The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival honored Morgan Freeman with the King Vidor Lifetime Achievement award on Saturday, March 11 at the classic Fremont Theatre in San Luis Obispo. Mr. Freeman's appearance in town coincided with the West Coast Premiere of his newest film, "Lucky Number Slevin". On hand to pay tribute to the versatile Freeman were friends Malcolm McDowell, Field of Dreams director, Phil Alden Robinson and Dances with Wolves editor, Neil Travis. Mr. Freeman told the packed house that the secret to his success was his perserverence. "If you have a dream, don't ever give up on it." Although he had spent years in musical theatre and television, he didn't become a big star until he was over the age of 50, receiving accolades for his performance in "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1990.

The winners of the 2006 George Sidney Independent Filmmaking Competition were announced later the same evening, with awards presented to the following filmmakers, many of whom were in attendance:
Co-directors Shaun Conrad and David Racculgia won Best in Competition and Best Feature-Length Documentary (tie) for their moving documentary, "Purvis of Overtown"; Monty Lapica won Best Feature Film for "Self Medicated"; Mike Shiley won Best Feature-Length Documentary for "Inside Iraq"; Randall Wilkins won Best Short Film for "A Question of Loyalty"; Leslie Iwerks won Best Short Documentary for "Recycled Life"; Sun Tae Hwang won Best Short Feature for "Snapdragon"; Scott Rice won Best Student Film for "Perils in Nude Modeling" and John Cernak was given a Special Jury Award for "Joy Ride".

Audience Award winners were announced at the end of the festival on Sunday, March 12. Best Documentary Feature was awarded to filmmakers Geoff Callan and Mike Shaw for "Pursuit of Equality" and Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine for "Ballets Russes"; Best Feature Film was "Innocent Voices", directed by Luis Mandoki; and Best Short Film was "Arianna", directed by Shashi Balooja.

"We've been to about ten film festivals now and SLOIFF was by far the best experience we've had. The audiences were just so wonderful and enthusiastic, which is such a treat for filmmakers," said "Self Medicated" director, Monty Lapica.

Best Short Feature winner, Sun Tae Hwang agreed: "It was really fantastic film festival. I loved the city, the atmosphere, people and the films. I was so impressed..."

For more information about the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival: www.slofilmfest.org

The 12th Annual San Luis Obispo International Film Festival moved to a new date this year, March 7-12, just 2 days after the Academy Awards. This six-day film festival celebrates new independent films, as well as true big screen classics. Each year a special individual is awarded the King Vidor Lifetime Achievement Award. Past recipients include Ernest Borgnine, Elmer Bernstein and Howard Keel.