The Los Angeles 3-D Club (SCSC) is pleased to announce the winners of The 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival, whose mission is to showcase the best independent stereoscopic 3-D filmmaking from around the world. The festival took place on May 14th-15th, 2011, at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles.
Eight awards were presented at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on Sunday, May 15th. Top films were selected by an esteemed jury of stereoscopic experts – Chuck Comisky, 3-D VFX Supervisor of Avatar; Brian Gardner, Stereographer for Coraline; and David Wilson, founder of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. In addition, a prize was awarded to the audience favorite, and two student films were given special awards.
The First Place Jury Award winner was 27 Years Later by Shinterra. Originally produced for the Seoul International Extreme – Short Image and Film Festival in Korea, 27 Years Later tells the story of a scientist, Dr. Sim, who has developed a time machine which can be used just once, and plans to turn the clock back a year, with lottery information. However, the time setting changes from 1 year to 27 years because of a suspicious mans disturbance.
Second Place Jury Award went to the animated film UYUYUI! by Santiago Caicedo of Estudio Timbo in Colombia. UYUYUI! is an elaborate piece of artistic creation where technology highlights the work of manual illustration, real imagery and composition. The story introduces us to a fantasy world where the skies are populated by curious life forms and strange robotic creatures lurk the forest. Two children on a picnic day are separated by a violent wind and only the force of their friendship will guide them through danger and adventure.
Third Place Jury Award was presented to My Dream by Korean filmmaker Joy Park. My Dream features an extraordinary dance performance presented by the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe (CDPPAT). The film maximizes the 3D effect, using a broad range of depth on the Z-axis, by showing 21 beautiful hearing-impaired dancers, moving their hands in highly synchronized patterns. The film creates a special art which delights audiences as the performers present what they have dreamed of.
The winner of the Audience Favorite Award was the comedy Thicker Than Water by Tommy Tripodes of Los Angeles, California. It tells the story of a young man who meets the love of his life at a family party only to discover a disturbing secret that changes everything.
Honorable mentions were given to the animated short Miss Daisy Cutter, by Laen Sanches of The Netherlands, and to the 3-D version of the Linkin Park music video Waiting For The End, by PassmoreLab in San Diego, California.
Awards for Outstanding Student Achievement in 3-D were presented to the Bollywoodesque music video Blood and Glory by Thenmozhi Soundararajan, and the emotionally touching stop-motion animation The Reality Clock by Amanda Tasse. Both films were produced at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Award winners were presented with the traditional “Ro-Man” trophy of the LA 3D Club in an evening ceremony that culminated with the screening of the award winning films. Filmmakers also won prizes from festival sponsors Sony Creative Software; author Bernard Mendiburu; 3D Film Factory; and Fujifilm.
The LA 3-D Club (Stereo Club of Southern California) was established in 1955 by dedicated stereo photographers and 3-D filmmakers who have continued their work today with the Annual LA 3-D Film Festival at the Downtown Independent Theater, Los Angeles’ premiere venue for screening independent film and video.