Leaders of the annual YES Film Festival have announced its jury prize winners.
The festival unfolds Friday through Sunday at YES Cinema, 328 Jackson St. in downt0wn Columbus. A total of 24 films will be featured among narrative entries, documentaries and shorts — and including one, “Something’s Gotta Give” that’s part of a local podcast called RomCom Love’s 100th episode taping at YES right after the movie is shown.
Proceeds from the film festival support the work of the nonprofit Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center, helping some of the city’s most economically disadvantaged families with everything from job training to home buying assistance.
Winners in each category are:
Best documentary: “The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story,” by Ted Green. Carl Erskine is an Indiana icon, the last of Major League Baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers’ “Boys of Summer,” and one of the great human rights ambassadors of our time. “He is living a perfect game,” legendary sportscaster Vin Scully said of Erskine. This documentary celebrates his life and legacy, with personal interviews with the Hoosier hero and his family and friends.
Best narrative: “Dawn, Her Dad, and the Tractor,” by Shelley Thompson. This takes place on a dairy farm in Nova Scotia and it’s full of heart and soul and lovely surprises. When a young woman with a startling resemblance to John Andrew’s wife Miranda appears days before her funeral, John Andrew MacGinnis begins an odyssey toward understanding.
Best short: “Static Space,” by John Klein and Kate Black-Spence. Jamie is a young woman living on an Indiana farm and refinishing furniture in a barn as she struggles to figure out her place in the world. When she inadvertently stumbles across a frequency on her ham radio and makes contact with astronaut Noa, currently orbiting Earth, the two women are presented with the opportunity to find meaningful connection, even while worlds apart.
Prizes were awarded by an eight-person jury comprised of filmmakers, media representatives, actors, producers and directors from across the United States.
Showtimes for the jury prize winners and all films at the festival are available at yesfilmfestival.com, by visiting the festival’s Facebook page, or by calling YES Cinema at 812-378-0377.
The audience awards will be determined based upon audience member voting during the festival.
