The five-day Catalina Film Festival (CFF) wrapped its 9th annual festival in coastal sister cities with premieres, parties, and panels in iconic and historic film venues－The Queen Mary in Long Beach and the Avalon Casino Theatre on Catalina Island.
Festival highlights included the Avalon Award presentation to Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino who starred in the world premiere of “Badland” alongside Kevin Makely, Bruce Dern and Trace Adkins. Fan favorite, Thriller Thursday, featured the Wes Craven block of horror films, along with the world premiere of “Dark Harbor,” directed by Joe Raffa, starring Joel McHale (Community, The Soup) with cast in attendance: Jessica Sipos, Xander Berkeley, Sterling Hurst, Connor Trineer, Reiko Aylesworth, Nickolas Wolf and Jillian Armenante.
Also in attendance were Kevin Alejandro (Lucifer, True Blood) with the short films “The Talk” & “Smile,” plus Jaeden Martell (It, It Chapter 2), Nick Jandl (Nashville), Mike Doyle (New Amsterdam). The Festival also featured the Film & New Media Summit, with panels that included film finance discussions with Forrest Road Company and a spotlight interview with iconic actress Lesley Ann Warren, moderated by film historian, Jim Hemphill.
2019 CATALINA FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS:
- Avalon Award – Mira Sorvino
- Wes Craven Horror/Thriller Award – “Black Cat in a Dark Room”
- Best of Fest – U.S. Short Film – “Men of Vision”
- Best of Fest – Documentary Film (Worldwide) – “Stronger than Carr”
- Best of Fest – Screenplay – “Kid Soldier”
- Best of Fest – International Short Film – “Janek/Bastard”
- Best of Fest – International Feature Film – “RWANDA”
- Catalina Spotlight Awards – Chuck Liddell & Lolo Saldana
- Deb Bauer “Unsung Hero Award” – “Father of the Flying Car”
- Best of Fest – Advanced Student Film (Worldwide) – “Piggy Bank Proposition”
- Best of Fest – Animation Short Film (Worldwide) – “Destination: Unknown”
- Best of Fest – Conservation Film – “The Last Herd”
- CFF Festival Treasure Award – “Barbie’s Kenny”
- Best of Fest – Catalina Film Channel (Online) Awards:
- Best Actor, Male: Ben Gail – “Happy To Help”
- Best Actor, Male Comedy: Aaron Serotsky – “Men of Vision”
- Best Actor, Female: Jennifer Morrison – “A Tattooed Heart”
- Best Actor, Female Comedy: Leslie Vincent – “Fairy Tail”
- Best Child Actor, Charity Rose – “Piggy Bank Proposition”
- Best Cinematography, Mac Fisken – “High Desert Hell”
- Best Supporting Actor, Male: Markets Christmas – “Unicorns”
- Best Supporting Actor, Female – Jordan Knapp- “8”
- Best Director, Frank Todaro – “Men of Vision”