California Film Awards

2017 Winners

Grand Winners 


Grand Jury Award: 7th Generation directed by John L Voth

Special Jury Prize: The Spirit & Spirits of Port Costa directed by David Swope

Special Jury Prize:  Surrender Only to ONE directed by Dwight Thompson

Best Narrative Feature : The Final Barrier directed by Jasmin Durakovic


Best Documentary Feature:  Bluefin directed by John Hopkins


Best Narrative Short:  Twenty Years directed by Jeremy Ryan Johnson


Best Documentary Short: Secrets of Desert Point directed by Ira Opper


Best Foreign Feature:  The Daredevil directed by David Shah


Best Foreign Short: Claire & Bruno : a story of love and fresh meat directed by Lionel Delebarre


Best Student Short: The Kiss directed by Cameron Boscoe

Best Student Feature: Time Flies directed by Daniel Chan


Best Animation: Super Idiots - Guns 40 to 1 directed by Rich Wilkie


Best Director:  Torrent directed by D.J. Rivera


Best Screenplay: The Lurking Man directed by Maritza Brikisak, Keith Rommel


Best California Feature: Happenstance directed by Joel Ulrick O Neal


Best California Short: Yesterday Is Tomorrow directed by James C. Shahanshah


Best Experimental Film: Sirocco: Prophecy of Wind directed by John Taschner


Best Music Video: Together As The Wind Blows directed by Joey Manalang, Jason Conde


Best Television Pilot:  Filling In directed by Bradley Hawkins


Best Comedy: The 'I' in Annie directed by Andrew David Robson


Best Dramatic Film: Just Within Reach directed by Anna Bamberger

Best Acting in a film: The Pact directed by Nonie D. Clark

Best Environmental Film: Saving the Planet, One Bite At A Time directed by Gary Null

Orson Welles Awards

Animated Film: The Noise of Licking directed by Nadja Andrasev

California Film: Doucheaholics directed by Sean McCarthy

Documentary Feature:The Saints of Sin directed by Aniruddha (Oni) Sen
Documentary Short: The Chaos Candidate: How Trump Won directed by Farhaan Aziz

Music Video:  I come from the future directed by Antonio Roma

Narrative Film:  Darklight directed by Daisy Betts Miler
Environmental Film: Plant Codes, Unleashing Nature's Healing Power directed by Gary Null

Screenplay: Our Little Haven directed by Ben Rider

Short Film: Once More directed by Rachel Zhou

Student Film:A Better World directed by Christy Wang, Rachel Zhou

Television Pilot: Clever Girl directed by Joe Zappa
Foreign Film: Million Loves in Me directed by Sampson Yuen



Screenplay Competition Feature 

1st Place: Table For Four written by Jim Norman

2nd Place:  The Traveling Salesman written by G.N. Giovanni 

3rd Place: Compass written by Douglas E. Spaltro

4th Place: Charlie written by Cole Dempsey
5th Place: Perfidies written by Bill Baber

Official Finalists

A Terrorist from Hamburg written by Andrea Calabrese
Everywhere written by Thomas Louis Castiglione
Whales Gone Wild written by Theodore Carl Soderberg
Parker Costa written by John-Mark Davidson
Wolves of Beirut written by Kat Sparks
Children of the Dust written by John McCarney
The Plantation written by Luke Donnelly
Hollow Earth Quest written by Kathy Krantz Stewart
Thank You, Amelia Earhart written by Al Mertens
Fighting Chair written by Trevor Lee Georgeson

Short Script Competition

1st Place:  The Rental written by L. P. Lee
2nd Place:  Mrs. Delta written by Bettina Horton, Cleveland McLeish

 3rd Place: The Shadows of Our Future Selves written by Tiffany Hudson
4th Place: Ray in Space written by John Celona
5th Place: Lulu written by Tracey Lion-Cachet

Official Finalists

Sins of the Father written by David Valkenet
Dill We Meet Again written by Jim Norman
Spiced Apple written by Rebecca Lunn
"Fall” in SPRING..?? written by Manisha Gupta
Generation Killer written by John Bias
Mermaids of Mustang Island written by Marilyn Swick , Laura Koons
Life of Atoms written by Fredrik Colting
Selah Selam written by Michael Vincent Montgomery
Nour written by Maitha Alawadi

