The 2004 Award Winners
THE FIFTH ANNUAL imagineNATIVE FILM + MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL WRAPS UP THE MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR SO FAR
The Fifth Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival has come to a close after four highly successful days of bringing together the best Aboriginal works in the world. The 2004 Festival has exceeded all expectation and excitement is already in the air for next year's Festival which will run October 2005.
The 2004 imagineNATIVE Awards Ceremony took place last night on October 24th and the winners list is a reflection of the diversity and quality of the talent at the festival. The award winners were as follows:
The Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award
Winner: Vincent Blackhawk Aamodt for The Ghost Riders
Honourable Mention: Kanakan Balintagos for Basal Banar
Best Dramatic Feature
Winner: Vilsoni Hereniko for Pear ta Ma ŒOn Maf / The Land Has Eyes
The Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award for Emerging Talent
Winner: Ariel Lighteningchild for Swallow
Honourable Mention: Jeff Barnaby for From Cherry English
Best Radio
Winner: Andre Morisseau for Great Indian Bus Tour
Best New Media
Winner: Kokonda Dub for Fire This Time
Honourable Mention: Lisa Reihana for LisaReihana.com
Best Television
Winner: Zacharias Kunuk for Kunuk Family Reunion
Honourable Mention: Simon James for Raven Tales
Best Short Drama
Winner: Cedar Sherbert for Memory
Honourable Mention: Joseph Lazare for Might of the Starchaser
Best Experimental
Winner: Terrance Houle for Wagon Burner
Honourable Mention: Michael Reinhana for Little Gold Cowboy
Best Music Video
Winner: Daybi/Slangblossom for Possibly
Honourable Mention: Jeff Barnaby for Black Out
Drama Pitch Prize
Winner: Dawn Dumont for Visiting Elliot
Documentary Pitch Prize
Winner: Tasha Hubbard for Prairie Girl
Alliance Atlantis Mentorship Program
Winner: Lisa Jackson
The Milestone Award
Winner: Alanis Obomsawin
Best Dramatic Feature winner Vilsoni Hereniko praised the festival, stating that his award from imagineNATIVE means more to him than other accolade he's received. He was joined by the Alliance Atlantis Mentorship Award winner Lisa Jackson and Milestone Award winner Alanis Obomsawin who both name imagineNATIVE as a particularly special sort of event.
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival Board of Directors Chair Jason Ryle says "This year's festival has truly exceeded all our expectations. All of us at imagineNATIVE are thrilled and uplifted by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from both filmmakers and patrons. We are in this for the artists and the community and the incredible response we've received has made this year an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone." With this year's success future festivals are bound to continue to raise the bar and bring to light all the remarkable gifts of Aboriginal artists in Canada and abroad.
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival's mandate is to promote and train Aboriginal media artists from across Canada and works to support both established and emerging artists. Industry workshops and panels are offered free of charge to both artists and the public.
For Media information, please contact:
Planet3 Communications, Eileen Nonoyama / Joanne Smale
T: 416.922.4459 E: eileen@planet3com.net
For further information, please contact:
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
Danis Goulet, Executive Director
T: 416.585.2333
E: execdirector@imagineNATIVE.org
