ROVING EYE AWARDS, April 12-18, 2021

This Year's Program Celebrates the Power of Art and Culture in Affecting Positive Change

• CLICK HERE -- OR THE IMAGE BELOW -- FOR THE FULL ONLINE PROGRAM •

16th Annual event takes place April 12-18, 2021 in collaboration with Roger Williams University. Highlights include major international shorts and features, and documentaries and a celebration of the arts. This is the inaugural Online Presentation of the Festival.

2021 ROVING EYE INTERNATIONAL

FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS

16th Annual Event welcomed world premieres & for the first time went online to become a virtual Festicval with worldwide distribution

BRISTOL, RI • The 16th Annual Roving Eye International Film Festival at Roger Williams University, presented in collaboration with the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, kiced off April 12th and ran through April 18th as an online program.

It can be found at https://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/16

This year's programming featured over 90 films from across the world including short and feature-length films, numerous World and US Premieres; virtual panel discussions/symposia; Filmmaker Q&A's, and student film showcases. Virtual guests at this year's event were curated from interviews undertaken by Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Film and Television Office, for the television series, "doubleFEATURE," produced by Flickers on Rhode Island PBS.

This year's guests included: director, Kevin Lima (Disney's "Enchanted"); director, Tommy DeNucci; Screenwriter, Chris Sparling; director/cinematographer, Eric Latek; composer, Mauro Colangelo; costume designer Deborah Newhall; and actress, Marlyn Mason.

Students at the University, with the guidance of Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, created the Roving Eye International Film Festival through the Film Minor senior-level course, Curation and Film Festival Production. Flickers' Executive Director and RWU Professor, George T. Marshall, teaches the class.

This year, 20 students spent the first part of the spring semester reviewing more than 800 films provided by Flickers and from there went on to create the entire Roving Eye Festival. The students developed active marketing and PR strategies, including the planning for events throughout the week.

With the emergence of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, plans shifted quickly to ensure that the Festival took place. Students met numerous times weekly on the Zoom platform to plan out the Festival, reach out to filmmakers, and work on marketing and promotional collateral, including a new logo design, posters and promotional videos. To gain a better understanding of the importance of curation, the class was assisted by RIIFF's program director, Shawn Quirk.

Students in the Curation and Film Production class included: Michael Aguilar, John Austin Ashmead, Breanna Bailey, Joseph Brown, Luke Carey, Madeline Cariglia, Brandon Cornejo, Emmy Delmonico, Ryan Ellin, Patrick Grimes, Erik Hanson, Kelsea Levrault, Robert Libertini, Emma McAndrews, Corinne Petit, Jacob Pina, Jamie Rosen, Nicole St. Laurent, Kirk Schultz, and Nicolas Vieux.

The 2020 Roving Eye International Film Festival is sponsored by The RI Film & the Television Office; Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival; WSBE Rhode Island PBS; Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Edge Media Network, RWU School of Humanities, Arts and Education, Dean Cynthia Scheinberg, RWU Department of Communication, Graphic Design and Web Development, Dr. Robert Cole, Department Chair, the RWU Film Collaborative, RWU PRSSA, RWU Dance Theatre, and WQRI Radio at Roger Williams University.

THE 2021 AWARD WINNERS:

BREAKING BOUNDARIES
Films that celebrate the endurance of the human spirit and resilience in the face of injustice.
Grand Prize:
"Run Free" | Directed by Brandon Ravet | United States

First Prize:
"Pizza Party" | Directed by Tessa Hope Slovis | United States

BEST OF FESTIVAL
Grand Prize:
"The Letter Room" | Directed by Elvira Lind | United States

First Prize:
"Nowhere" | Directed by David and Franciso Salazar | Colombia

TIED WITH

"Peckinpah Suite" | Directed by Pedro González Bermúdez | Spain

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY:
Grand Prize:
“Hysterical Girl" | Directed by Kate Novak | United States

First Prize:
"Bobcats on Three" | Directed by Alison Taupier | United States

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Grand Prize:
"The Letter" | Directed by Maia Lekow and Christopher King | Kenya

First Prize:
"Carving the Divine - Buddhist Sculptures of Japan" | Directed by Yujiro Seki | Japan

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM:
Grand Prize:
"Da Yie" | Directed by Anthony Nti | Belgium

First Prize:
"Bengale ou avant que le bonheur frappe" | Directed by Samuel L. Jodry | Canada

BEST COMEDY SHORT:
Grand Prize:
“Come F*ck My Robot" | Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan | United States

First Prize:
“People Are Only Interesting When You Get to Know Them" | Directed by Nathan Morris | United States

BEST ANIMATION:
Grand Prize:
“L’Odyssee de Choum" | Directed by Julien Bisaro | France

First Prize:
“Sororal" | Directed by Frédéric Evan and Louise Mercadier | France

ABOUT FLICKERS' RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:

The Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF), has secured its place in the global community as the portal for the best in international independent cinema, earning the respect of domestic and foreign filmmakers, filmgoers and trend watchers. Ranked as one of the top 10 Festivals in the United States, RIIFF is a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Documentary and Animation Short Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Canadian Screen Awards and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). There are only 10 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction and RIIFF is the only festival in New England. The Festival takes place every August.

For more information about the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, running August 9-15, 2021 at The Vets (formerly Veterans Memorial Auditorium), please visit call 401.861.4445.

Our Collaborative Partners: