tropfest@Tribeca presented by Target announced the award winners of the new free public outdoor short film festival on Sunday night September 23, 2007 at the World Financial Center Plaza in New York City. The new Festival, a collaboration between Tribeca Enterprises and John Polson, creator of Australia’s Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival, premiered 16 films in front of 7500 attendees at the World Financial Center Plaza in New York and was also sent live via satellite to Brookfield Properties FCP Park at First Canadian Place in Toronto, Canada.
As with the Australian festival, all 16 films in the competition included the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) Slice, which shows that each film was made specifically for the festival, were under 7 minutes long and made their premiere at the Festival. The finalists interpreted ‘Slice’ in the films in a variety of manners, from incorporating slices of food in their films to slicing up its characters and even slicing the screen in half.
A jury comprised of actor Josh Lucas (Poseidon) , Australian born actress Rose Byrne (Damages, Troy), actor/director Griffin Dunne (The Accidental Husband, Fierce People, After Hours), Academy Award®-nominated director Bennett Miller (Capote), actress/director Mary Harron (American Psycho), director Tom McCarthy (Station Agent), and last year’s winner Matthew Bonifacio viewed the films alongside the audience and selected the winners for The Target Filmmaker Award, Second Prize, Third Prize, Best Actress, and Best Actor. The audience also acted as a jury when they voted for their favorite film, the Audience award, at the end of the premieres.
‘Tropfest@Tribeca exceeded my expectations as a stand alone event in New York City in regards to the turn out, the crowd, and the films,’ said John Polson, creative director. ‘I can’t imagine it going any better; it was an incredible night for the filmmakers, the audience and I’m incredibly grateful to the sponsors who helped to create a great festival experience for all who attended.’
John Polson handed out the Target Filmmaker Award with an unrestricted cash prize of $10,000 from Target and a trip for two to Australia provided by Australia.com and Qantas Airlines to Belinda King from Marrickville, Australia for The Picnic. (Synopsis: The desperate acts of a crazed woman turn a friendly picnic into a day to remember.)
This is not Belinda’s first win at Tropfest, in February 2006 in Australia Belinda was a Tropfest finalist and won the Best Actor and Tropicana Award for her film – The Sister, which she wrote, directed and starred in.
‘I am overwhelmed. It’s my first time out of Australia; I arrived in New York Saturday,’ said director Belinda King. ‘I have been blown away by this city and this Festival. I was here just to see it all and participate and I can’t believe I won.’
Following are the additional awards given out at Tropfest@Tribeca: Each award winner received a Target GiftCard (amount specified for each award below), Apple Final Cut Studio 2 and 2 passes to the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.
Second Prize was announced by Josh Lucas and won by Daniel Knight from Sydney, Australia for Snookered. Winner also receives a $500 Target GiftCard. (Synopsis: A men’s locker room is a mine field of unspoken protocol passed down through the generations. Now, a moment of confusion will break those and leave two men well and truly snookered.)
Third Prize was awarded by Mary Harron and Bennett Miller to Jonathan Emmerling from New York City for The Switch. Winner also receives a $250 Target GiftCard. (Synopsis: Tom had no luck with women. Not a single one is interested. Then Tom meets Wes, a perfect 10 who totally gets him; the only problem is Tom’s pesky heterosexuality.)
The Best Actress award was announced by Griffin Dunne and won by Loani Arman from The Picnic. Winner also receives a $100 Target GiftCard.
Rose Byrne presented the Best Actor award, to James Wright III from Black Tears. Winner also receives a $100 Target GiftCard.
The audience award was selected at the end of the Festival screenings by the audience who used paddles provided by Target to vote for their favorite Film. Tom McCarthy presented Stephen Franciosa Jr. the audience favorite for Super Slice. Winner also receives a $100 Target GiftCard. (Synopsis: Pizza man, who is a pizza maker by day, is an extraordinary superhero that brings villains to justice using everyone’s favorite food…Pizza!)
John Polson concluded the awards by announcing the 2008 Tropfest@Tribeca Signature Item as ‘Sunflower.’
During Tropfest@Tribeca the winner of the Nokia Nseries ‘Slice of Life’ clip contest, a contest that looked for the for the best clip captured on a mobile phone illustrating the creator’s idea of life in a moment, was handed out to Shane Carter from Spokane, Washington for The Creation which captures one of Carter’s signature mobile phone magic tricks, ‘The Cube.’
A raffle for a five night trip for two to Sydney, Australia in February to attend Tropfest, courtesy of Australia.com with flights provided by Qantas Airways took place during the evening and was won by Festival attendee Dave Anderson.
The 2007 Tropfest@Tribeca is presented by Target, co-sponsored by Australia.com, Nokia Nseries and official host Brookfield Properties along with media support from Daily News, Time Out New York and WNBC4HD.
For more information please visit http://www.tropfest.com/
[release from Spin Communications]