Dragon*Con Film Festival Winners Announced

by Glenn Five

Results of the Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Festival were announced in the Hyatt Regency V Ballroom at 4:30pm Saturday by Bob Coughlin, following a six-hour screening of many of the films.

This year’s selections ran the gamut of production values (low-fidelity video to 16mm color film) and subject matter (documentary to animated fantasy).

Ethan Phillips, veteran of Star Trek:  Voyager, appears in two of the shorts, “Family Tree” and “Untitled: 003 Embryo.”  Harland Williams is also in “Family Tree,” about a dysfunctional family that has gathered for a singular Thanksgiving.

For the most part, the other actors are unknown, but there’s some terrific work on display, as in “Red Wagon,” in which a young woman finds a shipwrecked sailor and has a battle of wills with her sister over who gets to keep him.

In “Spidermen,” on the night after Halloween a young boy dons his Spider-Man costume late at night to quest after his candy, which his mother has hidden.

“Endings” gives us a Canadian “Edward Gorey girl” with the power to foretell people’s deaths.  She meets a male medical student who wants to know his “deadline.”

“I’ll Save You” from the “Spoof” category depicts what must be a common event in Marvel Comics’s version of New York City:  Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Wolverine, Cyclops, Electra and a host of other heroes converge on a would-be purse-napper, but then fall to bickering over who gets to make the collar.

Two of this year’s entries are by Georgia filmmakers:  “Eternal,” by Freddie Arnold Jr. of Canton, and “No Witness,” by Decatur’s Michael Valverde.

The rest of this year’s films will be screened from 10am – 1pm on Monday in Regency V. 

THIS YEAR'S WINNERS

Light Animation:
Dear Sweet Emma – First Place
Puphedz:  The Tattle-tale Heart – Honorable Mention
Virtual vs. Real – Honorable Mention
Project Mars – Honorable Mention
A Pizza For Sprinkles – Honorable Mention

Heavy Animation:
The Erl-King – First Place
Rendezvous With Rama – Second Place
Dandelion – Honorable Mention
Destroy Old Things – Honorable Mention

Best Animated Short (overall):   
Dear Sweet Emma

Contemporary Short:
Bluefish – First Place
Keys of Life – Second Place
Anna’s Room – Honorable Mention
Backfire – Honorable Mention
Eternal – Honorable Mention

Documentary:
Frazetta:  Painting With Fire – First Place
Unwound – Second Place

Fantasy:
String of the Kite – First Place
Professional Courtesy – Second Place

Fantasy Comedy:
Tea Time – First Place
Red Wagon – Second Place
Time Copy – Honorable Mention

General Comedy:
Spidermen – First Place
Getting Out – Second Place
Sticky Fingers – Honorable Mention

Gothic Horror:
Patchwork Monkey, The – First Place
Visage, The – Second Place
Endings – Honorable Mention

Horror Comedy:
No Witness – First Place
Fun With Clones – Second Place
Blood Shot – Honorable Mention
Run – Honorable Mention

Magic Realism:
Family Tree – First Place
Mother Tree, The – Second Place
Appointment, The – Honorable Mention

Sci-Fi Comedy:
Untitled:  003 Embryo – First Place
Mazinga Paradox, The – Honorable Mention
Mon Star – Honorable Mention
Stranded – Honorable Mention

Science Fiction:
Phoenix – First Place
Circle – Second Place
Night Cap – Honorable Mention

Spoof:
I’ll Save You – First Place
Convention, The – Second Place
King Blade – Honorable Mention

Best Short Film:
Family Tree

CHAIN MAIL

White Bear Fantasies is offering chain mail headpieces, jewelry and fantasy items for sale in the Art Show Bazaar.   Contact Bryan Jones through www.whitebearfantasies.com.