There is no specific criteria for winning this award, other than the critic's judgment that the
winning films have stood out amongst their peers and are worthy of recognition.
For those looking to find the best in independent cinema, this is a good place to start.
A Bothered Conscience - Directed By: Dennis Smithers Jr. - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: Deep in the remote Arkansas backwoods, a father passes on the traditions of the Ozark mountain men to his 5 year-old son. Under his strict and cruel guidance, young Lucas learns to protect the family land at all costs, and hones the skills of the hunt that have been handed down from generation to generation. But their prey is no ordinary game. . . because the McGavins are hunting trespassers! Twenty years later, when his father is murdered in a savage act of retribution, Lucas is left alone to preserve the twisted family legacy. Desperate to live up to his father's expectations, the pressure and isolation soon begin to take their toll. Haunted by visions of a violent past, Lucas becomes more dangerous with each passing day, and his ability to distinguish reality from hallucination quickly dissolves. Ghostly figures lurk in the shadows of the unforgiving forest, taunting him with their screams as they claw their way ever closer. They are everywhere. . . and nowhere. But have the rotted corpses of the McGavin prey risen from the dead to exact their revenge upon Lucas? Or are they simply the manifestations of. . . a bothered conscience?
* * *
The Awakening - Directed By: Mike Conway - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: With his wife Lara dying of cancer, Dr. David Andrade, comes up with a way to save her life. Little does he know he is also creating a super human bad girl. Tamra Ericson Frame , also known as her sexy alter ego Mandi Steele, stars as the super anti-hero.
* * *
Cave Women on Mars - Directed By: Christopher R. Mihm - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2008
Synopsis: Another brilliant retro b-movie from Christopher R. Mihm. This time around, we're in the future! It's 1987 and the Mars-1 rocket is taking two astronauts from Earth to make the first manned landing on the surface of Mars. When they arrive though, they're greeted by two rival tribes of women, and one of the astronauts finds out that he has a greater destiny planned out for him than he ever expected. A brilliant 50's style b-movie with an awesome look and great acting.
* * *
The Crawling Brain - Directed By: Ron Ford - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: The Crawling Brain is the story of Stephen Kroeger, who's gone to take care of his ailing Grandma Anita. Well, Stephen thinks that the biggest problem that he's going to run up against is his freeloading brother, but he doesn't count of Grandma Anita having a secret. And what a secret it is! You see, Grandma Anita's name is really Helene and she was a Nazi nurse during World War 2. Helene/Anita helped out Nazi doctor Fanz Kindler doing experimentations on humans trying to transplant brains from one person to another, and he was close to perfecting his operation when the war ended. And what did every good Nazi do when the Americans were breathing down their necks? That’s right, you either hid or got prosecuted for war crimes? So Franz asked nurse Helene to remove his brain, place it in a fish tank and keep it alive until she could find you a good enough body! Perfectly sensible.
* * *
Days of Darkness - Directed By: Jake Kennedy - Review - IMDB - Awarded October 2007
Synopsis: After a comet fragment crashes into the Earth, people are infected with a parasite that turns them into flesh eating zombies, and reproductive machines for the alien creatures. A small group of uninfected individuals gather together at an abandoned microwave station where they must fight for their lives against the zombies from without, and the infected from within.
* * *
Deadpan Valentine - Directed By: Robin Lindsey - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: Deadpan Valentine is an "Anti Rom Com" that follows the adventures of two very different flat mates during one grim Valentine's Day. Scott is a vain, arrogant, two-timing actor whilst Jamie is a depressed man looking for a way out. Their story lines intertwine in an ironic and darkly funny way.
* * *
A Far Cry From Home - Directed By: Alan Rowe Kelly - Review - Awarded February 2009
Synopsis: A film about a gay couple on vacation driving through the backwoods of Pennsylvania. They happen upon an old hex shop run by a family of homophobic religious zealots lead by a guy known as "The Preacher Man". The vacation suddenly turns into a nightmare as one of the pair is abducted and tortured while the other struggles desperately to survive.
