Showcase of the best FILMS in the world today.
Audience Award Winners:
Best Feature Film: WHY I’M NOT A BASKETBALL PLAYER
Best Short Form Feature Film: Witness to 9/11 | In the Shadows of Ground Zero
Best Nature Film: THE SOUL OF SICILY
Best Environmental Film: IRONSELF
Best Comedy Doc: DISCO SAUCE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PENNA ALLA VODKA
Best Cinematography: A RALLY FOR RANGERS
Best Sports Film: UNBELIEVABLE! THE ART WILLIAMS STORY
Best Political Film SHATTERED: How Women Broke the Glass Ceiling In Oregon Politics
Best War Film: JOURNALIST AT WAR – VOICE OF THE VICTIMS
Best Community Doc: REHUMANIZE
Best History Film: DENE DRUM SONGS IN GAHNIHTHAH
Best Society Film: BARE METAL
Best Short Form Short Film: MAX! THE DOGUMENTARY
Best Long Form Short Film: DAWN: A CHARLESTON LEGEND
Human Interest Film: COOKING INSIDE: FROM PRISON TO HOME
Best Direction: DING-HO COMEDY
Best Sound & Music: MIYAWAKI MAN
Watch the Audience Feedback Video for each film:
WHY I’M NOT A BASKETBALL PLAYER, 110min., Israel, Documentary
Directed by Alon Weinstock
A ballad of love, pain and gratitude to basketball and the life around it.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
UNBELIEVABLE! THE ART WILLIAMS STORY, 29min., Documentary
Directed by Edward C. Bartel II
“Unbelievable!” provides the audience with a glimpse into the life of Art Williams. From his humble beginnings working alongside his mother and father in the cotton fields at the tender age of four, to his family’s experiences as part of the Great Migration, to breaking the color lines in the Detroit Tigers organization, working as a public servant, and ultimately becoming Baseball’s First Black National League Umpire.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
MAX! THE DOGUMENTARY, 11min,. USA, Documentary
Directed by Brandon Sanchez
In a rural town of Southern California, the mayor is a Golden Retriever named Max, a beacon of positivity to the citizens of Idyllwild. In this heart warming documentary, we discover how the dynasty of golden retriever mayor’s came to be, the family behind the mayor, and how a community has blossomed over its newfound beloved, furry leader.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
SHATTERED: How Women Broke the Glass Ceiling In Oregon Politics, 38min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Jodi Gwen Garber-Simon
Oregon is filled with female firsts, from the nation’s first openly lesbian speaker of any state house in 2013 to the country’s only female-majority state house in 2021. For more than four years, Oregon’s major metro county has been led by an all-female county commission.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
Witness to 9/11 | In the Shadows of Ground Zero, 55min., USA
Directed by Patrick Heaphy
Witness to 9/11: In the Shadows of Ground Zero sheds new light on America’s darkest day with a linear snapshot of never-before-seen footage and unprecedented insight into how the 9/11 attacks, in the moments after it occurred, broadsided everyday New Yorkers. Documentarian, Patrick Heaphy, captures the surprise and raw emotion of his fellow New Yorkers just beyond the veil of 9/11’s dust.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
JOURNALIST AT WAR – VOICE OF THE VICTIMS, 52min., Iraw/Norway
Directed by Morten Offerdal, Vegard Lund Bergheim
In this compelling and highly dramatic documentary, we follow war reporters Afshin Ismaeli and Tor Arne Andreassen as they travel to Syria to document the collapse of ISIS. Shot on the frontlines of the final battles between Kurdish-led coalition forces and the last remnants of the ISIs forces, the film shows the journalists interviewing soldiers, child refugees and prisoners of war. Among the latter are several men and women who tell Ismaeli and Andreassen why they left their safe and comfortable lives in Scandinavia to join the ISIS caliphate.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
REHUMANIZE, 57min., USA
Directed by Kelsey Darragh
With its roots in indigenous practice and community, this is a documentary about the first ever sexual assault case in North American to be resolved using Restorative Justice through the court system. One woman tells her story of fighting to have her assailant LEGALLY sentenced to therapy instead of prison. Part of her conditions? He had to meet with her in an 8-hour face-to-face Restorative Justice circle.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
A RALLY FOR RANGERS, 52min., USA
Directed by Eric Daft
Park rangers are the heroes on the front lines of conservation, yet in many parks across the globe they are often under-appreciated, and under-equipped. As a foundation, Rally for rangers seeks to empower park rangers, as well as raise awareness for some of the world’s most remote, rugged and ecologically important places, all through the use of motorcycles.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
DENE DRUM SONGS IN GAHNIHTHAH, 11min., Canada
Directed by Jonathan Antoine
A short documentary on the Dene Drum in Gahn?? (Rabbitkettle).