TV Pilot Script Competition

1st Place: Pole Position written by Shannonn Kelly
2nd Place: In The Shadows of November written by Bill Albert
3rd Place: The Tarot Project written by Chandler Patton
4th Place: Selected written by Anna Kirakosian
5th Place: Visiting written by Cleveen Dominguez

Official Finalists

PSEUDO written by Tony Cortez
Life's A Pitch written by Chris Chandler
Abramelin Institute written by Meghan Fitzmartin
The Kosher Mutiny written by Jim Norman
Alpha Dogs written by Joe Cataline
Bliss written by Michael Sieve
The State of Wyoming written by Gillian Will

Diamond Awards

Animated Film Competition

Revelation - the City of Haze directed by Mao Qichao
Light at the End of the Tunnel directed by Irwin Miller

Documentary Film Competition

The Evil Within directed by Eduardo A Rufeisen
Departing directed by Miroslav Nincic
The Warriors: Fighting the Incurable Juvenile Huntington's Disease directed by Katie Jackson, Katrina Hamel, James Valvano, Marilyn McCloskey
Girl on Wave directed by Steven Esparza
The Kurdish factor directed by Roger Lindley

Music Video Competition

My Help directed by Darlene TINA Batten
Eternally directed by Takahisa Shiraishi
Linda directed by Leandro Corinto
GOOGOOSH directed by Yasmine Asha
El Amor directed by Raul Simao
Another Song directed by Rafael Ghencev
Delightful directed by Anna Haas

Foreign Film Competition

The hourglass (Das Stundenglas) directed by Grohmann, Dieter - Michael
The 99th Encounter directed by Linman WU

Narrative Film Competition

The World of Which we Dream Doesn't Exist directed by Ayoub Qanir
Into the Outbreak directed by Larry Rosen

Screenplay Competition 

The Salt Box written by Robert J.Rogers
Names are for Tombstones written by Dennis Vossos
Epic Rynn written by Matthew Rochester
Camp Camden written by Tommy McInnis
Pines of Rome written by Terry Gau
Music Between Us written by Tal Rayman
MATRIM$NY written by Wynn Reichert
Dollar Down written by J. Michael Aiken
Tink written by Edward Ybarra
Birth Of Life written by Julian Shaw
Those Crazy Days written by Eric Willis

Short Film Competition

KAPUNKA directed by Tal Greenberg
Being directed by Saba
Mary and Mariana's Diary directed by Sheila Atienza
Now directed by Paul Kelly
Then directed by Sonja Isabella
NO SMOKING directed by Niranga Nero
Suparhearo: A True Tail By Chance directed by Sean McCarthy
Generation Gap directed by Chris Fiorentini
The Pact directed by Nonie D. Clark
From A Scream To A Giggle directed by Hilton Eugene Moore

Student Film Competition

Sweet Bloom of Night Time Flowers directed by Rifyal Giffari
Illusion directed by Jason Zhao
Under My Skin directed by Luis A. Perez
Sorry, Thank you directed by Haochang Liu
Consensual directed by Elisa-Sofia Fioretti
5639 directed by Justin Latimer
Cream Cheese directed by Brett G Kim
Wedding Anniversary directed by Yitong Li
Blue Hollywood directed by Francesco Gabriele

Television Production Competition

Recovering directed by Carly Keyes
JimMortal directed by Owen Weber, Hunter Bradley

Experimental Film Competition

The Other directed by Diego Valdés

Environmental Film Competition

Earth (Bumiku) directed by Natasha Dematra

Gold Awards

Documentary Film Competition

The Birthplace-Seeking Ancestors in Sanjiazi Manchu Village directed by Yong Qi, Yanan Hu
To Shoot and Protect directed by Matthias Poeltinger
Go South directed by James Barrett
Samba de Cacete - The Dawn of Maroons directed by Andre dos Santos, Artur Arias Dutra
"Violin Making" One Man's Journey directed by Chip Curry

Music Video Competition

Food To Ate directed by Randy J. Huling
Head in the Clouds directed by Joe Ridler
Be About You directed by Nicole Alexander
Spring Flower Blossom directed by Frank (Fai) Cheng
Me, Myself, and I directed by Steven Heil
30 Cents directed by Markus Thorington

