All Roads Film Festival announced the winners
National Geographic’s All Roads Film Festival announced the winners of its annual film and photography awards at a gala
reception in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Oct. 6.
The Tibetan feature “Milarepa,” by director Neten Chokling Rinpoche, won the audience favorite award for best feature-length film. Mexican short “Sueños Binacionales,” by director Yolanda Cruz, won the audience favorite award for best short.
“Milarepa,” an epic film chronicling the early life of one of Tibet’s greatest mystics, was shot on location in northern India by a cast and crew heavily drawn from the Pema Gyurmeling Monastery, for which Rinpoche also serves as the spiritual head. “Milarepa” made its U.S. debut at the All Roads Film Festival in Los Angeles and also was screened at All Roads in Washington.
Shot on location in Mexico, California and North Carolina, “Sueños Binacionales (Binational Dreams)” is a look at the civil and financial obstacles that the Indian communities of Oaxaca face as they try to forge a
life for themselves in the United States and provide for their families back home. “Sueños Binacionales” had its Washington premiere at the All Roads Film Festival in D.C. The film also screened at All Roads in Los Angeles and will screen at the All Roads program in Santa Fe, N.M., in association with the Santa Fe Film Festival, Wednesday, Dec. 6, through Sunday, Dec. 10.
All Roads also honored four featured photographers with seed money and photography equipment to assist in their fieldwork. They are Iranian photographer Newsha Tavakolian, whose “Iran: Women in the Axis of Evil” offers a rare glimpse into the veiled lives of Iranian women; Guatemalan Sandra Sebastian Pedro, whose “Inherited Violence” depicts her nation’s gang-related brutality with unforgiving detail; Bangladeshi “photo activist” Saiful Huq, whose “Stolen Dreams — The Story of the Abandoned Victims of Political Violence” captures the story of the people and families affected by political bombings in Bangladesh; and Larry McNeil, Idaho artist, educator and member of the Tlingit and Nisga’a nations from the United States and Canada, whose mixed-media project “Fly by Night Mythology” offers a distinctive perspective on Native American biculturalism.
The photographers’ work was exhibited at the All Roads Film Festival in Los Angeles and Washington, and also will be shown in Santa Fe, United Nations headquarters and other locations throughout the next year. This year’s photography program was sponsored by Manfrotto.
“We’re so happy to give these filmmakers and photographers this extra recognition by way of our audience and photography awards,” said Francene
Blythe, director of the All Roads Film Project. “These awards demonstrate the importance of the work that they’re doing and the impact their work has on the audience. These stories need to be heard, and we’re happy to provide the forum to make that happen.”
The All Roads film awards are based on audience scores taken from the All Roads Film Festival in Los Angeles. The photography program awards are evaluated by the All Roads Photography Program selection committee.
The All Roads Film Festival is part of the All Roads Film Project, a National Geographic initiative to provide a global platform for indigenous and under-represented minority-culture storytellers around the world to showcase their talents and teach a broader audience about their cultures.
In addition to providing a venue for the filmmakers’ and photoraphers’ work, All Roads offers them networking opportunities with leaders of the film and photographic community.
