National Neighborhood Day Announces Film Contest Winners!
3 Films Receive Top Honors
Three very different films won the top awards for our 2006 film contest, which asked the filmmakers to document "What does neighborhood mean to me?". Old Cloth, the Grand Prize winner, depicts a neighborhood with a real sense of community where people help one another and rely on each other. The Special Jury Award went to two films: Charles Suh's film asks What is a Neighborhood? and concludes that "maybe he doesn't have a neighborhood just somewhere he lives"; and, Alicia Butler's film, Welcome to my Unhappy Streets, raps through life on these unhappy streets where children are being killed and ends with a request to "Stop the Violence".
These three films capture the value and need for neighbors to be connected to strengthen our communities --the simple goal of National Neighborhood Day.
Grand Prize Winners
Dayna Jondal and John Kestner, both 16 and from Austin, Minnesota, for their film Old Cloth.
Special Jury Award Winners
Charles Suh, from San Francisco, for his film What is a Neighborhood?, and Alicia Butler, from San Francisco, for her film Welcome to My Unhappy Streets. Both Charles and Alicia made their films when they were 17 and members of the Bay Area Video Coalition YouthLink Program (www.bavc.org).
View Welcome to My Unhappy Streets
The winning filmmakers competed in the youth category (under 18) against entrants from all across the country and were asked to make a short film documenting “What does neighborhood mean to you?” The Grand Prize and the Special Jury Award each carry cash prizes of $2,000.
View bios of the winning filmmakers
The films were judged by our award winning panel of judges:
Terry Sanders - two-time Academy Award winner,
Gregg Hale - producer and filmmaker of the "Blair Witch Project"
Rick Smith - film and television veteran whose credits include True Lies, Meet Joe Black, Amistad, Dumb and Dumber and Something About Mary.
View all of the finalists' films