2017 South Georgia Film Festival
The 2017 South Georgia Film Festival received nearly 300 entries from around the world and screened 17 films. Our guest judges were Dan Kelly, instructor from the Georgia Film Academy, and Jotja Bessems, visiting filmmaker who screened her documentary Our Soldier during the festival.
Filmmaker Jotja Bessems presented her film OUR SOLDIER.
Our two winners were Bennet Atkins from Birmingham, AL in the High School category and Ryan Adams from Valdosta, GA, in the college category.
Bennet’s film One Last Thing to Fix captured a somber look at a man writing a letter to put his affairs in order. Bennet shot the film while out of town and stuck in a hotel room.
Ryan’s film Peanuts for Brett was about a returning soldier dealing with the loss of his friend in war. Ryan made the film along with Bryce Whitford, Akerius Dixon, Shawna Lucas and Megan English.
Only filmmakers in attendance could receive the top prizes. However, other films were recognized for their accomplishments:
Best College film was awarded to PEANUTS FOR BRETT by Director Ryan Adams from Valdosta State University.
Best High School film was awarded to ONE LAST THING TO FIX by Director Bennett Atkins from Birmingham, AL.
Best Use of Prompts was awarded to Ted the Handyman Directed by Liam Nelson.
Best Production Design was A BEAUTIFUL DAY by Director E-Jo Fang from Savannah College of Art & Design.
Best Performance was Bradley Auguste in HOW WAS YOUR DAY.
Best Editing was LABELED Directed by Ken Davis.
Best Direction was SHARE OF A SHARE by Kaveh Jahed.
We would like to thank WILD ADVENTURES Theme Park for their generous gift of park passes to our in-person winners. WILD ADVENTURES 2017 season begins March 11, with SPLASH ISLAND opening April 1.