54TH HUMBOLDT INT’L FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS
Congratulations to all the films that were featured in the Best of Fest program and a shoutout to all of the amazing finalists in this year’s Fest!
best of the fest
alina
As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a gang of women risks everything to smuggle their friend's three-month-old baby to safety. Inspired by true events.
Director: Rami Kodeih
United States
BEST OF FEST: ANIMATON
kapaemahu
Kapaemahu reveals the healing power of four mysterious stones on Waikiki Beach – and the legendary dual male and female spirits within them.
Directors: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
United States
best of fest: narrative
god’s daughter dances
A transgender female dancer, Shin-mi, gets a call fom the Military Manpower Administration, to attend the Military Service Examination. Shin-mi, with everything in readiness, takes her steps to the Military Manpower Administration.
Director: Sungbin BYUN
South Korea
BEST OF FEST: DOCUMENTARY
from trash to treasure: turning negative into positives
From erosion to overgrazing to enduring poverty, the people of Lesotho – a highland country surrounded by South Africa – face a variety of difficult challenges. Yet grassroots communities in the country also exhibit tremendous resourcefulness and creativity. IN particular, a wealth of artist have mastered a talent for resurrection, developing the skill to creatively turn negatives into positives. Designers who tun discarded trash into beautiful jewelry, clothes, rugs. Filmmakers who turn tragedy into artistic expressions of resilience and compassion. Musicians who write songs to save the environment.
Director: Iara Lee
United States
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Director: Iara Lee
United States
BEST OF FEST: EXPERIMENTAL
THE PLEASURE OF KILLING BUGS
In the near future, the climate crisis reaches an irreversible point. A nun and a priest meet to talk about the disappearance of insects.
Director: Leonardo Martinelli
Brazil
best of fest: spotlight film: in solidarity with black lives matter & social justice issues
spear avenue
When the slaying of a Black university student sparks unrest in Humboldt County, California, community members question police procedures during the ongoing criminal investigation.
Director: Isaiah Alexander
United States
best of fest: spotlight film: self-care and wellness during covid
a year in exile
An immigrant’s first year in a metropolitan city outside his small country. Through a collection of moving images and sounds the film exhibits what he faces, the pictures that he sees, the crowded thoughts in his head, and the state of emotional shock that he lives throughout the year.
Director: Malaz Usta
Turkey
ledo matteoli award: best immigrant film
my grandfather the storyteller
My grandfather was just 19 years old when he witnessed a war that divided him between the country that he loved and the country whose blood ran through his veins. This is his story of pain, pride, and patriotism.
Director: Madison Kaisan
United States
Pablo Koontz award: best experimental technique
so many ideas impossible to do all
A year before her death, Barbara Hammer asked me to work on a project she'd envisioned based on her correspondence (1973-85) with Jane Brakhage. She also gave me outtakes from her 1974 film "Jane Brakhage" and told me to let the project take me wherever it led. What emerges is a portrait of Barbara as a brave and vibrant artist and a complex and nuanced long-distance friendship.
Director: Mark Street and Barbara Hammer
United States
Humboldt - Del Norte film commission award: best environmental film
écocide
Paris, October 2020. Dozens of Brazilians and Frenchmen gather at the foot of the Sacré Cœur Basilica, in Montmartre, to hold a vigil against the ecocide underway in Brazil. Dressed in black and carrying candles, they denounce the continuing arson in the Amazon, the Pantanal, and the Cerrado and the denial of the Brazilian extreme right government.
Director: Liliane Mutti
France
people’s choice awards
These films were selected by the viewers of this year’s fest as their favorite films in each of the categories. Congrats to films that received the People’s Choice Award for the 54th Humboldt Int’l Film Festival!
narrative
ALINA
As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a gang of women risks everything to smuggle their friend's three-month-old baby to safety. Inspired by true events.
Director: Rami Kodeih
United States
EXPERIMENTAL
AQUÍ
Aquí is an experimental 16mm short film exploring what home means to a multicultural young woman.
Director: Melina Coumas
United States
documentary
FROM TRASH TO TREASURE: TURNING NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES
From erosion to overgrazing to enduring poverty, the people of Lesotho—a highland country surrounded by South Africa—face a variety of difficult challenges. Yet grassroots communities in the country also exhibit tremendous resourcefulness and creativity.
Director: Iara Lee
United States
spotlight film: in solidarity with black lives matter & social justice issues
1,000 Songs
"1000 Songs" features 83-year old journey-man musician and R&B singer Ricky Rose of Brooklyn New York. Ricky has been playing music for 70 years and despite "never making it to the big time" his passion for playing live has never dimmed.
Director: Marin Sander-Holzman
United States
animation
KAPAEMAHU
Kapaemahu reveals the healing power of four mysterious stones on Waikiki Beach – and the legendary dual male and female spirits within them.
Directors: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
United States
spotlight film: self-care and wellness during covid
AVIARY
Adriana is living with the fear of leaving her house, called agoraphobia. She wakes up from a nightmare, where she is breaking free from water. She wakes up in a cold sweat and gets a package she had ordered online. We see her struggling to grab her package and maintain distance from the outside world. Later on, in the week, she is watching television and gets hungry. She orders groceries online to her doorstep. Once the groceries arrive, she realizes they are placed too far from her comfortable reach. Adriana has to overcome her fears if she wants to break free from her entrapment and retrieve her groceries.
Director: Lauryn Blottin
United States