FHFF Award Winners

Amy Herdy won the Audience Choice Award for her film Bleeding Edge – Contributed photo

A local San Juan Island producer wins the Audience Choice Awards at the 2018 Friday Harbor Film Festival. 

Amy Herdy, producer of the Bleeding Edge was thrilled to win the Audience Choice Awards for the best film of the 2018 Friday Harbor Film Festival.  Her memorable quote when accepting the award was to the filmmakers themselves when she told them the 10 films she had watched “fed her soul and please give us more”. The winners of the categories were: 

• Explorers and Adventures: a thrilling high seas adventure, Ocean Warriors; Chasing the Thunder, 
• Tales of the Heart: Big Sonia, a Holocaust survivor explores the meaning of being a survivor., 
• Things to Consider: On Her Shoulders, Nadia Murad, the recent Nobel Peace Prize winners crusade to speak out.  
• Audience Choice Short: The 100 Year Old Whale, about our own local whale Granny.

Captain Paul Watson was awarded the Andrew V. McLaglen Lifetime Achievement Award to a standing ovation. Captain Watson received the award for his life‘s work with both Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd; as he is a true hero for the oceans. 

Paul Watson accepts the FHFF Lifetime Achievement Award – Contributed photo

San Juan Island composer Alex Shapiro was given the very well deserved Local Hero award for her Activism through Music.  Megan Vivenzio honored Alex with a special dance performance to her own music.  

The Friday Harbor Film Festival also inaugurated the Laszlo Pal Emerging Filmmaker Award; Laszlo a former board member of the Friday Harbor Film Festival, recently passed away, he spent 30 years teaching filmmaking, so the Festival chose to honor his memory with this new award.  The Award went to Partho Gupte, a young man from India, who is a gifted young filmmaker and whose films illustrate great promise.  He was very surprised to receive the award. He spoke eloquently upon receiving the award of how much it meant to him and how dedicated he is to his craft. 

Partho Gupte, shown here with Karen Palmer (L) and Lynn Danaher (R) won the Emerging Filmmaker Award – Contributed photo

Sunday morning Maria Garcia, (a film critic from NYC who was very impressed and promised to return next year) skillfully facilitated the popular Filmmakers Forum.  It was an enlightening experience for all that attended. 

Overall the Friday Harbor Film Festival enjoyed a great weekend of films, filmmakers and an eager and enthusiastic audience.  There were several sell out venues.  The film festival enjoyed a 20% increase in film viewings in spite of the ferry schedule fiasco.  Though several refunds were given to folks who had planned to attend from Vancouver Island. 

The top 10 films will be screened during the winter twice a month, starting January 15 at the Grange in Friday Harbor.

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