VISIONFEST announces 2014 IVA - Independent Vision Award Nominations

DON PEYOTE leads race with 9 nods; 

SAND CASTLES follows with 7

CHASING TASTE with 6 and NEVER with 5

round out feature nominees

On shorts front, FLESH COMPUTER and THE SOUND lead race with 5 nods apiece!

Documentary films up for Best Doc all share 2 nominations each.

New York City - May 15, 2014 – VISIONFEST 14: THE OTHER FESTIVAL (VF14), which runs May 14 thru May 18, 2014, at Tribeca Cinemas (corner of Laight and Varick Streets in New York City), officially announced its 2014 Independent Vision Award (The IVAs) nominations last night, following a sold out, "Opening Night Selection" screening, which saw that program’s feature presentation, DON PEYOTE, rack up 9 nominations, thus leading this year’s race.

DON PEYOTE , which opens theatrically in New York on May 16, landed nominations in all of the top categories, including Production, Directing, Writing, Editing, and Cinematography. The film’s two leads, Don Fogler (who also co-wrote and co-directed the film with Michael Canzoniero) and Kelly Hutchinson are going head to head for the festival’s Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award, which is traditionally bestowed upon an acting performance, which stands out among others, making it impossible to imagine the same film with a different actor in that given role.  The award, which was established in 2002, was named after the late character actor, Jack Nance (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks ), to honor his legacy as one of the most memorable and most unique actors in independent cinema.  DON PEYOTE is also up for the festival’s top honor, the Domani Vision Award, which is named after the festival’s organizing entity, the Domani Vision Film Society, a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization, whose tag line is: "Bringing you tomorrow’s visionaries, today."

from left to right: scenes from SAND CASTLES - CHASING TASTE - NEVER

The dramatic feature SAND CASTLES, by Clenét Verdi-Rose, nabbed 7 nominations, including Production, Directing, and Cinematography.  Its two male leads, Jordon Hodges (who also co-produced the film with Chris Nickin) and Randy Spence, are duking it out for aMale Lead Acting IVA, while Saxon Trainor is up for Female Lead.  Following close behind with 6 nods, is the comedic CHASING TASTE, by Sean Gannet, which also landed many top nominations, including Production, Directing, Writing, and Editing, along with acting mentions for Lead Female, Ashley Wren Collins (who also co-produced the film) and Kirk McGee (in the running for a Jack Nance prize).  The festival’s fourth narrative feature,NEVER, by Brett Allen Smith, was singled out in 5 categories, including Production, Directing, Writing, and Editing, and is giving Zelda Willams, a chance to land an Acting Female Lead IVA.  Ms. Williams, who is the daughter of legendary actorRobin Williams, is also a very talented singer, athlete, and artist.

from left to right: scenes from FLESH COMPUTER - THE SOUND

On the short subject front, FLESH COMPUTER, by Ethan Shaftel, and THE SOUND, by Sacha Iskra, led the race with 5 nominations apiece.  Coincidentally, both films are up for Outstanding Short and both filmmakers are vying for the top honor, the Domani Vision Award, with the latter film also mentioned for a top acting award for its Male Lead, Joe Lewis.  Other shorts vying for acting honors are: Open Spaces (Darius Homayoun), Today’s The Day (Daniel Campos), Into The Dark (Lukas Hassel), What Cheer? (Richard Kind), Moustache (Christina Harding), andKiller Kart (Christine Rodriguez).  VF14 co-director, Bruno Derlin stated:  "I’ve yet to remember a year with so many wonderful shorts offering so many great performances.  The shorts this year are so good, that we couldn’t even limit our nominees to five in that category and ultimately went with seven candidates."  The short, FLAWS, which is the creation of sixteen year-old Gabrielle Giacomo, marks the first time a filmmaker under eighteen lands multiple IVA nominations, with two nods.  

In the Documentary race, all three of the nominated films ( CHANGE: THE LIFE PARTICLE EXPERIENCE, FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS, and HOME COURT) are up for two awards apiece. 

