Winners from the 2009 Vampire Film Festival

The results are in for the 2009 International Vampire Film Festival are as follows:

http://www.vampirefilmfestival.com/ 

"All of the films selected were exceptional in one way or another, but The Revenant stood out because it worked as pure vampire fiction and as a contemporary commentary on socially relevant issues.  Plus, it was funny."  Tim Cogshell, Programmer Vampire Film Festival

Outstanding Vampire Feature: The Revenant (USA) Directed by Kerry Prior

The night after his funeral, Bart, a soldier killed in Iraq gets up out of his grave and seeks out his best friend Joey. At dawn Bart's body falls to the floor, only to reawaken the following dusk. He and his buddy decide that he is a revenant: an articulate vampire that needs to drink blood to arrest the decomposition of his body.

Outstanding International Vampire Film: D'Entre Les Morts (France) Directed by Alain Basso

When Roger meets Pauline, the perspective to have finally found his next masterpieces' diva incites him to consider the remake of his fetish movie, 'Vertigo' by Hitchcock. But all is not gold that glitters.

Outstanding Vampire Short: Initiation (Canada) Directed by Stéphane Beaudoin

By carrying out a mission that will make him a part of the gang, Vincent is taken in by another brotherhood, one from which he can't come back.

Audience Award: Shadowland (USA) Directed by Wyatt Weed

Laura crawls from a pit at a construction site, beaten and bloody, apparently left for dead. With no memory of who or where she is, she sets off into the night, looking for answers and a way home. Soon she finds herself hunted by a mysterious young man named Julian, and it isn't clear if he intends to help her - or kill her.

Best Gothic Film: The Music of Erich Zahn (USA) Directed by Jared Skolnick

A young student becomes fascinated by the strange music of the eccentric violinist living above him, leading him to a terrifying discovery.

Best Mythic Film: Shrove Tuesday (United Kingdom) Directed by Lee Matthews

In the UK, Shrove Tuesday was originally a pagan festival, where food was consumed in bulk before the onset of lent.  But now it's mainly associated with pancakes...but there is still the legend of a woman, murdered for her religious beliefs, who came back from the dead on Shrove Tuesday to avenge herself. She became known as Pancake Marion. And she spared no one.

Best Anime: CannibAlien (Japan) Directed by David Kame Tsai

In this future vision of Planet Earth, aliens have taken over and begun to eat humans. These 'CannibAliens' find human dishes to be very tasty.

Acting Award- Best Vampire Portrayal:  Estes Tarver, Mr. Moonlight (USA) Directed by Mark Cornell

A lonely man with a secret attempts to understand his place in the world.

Comments from festival award winners:

"It really means a lot to be honored by a festival devoted strictly to Vampires; I feel like I have been sanctioned by the coven!" added The Revenant Director, Kerry Prior

"I want to thank ASIF and The Vampire Film Festival sooo much for screening the film. Also thanks to Ken Peterson, Joan darling, and Mark Cornell. I am so pumped. I loved playing this character as a full being. Vampire's are people too! Glad to see such a wonderful outlet for this genre," added Estes Tarver, acting award recipient for Best Vampire Portrayal in Mr. Moonlight.

"I am very honored to have been awarded by the Jury of the Vampire Film Festival as Outstanding International Vampire Film. New Orleans has a very rich vampire culture and its really amazing to be an award winner from people from this town. I'm very touched too because, writing "D'ENTRE LES MORTS" (Among the dead), I really insisted on the use of different styles as a journey in the history of cinema. So this movie is like a treasure hunt between all references about cinema, from Louis Feuillade to the most experimental kind, with a particular love for Carl Dreyer's expressionism and the black movies of Alfred Hitchcock. I'd like to thank the jury to believe in this movie and to the very motivated team that helped me to make it," offered director Alain Basso.