REEL INDEPENDENT FILM EXTRAVAGANZA EVENT RECAP RIFE kicked off our third annual festival on Friday October 12, 2012 at Washington D.C. s premiere independent art house theater, West End Cinema. The festival began with the screening of the RIFE 2012 Documentary Short Series featuring diverse offerings including Daniel Lir s L.A. Aboriginal and festival winner Written in Ink by Martin Rath. Next up was the controversial animal rights film A.L.F. Animal Liberation Front by French director Jerome Lescure. Directly after the screening, the RIFE 2012 Meet & Greet Event took place. Local and traveling filmmakers were treated to a catered intimate reception where they were encouraged to introduce themselves and network. RIFE s Spotlight Series Selection Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz by director Stefan Immler, officially premiered to a SOLD OUT crowd. Following the screening, RIFE 2012 sponsors, Green Collar LLC and Giganova Productions presented the Opening Night After Party at Georgetown s MOCA DC Art Gallery with a LIVE performance by The Antonio Parker Trio who were featured in the film Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz. The film s director, Stefan Immler and others featured in the film were on hand to celebrate the success of the opening, including ticket winners from Washington D.C. independent radio station WPFW FM. As the crowd enjoyed the sounds of The Antonio Parker Trio they enjoyed complimentary wine and celebrated with cake. The weekend continued with a lineup of incredible films attendees could enjoy including the riveting extraterrestrial contact documentary The Hidden Hand, Jonathon Taieb s heartwarming Find the Way, the animated marvel Stay in Memory, the experimental RIFE award winner Welcome o Life, Josh Murray s acclaimed The Soliloquy, the beautifully shot Anna Marie, Olympia Stone s life affirming expose of artist John Grashow in The Cardboard Bernini which was followed by a wonderful Q&A with Mr. Grashow and Olympia Stone who were both in attendance, moderated by ArtJamz founder Michael Clements. The poignant and illuminating RIFE award winner The Invisible Men featured a Q&A with the film s director Yariv Mozer who attended from Tel
Aviv, Lee Madsen s rock drama Hated, Stop It from Vatt Pictures and the centerpiece Spotlight Series Selection, Ya Ke Smith s Wolf. The screening of Wolf was followed by a Q&A moderated by Anthony Anderson the creator of Washington D.C. s highly acclaimed award winning web series Anacostia. Festival guru (DC Shorts, DC Film Alliance) Jon Gann attended RIFE in support of previous DC Shorts award winner Ya Ke Smith s first narrative feature. RIFE After Hours Networking Party took place a block away from West End Cinema at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel DC. Filmmakers and attendees were able to mix and mingle in a great atmosphere.
Sunday morning began with the 2012 RIFE Awards Ceremony hosted by filmmaker and previous RIFE 2011 Audience Award winner Mike McMullin and Actress Christine Wehrli of The Henchman s War. As filmmakers and others enjoyed light refreshments, RIFE Founder Spencer F. Johnson thanked the filmmakers for having a dream big enough to create films and promised that his film festival will always be a strong support to the success of the independent film maker. 2012 RIFE Winners Best Narrative Feature Theresa is a Mother Best Narrative Short Ready to Talk Best Documentary Feature The Invisible Men Best Documentary Short Written In Ink Best Animated Experimental Film Welcome O Life Best Actor Andres Faucher Ready to Talk Best Actress C. Fraser Press Theresa is a Mother Best Supporting Actor Shane Jacobson The Three Way Best Supporting Actress Medina Senghore The Three Way Best Director Yariv Mozer The Invisible Men
Following the awards ceremony, the much anticipated screening of the Spotlight Selection Series entry Give Up Tomorrow, featuring a special Q&A with director Michael Collins. Emmy winner James Higginson was on hand from Berlin to show his experimental feature Willful Blindness. The attendees of RIFE were also introduced to films such as the rousing same sex marriage documentary Married in Spandex, Chris Perillo s witty comedy Whitehead and the RIFE 2012 Narrative Short selections featuring Monica Villavencio s drama Q&A and the multiple awards winning Ready to Talk by Angeles Reine. That evening, RIFE screened the award winner and festival favorite, The Three Way followed by a Q&A with director Julian Renner and nominated Actresses Karmia Berry and Sofia Rodriguez. The Q&A was moderated by internet darling Cherie Moody of Battle of the Sexes. The evening ended with the screening of Michael Lauter s psychological horror film Spectrauma.
The festival continued with a Monday evening screening of David Spaltro s critically acclaimed festival favorite Things I Don t Understand. Following, RIFE presented in association with Women in Film & Video the uplifting documentary Theresa Sareo: Alive Again. Theresa Sareo attended along with family and friends. Following the screening, Women in Film & Video s Rebecca Bustamonte moderated a Q&A with the inspirational Theresa Sareo.
Tuesday s features included RIFE Best Narrative and Best Actress award winner Theresa is a Mother, the psychological thriller Coffin and the understated short film, Turn for the Worse. Coffin, a Skyrocket Productions film, was attended by the film s electric co-star Johnny Alonso. Wednesday featured films such as Eric Schultz s endearing indie-comedy Unconscious. RIFE partnered with LLeft Entertainment to present Lori Nelson Lee s provocative drama Unraveled, Stefan LaToure s reflective Is Love Enough? and Billy Badd s spiritual awakening docufilm It Has Begun. With a magnanimous crowd, the event was attended by director s Lori Nelson Lee, Billy Badd and Stefan LaToure. The closing night of RIFE ended with a screening of Harold Jackson III s searing documentary Burn: The Evolution of an American City, the short crime thriller Shuttle and Melanie Hamilton s rom-comedy, Hard Candy. RIFE extended an invitation to host the attendance of young men and women from Covenant House Washington to attend the screening of Burn: The Evolution of an American City which was received positively. The visiting youth were able to hold a private Q&A with the director and the festival founder Spencer Johnson.
THANK YOU to all filmmakers, those who submitted their films, those who were accepted and those who attended the extravaganza. Directors in attendance included Yariv Mozer from Israel, James Higginson from Germany, Lee Madsen from Los Angeles, Harold Jackson III, Ya Ke Smith and Ralph Lopez from Dallas, Nicholas Redding from New York, the Press family from New York and many more. Other film industry notables included Jon Gann (DC Shorts), Mike McMullin (2011 RIFE Audience Award Winner), Actress Christine Wehrli, Francis Abbey and others from all over the world. SPECIAL THANK YOU to Green Collar LLC, Giganova Productions, MOCA DC Art Gallery, David Quammen, Fairmont Hotel DC, Kendra Rubinfield, Josh Levin, West End Cinema, Covenant House DC, LLeft Entertainment, Women In Film & Video, Art Jamz, Michael Clements, John Armstrong, MelDonna Productions, Chris Sheridan, Johanne St. Leger (Le Onyx Grille), The Antonio Parker Trio, Anthony Anderson (Anacostia the Web series), Cherie Moody (Pink Boss Entertainment), Rebecca Bustamonte (WIFV), Anthony Nolen (BLIS) and everyone else who assisted in making this years extravaganza a success! THANKS RIFE Film Jury: Unique Dowtin, Natasha Hester, Nieves Garcia, Patricia Renderos and Habib Awan. For more information about RIFE, please visit our website www.reelindependentfilm.com. See ya in 2013 as we are looking forward to a bigger and better year!