A complete list of this year’s IVA Nominees follows:

THE 2014 INDEPENDENT VISION AWARD NOMINATIONS

Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent 
Dan Fogler & Michael Canzoniero DON PEYOTE 
Zina Brown DREAMS OF THE LAST BUTTERFLIES 
Ethan Shaftel FLESH COMPUTER 
Sacha Iskra THE SOUND 
Daniel Campos TODAY’S THE DAY 

Outstanding Achievement in Production 
CHASING TASTE (Ashley Wren Collins, Sean Gannet, Maitely Weismann) 
DON PEYOTE  (Thomas Sullivan, Luke Daniels, Carlos Velazquez, Stuart Braunstein) 
NEVER (Cherie Saultier, Andrew Schmidt) 
SAND CASTLES (Jordon Hodges, Chris Nickin) 
THE WEST BEGINS AT FIFTH AVENUE (Claire Beckman) 

Directing 
Robert Waiermaier BULLY 
Sean Gannet CHASING TASTE 
Michael Canzoniero & Dan Fogler DON PEYOTE 
Brett Allen Smith NEVER 
Clenét Verdi-Rose SAND CASTLES 

Writing 
Lori Fischer CHASING TASTE 
Dan Fogler & Michael Canzoniero DON PEYOTE  
Daniel Stine GRAPE 
Brett Allen Smith NEVER 
Kryssa Schemmerling & Donald Gray THE WEST BEGINS AT FIFTH AVENUE 

Short Subject Narrative 
BULLY 
FLESH COMPUTER 
GRAPE 
OPEN SPACES 
THE SOUND 
TODAY’S THE DAY 
WHAT CHEER? 

The Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award 
Kirk McGee CHASING TASTE 
Dan Fogler DON PEYOTE 
Kelly Hutchinson DON PEYOTE 
Darius Homayoun OPEN SPACES 
Daniel Campos TODAY’S THE DAY 

Acting (Male Lead) 
Lukas Hassel INTO THE DARK 
Jordon Hodges SAND CASTLES 
Randy Spence SAND CASTLES 
Joe Lewis THE SOUND 
Richard Kind WHAT CHEER? 

Acting (Female Lead) 
Ashley Wren Collins CHASING TASTE 
Christina Harding MOUSTACHE 
Christine Rodriguez KILLER KART 
Zelda Williams NEVER 
Saxon Trainor SAND CASTLES 

The Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography 
Vadim Aynbinder BULLY 
John Inwood DON PEYOTE 
Andrew Ellmaker FIRST PRIZE 
Tim Kang GHOST LIGHT 
Chris Faulisi SAND CASTLES 

Documentary 
CHANGE: THE LIFEPARTICLE EFFECT 
FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS 
HOME COURT 

Editing 
Dylan Marshall CHANGE: THE LIFEPARTICLE EFFECT 
Steven Tyler CHASING TASTE 
Dan Bush DON PEYOTE 
Monica Alba & Ben Teitelbaum HOME COURT 
Bradley Maurer NEVER 

Production Design 
David Dibble, Tom Dibble, Beverlee Dibble ADONIS 
Stuart Braunstein DON PEYOTE 
Nathalie Ruiz FLESH COMPUTER 
Patrick Levy GHOST LIGHT 
John Morgan THE WEST BEGINS AT FIFTH AVENUE 

DVFS Visionary Award 
DREAMS OF THE LAST BUTTERFLIES (Zina Brown) 
FLAWS (Gabrielle Giacomo) 
INTO THE DARK (Lukas Hassel) 
THE SOUND (Sacha Iskra) 
TODAY’S THE DAY (Daniel Campos) 

Short Form Score 
Bill Brown AMONG THE INNOCENT 
Kai Altair & Michael Pflug DREAMS OF THE LAST BUTTERFLIES 
Daniele Carretta FLESH COMPUTER 
Gary Dworetsky GRAPE 
Dan Redfeld MOUSTACHE 

Short Form Screenwriting 
David Dibble ADONIS 
Joshua Smooha COOTIE CONTAGION 
Kevin McMullin FIRST PRIZE 
Todd Slawby THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES 
David Heaton & Nick Rafter OPEN SPACES 
Judith Kenny WAKE 

Social Consciousness 
AUTHORIZED DRONE STRIKE ZONE 
DREAMS OF THE LAST BUTTERFLIES 
FLAWS 
FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS 
KAWOMERA: PLANT, PRAY, PARTNER FOR PEACE 
LAST STOP IN SANTA ROSA 

Sound Design 
Ben Wong AMONG THE INNOCENT 
Kevin Roache FLESH COMPUTER 
Ryan Michael Wilson GHOST LIGHT 
Dave Salierno INTO THE DARK 
Todd Maki SAND CASTLES 
Brenton Alexander Henry THE SOUND