The 21st Annual Sedona Film Festival is over but lives on in my mind with the memory of such stimulating, thought provoking films! Not only was the quality of the films beyond my expectations, but the splendor and staggering beauty of Sedona made the long weekend the hottest show in town! Something for everyone from features to shorts, documentaries to animation and foreign films to student films.
Directors Choice Award for best Comedy Feature went to Frank vs God, a comedy that raises questions about faith and religion with a light-hearted tone and an open mind. The film is an uplifting story of one man’s search for answers, by taking them to a higher court. I found the script clever and anything but cliche, with outstanding performances by Ever Carradine & Henry Ian Cusick.
My personal favorite which did not win any awards was Little Accidents. Its a heartfelt story shot in a small American town still living in the shadow of a terrible coal mine accident, the disappearance of a teenage boy draws together a surviving miner, the lonely wife of a mine executive, and a local boy in a web of secrets. The simplicity of the performances by the cast was riveting.
Elizabeth Banks, Diane Doyle, Boyd Holbrook, Amos Jenkins, Jacob Lofland ...Owen Josh Lucas, Bill Doyle
I also saw some great short films - Hands of Flame won the best Student short film and well deserve! Based on a true story, Hands of Flame is a thesis film by Steven Markowitz from the School of Film and Animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology, told entirely in silhouettes and featuring a unique blend of 3D computer animation and traditional 2D watercolor animation. I was moved by this simple, gripping, true film about the holocaust.
The films were fantastic and the Parties were even better with the exuberant social interaction and networking between film makers and audience members. It is an event not to be missed. Hope to see you there next year.
Judy Kain has been a professional actress now for 37 years, showcasing her skills and talents in over 350 commercials and in over 80 roles for film and television.
Some of her more well-known credits include a Television Series Regular on The Jackie Thomas Show and a Recurring role on the Emmy-winning show Mad Men, a role which won her a SAG Award. Her other favorite recurring credits include Married with Children, For Your Love, Grosse Pointe, and Manhattan, AZ with Chad Everett. She has done numerous guest appearances on the hit shows Modern Family, The Middle, Bones, Castle, Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, ER, Seinfeld, The District, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, Friends, and The Drew Carey Show just to name a few. Her teaching career has also lead to immense success, being voted BACKSTAGE WEST'S FAVORITE ON-CAMERA COMMERCIAL TEACHER IN LA in 2010 and 2011. Her other acting classes have won BACKSTAGE WEST'S FAVORITE IN LA as well, and continue to produce amazing results for her students. She teaches Advanced Callback, Commercial A to Z and Commercial Wednesday Workouts.