Patrick Peyton Excellence in Filmmaking Award - $10,000 -1

God of Love

Luke Matheny – New York University

A love struck, lounge-singing darts champion finds his prayers answered -- literally -- when he receives a box of passion-inducing darts.

Triumph of the Spirit Award sponsored by The Peter Glenville Foundation - $5,000

Jeremy

Brian Faye – Chapman University

In a bleak trailer park west of Texas, Jeremy scours heaven and earth for the love and light he so desperately craves.

Audience Impact Award sponsored by Fujifilm - $2,500

The Road Home

Rahul Gandotra – London Film School (UK)

Sent by his parents in England to an international boarding school in the Himalayas, Pico grapples with his Indian heritage in this engrossing tale of a young boy in search of the road home back to England.

Production Excellence Award sponsored by Mole-Richardson - $2,500

Achille

Giorgia Farina – Columbia University (Italy)

Achille, once a passionate high-diver, faces an uncertain future when a family visit threatens to disrupt his way of life.

Outstanding Documentary Award sponsored by Priddy Brothers - $3,000

The Old Immigrant’s Dance

Charlene Music - Stanford University

Through moments of sacrifice and joy, elderly Latinos find the courage to forge a new life in the United States.

Outstanding Animation - $2,000

Heart

Erick Oh – University of California, Los Angeles

An exploration of transcendence. HEART presents questions through abstract metaphors and symbols, illustrated by the human heart.

Full Circle Exchange Wake Up to Justice Award

Kunjo

Terrie Samundra – San Francisco State University

Betrayal complicates the burgeoning friendship of two girls from across the class divide when the local school holds a screenplay competition.

Director's Choice Award

Between the Shadows

Zac Petrillo – Chapman University

A homeless veteran called Kansas must urgently pay off his drug debt or face the consequences. And then he encounters a teenage runaway with a scarred past of her own.

Honorable Mentions

Documentary

Imaginary Circumstances
Anthony Weeks - Stanford University
For actors with disabilities, living truthfully in the imaginary circumstances of the performance is not just good acting, it’s the performance of a lifetime.

Animation

Swing
Yen-Ting Kuo - School of Visual Arts
While enjoying a swing on the roof, an elderly patient is reminded of the value of his life.

Triumph of the Spirit

Echoes
Rob Brown, Bournemouth Film School (United Kingdom)
A female sex trafficker faces an unexpected moral dilemma.

Audience Impact

Sing me to Sleep
Magnus Arnesen - The Polish National Film School
A 45-year old postal worker embarks on a desperate search for a girlfriend to introduce to his terminally ill mother in an effort to fulfill her last wish.

Production Excellence

Our Neck of the Woods
Rob Connolly - University of Southern California
Bob Underwood’s mundane life at the plastic deer lawn ornament plant is disrupted by an enchanting Georgian refugee. He decides to rescue her, whether she wants it or not.