168 Film Festival Winners

by Nathaniel Bluedorn, April 8, 2009. 8409 views

Hoisting some of their fest-topping six awards are “Up In The Air” 168 Best Film-winning cast and crew members (l-r) Wes Llewellyn (writer-director-producer, with Best Film award for producing), Doug Folsom (producer and film’s lead actor) and wife Renee, Chris Armstrong (second unit director), Timothy Williams (composer), Chris Witt (with award for Best Editor), Brandon Lippard (with award for Best Cinematography), Chris Roberts (producer, with Best Film award), Josh Franer (1st assistant cameraman), Sarah Fruehling (production designer), Jeff Bartsch (executive producer), Tara Lange (makeup) and Melissa Disney (female lead).


GLENDALE, Calif. (Apr. 4, 2009)—A film about a retired naval pilot flummoxed over his long-absent wife’s sudden return and whether he and his daughters should let her back onboard their family, soared here tonight at the Bible-verse-illustrating 168 Film Festival, winning six awards, including Best Film, Scriptural Integration, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editor and Sound Design.

Based on Hosea 3:1’s daunting directive to love one’s unfaithful wife unconditionally and starring and produced by actor-producer-pastor Doug Folsom as the aviator and current singing voice of Snow White Melissa Disney (168 Best Actress in 2007’s “Snare”) as his wayward spouse, “Up In The Air” not only chronicles the dramatic ride unfolding on the ground but takes the audience on an aerial journey over Park City, Utah, and the state’s snow-capped Wasatch Mountains.

The film, written and directed by two-time 168 Best Film winner Wes Llewellyn (“Cross Walk,” “A Good Day”) and lensed by DP on last year’s 168 Best Film “Stained” Brandon Lippard, is among an impressive manifest of multiple-nominated entries this year—including triple winners “Unscripted” (Best International Film, Screenplay-Drama, Supporting Actress) and “Saving Levi” (Best Director, Production Design, Score), double winner “Still Born” (Best Actor, Actress), “Love Is Good” (Best Comedy), and finalist “Stealing Home,” etc.—whose production values “are on a par with any entertainment currently in the marketplace,” said 168 founder and executive director John David Ware.

“You put someone like Wes with a DP like Brandon and a cast and crew like theirs and you’re just gonna get magic, as we can see from ‘Up In The Air,’” Ware continued.  “The power of the verses in the 168 shorts Wes has made over the years comes through every time.  As the 168 attracts more and more talent, the grandeur of God’s Word is reinforced and re-experienced.”

While five-time 168 filmmaker Theo Love’s and the 168’s first-ever musical “Love Is Good” scored Best Comedy of this year’s edition films that were completed within the fest’s trademark seven days, or 168 hours, of production, Texas submission “Putting The Ash Behind You” was bequeathed with Best Screenplay-Comedy to round out the haul of the six narrative films out of 15 with various nominations that took a collective 16 awards.

In the fest’s increasingly robust documentary arena, Don Maynard’s “Wheelchair Angel” about a neighborhood humanitarian who builds and repairs wheelchairs for the needy for free—even as he is disabled himself—bested a field of three in the Unlimited Documentary category, in which filmmakers choose their own Bible verse instead of being assigned a random one and have two months, instead of one week, to produce results.

Audience Award Saturday night went to “Love is Good,” festival’s fitting final screening, about a street musician’s run-in with a crusty preacher with whose daughter the player becomes smitten, based on Song of Solomon 4:10’s respecting of a sweetheart.  Friday night’s Audience Award winner, inspired by 1 Thessalonians 5:5’s reminder that Christians are to walk in the light, was “Chinese Antique,” about the maturing of a bratty teen under an earnest employer’s watch, directed by Bassem Wahbi and Ryo Shiina and produced by Anthony Ma, Jennifer Ng and JC Chang.

Top-winning individual, and, indeed, the only multiple winner among this year’s participants, was “Up In The Air”/winningest film’s helmer Llewellyn with two, for Best Film (shared with producers Chris Roberts and Folsom) and Scriptural Integration (how artfully the foundational is woven into the story).  Four of the film’s departments landed one award each: Brandon Lippard for Best Cinematography (on heels of his DP stint on “Stained,” which was the first film shot on the RED camera ever to win a film festival); Lonnie Colon for Supporting Actor; Chris Witt for Editor; and Jerrold Launer and Martin Kittappa for Sound Design.

Most-decorated film going into the weekend with a festival-record 14 nominations, U.K.-shot “Unscripted,” about a celebrated stage actor who while rehearsing for King Lear discovers he has yet to master his real-life role as a father, received three awards including prestigious Best International Film for producers Jonathan Brown, Jackie Sheppard and Luke Walton, Supporting Actress for Rachel Wilcock and Screenplay-Drama for Nigel Forde.  Pic was based on Luke 3:21-22’s expression by God of His love for and the pleasure He derives from His Son.

“Saving Levi,” which chronicles the real-life actions of a Chinese farmer who sheltered an abandoned baby boy against great political risk, accepted triplets in the form of Best Director for J. Randy Argue, Original Score by Bryan E. Miller and Production Design by Chris Tornow.

Spousal sparrer “Still Born,” shot in Texas by this year’s fest-best quintuple nominee writer-director Andrew Librizzi, delivered twins with Best Actress and Best Actor for Liz Cardenas and Todd Terry.

Single-winner jury awards numbered two, by writer-producer-director Love for Best Comedy on his aforementioned musical “Love Is Good” and actor-writer-producer Mark Blitch for Best Screenplay-Comedy on bittersweet sibling dramedy “Putting the Ash Behind You.”

Sponsors showered award winners with a variety of prizes donated by TubeMogul (business account), AJA ($3K Kona 3 video i/o board), Out of Frame ($1,000 rental credit to Best Film), Video Symphony ($1,500 tuition to Best Film) and Kino Flo ($1,000 to Best Film).  Throughout production and the festival the 168 and its filmmakers were gifted with complimentary and/or discounted services from Kino Flo (free lighting equipment rentals to teams), Arri (free lighting seminar), EIKI (festival projection equipment), and Sony (XDCAM decks for festival playback).

Additional sponsors included Regent University, Resurrection Pictures, and Church Production Magazine.

For more information on the 2009 edition of the 168 Film Festival, to speak with a 168-winning speed filmmaker or actor, or obtain B-roll footage and/or production stills of 168 filmmaking teams in action and clips from their films, contact Scotty Dugan at Dugan & Story PR at 435-901-1483, scotty@duganstory.com; 168 Film Project at 818-557-8507, info@168project.com, or visit www.168project.com.

2009 DVD
http://store.168project.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1HPAF&Category_Code=DVD


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