Trip Journal - Saturday

Sorry it's taken me so long to finish writing about our trip to San Antonio - life has been busy around here, and the rest of this week is going to be crazy with playing/singing at nursing homes and other things going on! What are some things keeping you busy this season?

On the last day of the festival (Saturday) we watched some more movies, visited with friends, and that evening, attended the awards ceremonies! A lot of people were dressed very fancy, and it was neat seeing the ladies in their modest, beautiful, formal dresses. Actually being there, live, at the awards ceremonies was an amazing experience - something I'll never forget! I sat on the edge of my seat as I waited to hear who the winners were in each category (and I'm just mentioning a few below - go to http://www.saicff.org/ to see all the categories). You can visit Doug Philip's blog (and scroll way down) to see some live footage from that night.

 

In the "young filmmaker" category, Small Talents won, and it looks good, but we never did get around to seeing it because there were SO many movies to choose from!

In between announcing categories, musicians played and George Sarris performed again (below is the man who played an important role in Ace Wonder).

The Penny was the winner of the Best Feature Film Award, and it sure deserved it!! We did see this film, and I HIGHLY recommend it!! The storyline was very complicated (but not hard to understand) and tight. The acting was really good, and the cinematography was great! For an independent film (directed by Nathan Webster, pictured below) . . . all I can say is . . . WOW!! Check out the website at http://www.thepennyfilm.com/. There were some other really good feature films there as well. We didn't see all of them right there at the festival, but I would recommend Standing Firm, No Greater Love (for older kids or adults), The Runner From Ravenshead, and Live to Forgive. We didn't see Sybil Ludington at all but that one looked good too.

The Runner from Ravenshead won the Audience Choice Award by 400%!!! They sure deserved it! :-) As far as I know, they were the only film there to get a standing ovation in the MIDDLE of the movie! (below is a picture of the family that made it)

It was very touching to hear the acceptance speech of the $101,000 grand prize winner (watch it HERE)! The Bowers family made Agenda: Grinding America Down and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!! It was well done, and very informative! Check it out at http://agendadocumentary.com/.

 

 

After the awards ceremonies, we enjoyed visiting with lots of people until at least midnight - right there outside the building! Yes, it was that nice outside! :-)
One of the funnest things was meeting Gator Moore (the main actor in The Widow's Might and now in Ace Wonder). By the way, Ace Wonder was a GREAT film! It was so neat being able to see the world premiere (it was a rough cut, but still was very good). The acting was great, the storyline was very interesting, and Gator completely carries the show - I can't wait to see the final cut on DVD!

Next time I'll share some pictures from our last day in Texas with our new friends! Until then, don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!! :-)