Focus on disability Film Festival names its 2010 winners

The Focus Film Festival press release:

FOCUS Film Festival is pleased to announce the winners of the Third Annual Short Film Competition: FOCUS on Living with a Disability. The winning entries will be screened on October 14, at the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium in Chico, Calif. Meet the winning directors at a reception following the screening.

And the winners are….

Best of Festival: MOTHERSBANE (USA 2010, 11:30 minutes) (pictured)
Writer-director, Producer: Jason Jakaitis
A personal documentary that explores the filmmaker’s ambivalent relationship to his mother’s physical disabilities and chronicles his attempts to be at peace with her suffering and disfigurement. The film draws upon a variety of poetic evocations, including Super 8 re-creations of childhood memories, to express the love and anxiety, and the protectiveness and dread, that has defined Jason’s relationship with his mother.
($500 award sponsored by We Care A Lot Foundation)

Award of Excellence: A DIFFERENT COLOR BLUE (USA 2008, 3:59 minutes)
Editor, Director, Cinematographer: Melanie Levy
In a dusty art studio tucked away in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, artist Charles Curtis Blackwell pours over works of beauty and remarkable spirit. The film explores the redemptive power of art, an ability to find hope in the most unlikely of places, and the courage of an artist who refuses to turn away from the thing he loves most.
($300 award sponsored by Union Bank)

Merit Award: MY NAME IS SYDNEY (USA 2009, 16:53 minutes)
Editor, Director, Cinematographer: Melanie Levy; Original Music: Joel Bravo
Sydney Edmond is a sixteen-year-old girl living with Autism. Although she lives without the ability to speak, her lyrical writing invites us into a world where senses react differently, light flickers brilliantly, and music offers a gateway to connect with the people around us.
($200 sponsored by Parent Infant Programs)

Spirit of the Festival: WHEN I’M NOT ALONE (USA 2009, 21 minutes)
Director/Producer: Rhianon Gutierrez; Editor: Zara Ahmed; Composer: Shohan Cagle
The story of Sam Durbin, who was born female but raised as a male, experienced
unspeakable abuse, never learned to read or write, and drifted in and out of institutions. Today, Sam is a published author and nationwide advocate for people with disabilities.
($300 sponsored by Richard C. Robertson in memory of Deborah L. Rowell)

Audience Pick: To be announced at the reception.
($100 award sponsored by Far Northern Regional Center)