The long-running but lesser-known Breckenridge was buzzing with filmmakers, industry insiders, and moviegoers for four days last weekend amidst the swiftly changing fall foliage. Breck Film Fest is presented by HP Workstation and Intel Xeon. Other festival support comes from Wyndham Vacation Rentals at Main Street Station, Beaver Run Resort, Town of Breckenridge, The Summit Foundation, Trilogy Partners, Climax Molybdenum and the Colorado Office of Film, Television & Media.
Filmmakers praised how welcoming Breckenridge locals were throughout the weekend. “We’ve been to a ot of festivals and this is by far one of the best. The venues, amenities…everything about this festival has been great. This is truly a filmmakers’ festival. We’re really thankful,” said Kevin Resnick, who was here with his film, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Sunshine’.
Paul Kowalski accepted the award for both Best Student Film and Best Editing for his film ‘Breathe’. “It is such a treat to come to a festival like this as a student filmmaker, so thank you,” Kowalski said.
The moving short drama, ‘The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy,’ walked away with four awards including Best Short Drama, Best Director in a Short Drama, and Best Sound Editing. “There’s not a lot of dialogue in the film so we really depended on Beso [Kacharava] to bring his a-game, and he did with this one,” said Paul Petersen, a writer, producer, and production designer on the film.
‘Guys Reading Poems’ took home the award for Creativity in Drama. This was the second win for the film after receiving the audience award for Best Feature Drama at the Woods Hole Film Festival. Upon accepting the award, director Hunter Lee Hughes said, “A neo-noir film is kind of an old choice when you program a festival and we’re so thankful to have been selected for Breckenridge. We really appreciate the recognition of our craft.”
Here’s the list of award recipients from the 2016 Breckenridge Film Festival:
Best Director – Presented by Harker Neumaier Associates, LLC: Lance Tracy, Relentless
Best Director, Short Drama: Alexander Jeffrey, The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy
Best Drama – Presented by Alpine Bank: Relentless, Director: Lance Tracy
Best Short Drama: The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy, Director: Alexander Jeffery
Best Short Comedy – Presented by Kaiser Permanente: Chocolate Cake, Director: Benjamin Shweky
Best Documentary & Best Music: Nathan East: For the Record, Director: Chris Gero
Best Adventure & Best Cinematography: Chasing Niagara, Director: Rush Sturges
Best Animated – Presented by HP & Intel Xeon: Hum, Director: Tom Teller
Best Spiritual – Presented by Centura Health: Birthday, Director: Chris King
Best Student Film: Breathe, Director: Paul Kowalski
Best Editing: Spencer Koobatian, Breathe
Best Actor – Presented by Summit Express: Douglas Smith, Evan’s Crime
Best Actor, Short Drama: Stan Brown, The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy
Best Actress – Presented by Kitchenscapes: Mandy Levin, Everything
Best Supporting Actor: David Arquette, Evan’s Crime
Best Ensemble Cast, Short Drama – Presented by Stan Miller Inc.: Andrew Fox, Gabe white, Luke Darga, Holden Goyette; Snake Bite
Best Screenplay: The Untold Story, Directors: Lee Stanley, Shane Stanley
Best Sound: The Bespoke Tailoring of Mr. Bellamy, Director: Alexander Jeffrey
Creativity in Drama – Presented by Trilogy Partners: Guys Reading Poems, Director: Hunter Lee Hughes
Creativity in Lighting Design: Darklight, Director: Mike Brown
Creativity in Narration & Poetry: Muir Song, Director: Janssen Powers
Audience Award: First Place – Borrowed Time; Second Place – The Weekend Sailor; Third Place – GODSPEED: The Race Across America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHKhiS96xwM