Foreign Film Competition

8 Steps to I Love You directed by Keith Orlando Harris
ORANGE directed by Hakan Unal

Narrative Film Competition

The 5 Year directed by Twitchy Dolphin Flix
You Have A Nice Flight directed by Jimmy Dinh

Screenplay Competition 

Althea written by Edessa Tailo
Chained written by Lim Boon Siang
Going To Extremes written by Marion McNabb
Wrath written by Martin White II
STILL MAX written by Douglas E. Spaltro
In Wonderland written by Summer Starrs
Shadows written by Richard Geiwitz
INSANE DIEGO written by Kirby Wright
Beast written by Dean Whitney
The Door written by Robert Cox

Short Film Competition

August in the City directed by Christie Conochalla
Baggage directed by Andi Behring
POKER NIGHT directed by Matt Ritchey
Doherty directed by Luke Malone
In confidence directed by Clara Vorfeld
Southern Edge of the Cloud directed by Alon CHAN
We Need To Talk directed by David M. Raynor
ASHES OF TIME directed by Bide Yuan
Karen directed by Brandon Champ Robinson
Te Echo de Menos directed by Yuki Yoshimatsu

Student Film Competition

El Ojo Malo directed by C. Hutnick
Mistakes directed by Shant Nicholas Salkhorian
Dissension directed by Paige Irene
Burning in the Mekong directed by Orson Dijle
SWITCH directed by Robin Wang
Dogs in the wood directed by Jonathan Dassonville
Complete Me directed by Jimmy Dallara, Gabriel Capito
Eternalness directed by Alyssa Lara
In Light & In Darkness directed by Sanya Salehi

Television Production Competition

Unintended 1900 directed by Colleen Bradford Krantz

Silver Awards

Documentary Film Competition

ROADMAP: Building a Mental Health System That Works directed by Stephen Seager MD
Flowers and Roots, James Ragan, An Ambassador of the Arts directed by Dodo Banyak
A Year with Betty Gold directed by J. McMerty
Forever Under Siege directed by Stacey Stone
A Life Together directed by Simon Direen

Music Video Competition

Broken Record directed by Katusha Jin
Dance into the Party directed by Wayne Isham, Chuck Maldonado - Choreographer
Legacy directed by Ryan Henry Johnston
Love Remains directed by Savannah Philyaw, Joel Piper
I Miss You directed by Ramesh Vijayan

Foreign Film Competition

IS THIS NOW directed by Joe Scott
ONE,TWO,GUESS WHO'S WHO directed by System

Narrative Film Competition

The Moose Head Over The Mantel directed by Rebecca Comtois , Bryan Enk, Matt Gray, Jessi Gotta, Shannon K. Hall, Jane Rose
COUNTERFEITERS directed by Bryce Hirschberg

Screenplay Competition 

Las Vegas Is Murder written by Jim Norman
A Ditch On Both Sides written by Ellecina Eck
RUNAWAY SHIP written by Theodore Carl Soderberg
The Comeback written by Cedric Shelton
Stoning the Jasmine written byZaina Deeb
Flyover Country written by John Fahnenstiel
HISTRIONIC HAIRCUT written by Andriana Farmakis, Thodoris Nikolaides
Ube Bubog written by Sway Stagall
Mad Dash written by William Leonard
Hitlers Ball written by Jürgen R. Weber

Short Film Competition

The Good Blonde directed by Nic Saunders
The Bridge directed by Cindy Iodice
Check your Mate directed by Eliza Bolsh
Devotion directed by Laura Jean Marsh , Jake Unsworth
The Break directed by Bleger Sara, Mazuel Chloé
Baby directed by Ryan Zemke
XZ3 directed by Emanuele Daga
POLIS_NEA directed by Pierluigi Ferrandini
Lonely People directed by Justin Davey, Andrew Bell
REBEL IN RISING directed by Braden Sumers

Student Film Competition

The Hammer directed by Mohammad Alkazemi
Power Within directed by Brendan Barnard
Beyond the Gate directed by Annie Pace
Mime Doesn't Pay directed by Ella McKeon
New Year directed by Juliette Hautemont
Lost But Found directed by Kartikay D Pawar

Television Production Competition

Gorchlach: The legend of Cordelia directed by Fabio Cento
Brian For Hire directed by Krishna Ribeiro