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
BARE METAL, 10min., USA,
Directed by Brandon Robert Gries, Ryan Freng, John Shoemaker
Microsoft, Google, META, and AWS are some of the biggest single-power consumers in the world. Along with other digital infrastructure companies’ consumption, they make up 2.4% of the world’s energy use. This film details the digital infrastructure industry’s work to reduce their carbon footprint in an effort to lower carbon emissions and help save the world.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
DAWN: A CHARLESTON LEGEND, 34min., USA
Directed by Ron Davis
Dawn Langley Simmons was one of the first transgender and interracial marriage pioneers. Dawn’s story was one in which mystery and legend swirled, even to this day. She was the author of more than 20 books. She was the adopted daughter of famed actress, Dame Margaret Rutherford and designated heir to the fortune of painter Isabel Whitney. She lived in a grand mansion filled with antiques and a hidden garden, but ultimately lost it all in order to become who she was in side; a woman, wife and mother.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
DISCO SAUCE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PENNA ALLA VODKA, 35min,. USA
Directed by Roberto Serrini
Penne Alla Vodka is America’s dirty little secret. You can have it hungover from the diner, or for 40 bucks a plate at the finest restaurants. While it’s secret origin might surprise you, it’s sordid history will baffle you, which is why two best friends decided to deep dive into this disco sauce and discover it’s secret powers that polarize the culinary world like no other dish.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
COOKING INSIDE: FROM PRISON TO HOME, 23min., USA
Directed by Brent Lambert-Zaffino
Two men who were formerly incarcerated together recreate a prison meal exactly as they made it inside. Cooking Inside explores America’s cruel and broken prison system through the humanity of food.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
IRONSELF, 20min., Canada, Doc Adventure
Directed by Tinthi Tembo
After a near death overnight hiking experience, Eman – a Queer Egyptian hiker, shares their healing journey of re-exploring the magnificent mountains of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples (also known as British Columbia Canada). Through the power of vulnerability, compassion and community, Eman ventures to the same overnight hike 4 years later. A redemption story – nothing is too far fetched.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
THE SOUL OF SICILY, 34min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Margie Raimondo
The food we eat connects us to a vast web –from farmers to producers – involved in getting food from farm to fork. We probably don’t pause to think about it while eating an apple or cheese, but this global food system is central to some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. Farmers are our most fragile link in this food chain.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
DING-HO COMEDY, 14min., USA
Directed by Yutong Liu, Yuluan Gong, Shiyun Liu
A Chinese Stand-up Comedian living in Boston starts his Chinese comedy club In Boston by holding open mic events and offering classes to polish his skill and build up a Chinese-speaking Stand-up comedy community in Boston.
Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/ding-ho-comedy-review
MIYAWAKI MAN, 8min., Australia
Directed by Ken Allen
A documentary focussing on one man’s goal to plant as many trees as he can. The film features spectacular drone footage from the FNQ region and the amazing growth rates of Miyawaki Forests.
Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/miyawaki-man-review
Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto 