2018 FLICKERS' VORTEX SCI-FI, FANTASY &
HORROR FILM FESTIVAL

ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS FOR THE 19th ANNUAL EVENT

61 films from across the globe vied for adjudicated genre awards

• READ THE AWARDS NEWS RELEASE

PROVIDENCE, RI –A phantasmagoric symphony of international genre films were given there due with the wrap of the 19th Annual Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival through adjudicated awards. The Festival celebrated and showcased imagination and creativity in filmmaking and included nine (9) World and U.S. Premieres. In all, 61 films were selected from over 3,000 genre submissions, representing 16 countries and presented at 15 locations. This year’s Festival was planned, developed and curated by Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director and creator of the annual genre Festival with Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director.

This year's Festival includes a return of its popular H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour over a three-day period presented in collaboration with the RI Historical Society and the Brown University Film Forum (BUFF), multiple free in-school programs are area high schools, an expanded Campus Connections program that brought free Festival programming to four (4) area Colleges and Universities, special programming on the RI PBS series, “doubleFEATURE,” a closing night “Dead Celebrities” Halloween party on the Rooftop of the Providence G, and four (4) free Forums that looked behind the-scenes at creating genre films in the Ocean State with special guests, actor, Robert Capron (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, “Elementary”), director, Tom DeNucci (“The Vault”), PBS producer, Michelle Abbott (“doubleFEATURE”), and actor, Duncan Putney (“Mystic River,” “The Town”).

The 2018 festival included screenings in Providence at the RISD Museum Metcalf Auditorium, Providence College, Johnson and Wales University, Brown University, Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Museum of Work and Culture, the Tiverton Public Library, the North Kingstown Free Public Library, the Warwick Public Library Special and the Rooftop of the Providence G.

Special screenings, not open to the general public, took place at the Beacon Charter School in Woonsocket, Westerly High School, and the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing Arts in Pawtucket.

The full schedule for this year’s Festival can be found here: http://www.rifilmfest.org and http://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/19/date/all

“Over the past several years, we have been expanding our screenings to educational institutions, literally bringing Vortex to our audience. We made a concerted effort this year to include a dynamic mix of the Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi genres,” said Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director. “These films represent the vanguard of genre filmmaking from across the globe, and showcase a rising generation of filmmakers, who are redefining genre films for the next generation of cinephiles.

“Vortex filmmakers are leaders of tomorrow's entertainment industry, and it's our mission to empower them and help them move forward in their respective careers through showcasing their work.”

“We are proud to see that this sidebar to RIIFF has become an important cultural event for the State and an international draw for filmmakers and audiences. This year saw over a dozen filmmakers, cast and crew coming from the United Kingdom, Canada and from throughout the United States,” he added.

“From our ongoing educational outreach with area colleges and universities, free library and museum screenings, high school-based programs, to a master class on filmmaking and conversations on the film industry with noted leaders, this year's Vortex Film Festival laid the foundation for an even more expanded event next year” noted Shawn Quirk, RIIFF’s Program Director.

Winners of the 2018 Festival Awards:

BEST SCI-FI SHORT FILM:

GRAND PRIZE:

FACE | Directed by: Luke Tierney, Australia, 2017

 

FIRST PRIZE:

One Way Wolf Blitzer Freaky Friday | Directed by: Jared Neumark, USA, 2017

 

Tied With:
In Her Image | Directed by: Nikoloz Kevkhishvili, Georgia, 2018

BEST FANTASY SHORT FILM:

GRAND PRIZE:

The Lossen | Directed by: Colin Skevington, United Kingdom, 2018

 

 

FIRST PRIZE:

The Whistler | Directed by: Jennifer Nicole Stang, Canada, 2018

BEST HORROR SHORT FILM:

GRAND PRIZE:

Zombied | Directed by: Matthew Van Vorst, USA, 2018

 

FIRST PRIZE:

A Doll Distorted | Directed by: Niall Shukla, United Kingdom, 2018

Tied With:
The Son, the Father... | Directed by: Lukas Hassel, USA, 2017

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

GRAND PRIZE:

The Legend of Rasputin | Directed by: Jamie Shannon, Canada, 2017

 

FIRST PRIZE:

Reruns | Directed by: Rosto ----, Belgium, France, Netherlands, 2017

Tied With:
Space Between Stars | Directed by: Samuel W. Bradley, Canada, 2018

BEST FEATURE FILM:

GRAND PRIZE:
Ascension | Directed by: Ross Wachsman, USA, 2018

FIRST PRIZE:
Killer Unicorn | Directed by: Drew Bolton, USA, 2018

DIRECTORIAL DISCOVERY AWARD:

Michael Paul, Director of “Strange Clowns,” USA, 2018

H.P. LOVECRAFT AWARD:

I Am the Doorway | Directed by: Simon Pearce, United Kingdom, 2018

This year’s Vortex programming is sponsored by the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival Rhode Island Film & Television Office, The Providence Tourism Council, ACT/Providence, Cox Media, WLNE ABC6, Eurochannel, RISCA, Brown University Film Forum (BUFF), WSBE RI PBS, Providence College, Johnson and Wales University, the Rooftop at the Providence G, the RI Historical Society, the RWU School of Humanities, Arts and Education, RWU Department of Communication, Graphic Design and Web Development, THE RWU HAWK'S HERALD, The RWU Inter-Residence Hall Association (IRHA) and the RWU American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).

The next edition of the Flickers' Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Festival will take place October 19-26, 2019.

__________________

Sponsors for 2018:

The Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film at Providence College.

Johnson & Wales College of

Arts & Sciences

©2018 Rhode Island International Film Festival®. All Rights Reserved.