* * *
Fizzy Days - Directed By: Mark Millicent - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: For a brief few years in the early 70's the only transport available to the sixteen year old teenager itching to sample the freedom of the open road and all that went with it, was a phenomenon known as the 50cc sports moped. The fastest and most nimble of these was the Fizzy. It was the passport to a young boys dream---Girls. 'Get the bike, get the girl'. It never worked of course, but on occasion it came close! Eddy and Tommo are two likely teenagers about to finish school. They need transport if they are to win the affection of Debs and Ange, two local girls itching too, for the freedom a moped might bring. The two lads set off on a quest to secure funds by any means, to purchase two hot chick magnets--- a couple of Fizzies! Fizzy Days is an affectionate look at a time before video games and I-pods. When all you really needed to get to the front of the line was a Fizzy.
* * *
Horror Business - Directed By: Christopher P. Garetano - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: Have you ever wondered what makes guerrilla filmmakers tick? What is the invisible force that drives each and every one of them to sacrifice a normal life and pursue a position in one of the most competitive arts in the world? Welcome to the strange universe of Horror Business, a documentary that has been a twenty-four hour a day, seven-day-a-week obsession of director Christopher P. Garetano since he began shooting it in January of 2003. He traveled all over the United States and shot over 60 hours of footage of the most interesting independent filmmakers alive. You may recognize many of the artists that appear in Horror Business but I assure you that some of them will be heard and seen here for the first time. What these filmmakers show us is that the dream is alive as long as you continue to press forward. Never give up, no matter what.
* * *
Hubris - Directed By: Gary King - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: Single, lonely-guy Barry (Frederik Goris) thought speed dating was a bad idea, but his buddy Jeremy (Jeremy Koerner) convinces him otherwise. Along with three other friends, Jeremy schemes with Barry on how to land a guaranteed date with the clandestine service of Hush Hush Inc. When the five men show up at the speed dating location, they are greeted by a beautiful hostess, Natalie (Alexandra Crieghton) who soon introduces them to five gorgeous women. Once the speed dating begins, it is soon revealed that the men’s plan is to act like disgusting pigs, except for Barry. Jeremy figures, in theory, that at least one of the ladies will be interested in Barry for his gentleman-like qualities.
However, the women have plans of their own.
* * *
Keep Drinking Men! - The Story of Beer Drinkers in Space - Directed By: Frank Delle - Review - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: In 1983, a group of friends who worked at Disney building EPCOT decided to make a movie. None of them had ever made a feature-length movie before, but they used their creative talents, project management skills and sense of teamwork from Disney to create
Beer Drinkers in Space. The movie took nine months to complete and consumed their lives and their homes as they constructed spaceship interior sets in family rooms, bedrooms, and garages. Elaborate models and pyrotechnics were shot. The script was transferred to cue cards and the intrepid movie makers popped open a few beers and got in front of the cameras to shoot this camp comedy feature. Now, over 23 years later,
Beer Drinkers in Space writer/director Frank Delle found and interviewed every person involved with the production of the movie. Using these new interviews, as well as photographs, raw footage, behind the scenes footage and clips from the movie,
Keep Drinking Men! The Story of Beer Drinkers in Space takes an affectionate look back at this quirky project.
* * *
Synopsis: A crazy hermit wades into a lake where atomic waste has been dumped illegally and turns into a bizarre looking creature, which menaces a group of teenagers, a university professor and his teaching assistant.
* * *
Synopsis: Danny was in love. His girlfriend was too, only it wasn't with him. She had dreams of moving out to L.A. and becoming a big time star of the stage and screen. Danny, never one to give up on love, follows her out to L.A. and not only gets a part in her play, but discovers that love isn't always where you expect to find it. This brilliant film has been described as a cross between Waiting for Guffman and Beetlejuice. It has an amazing cast and a highly entertaining story. This one literally is a "must see" film.
* * *
Synopsis: A feature film drama following multiple characters as they weave through their daily lives struggling to find happiness. However, happiness to each of them is defined differently.
* * *
Peter's Price - Directed By: Mitch Cohen - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: Peter Price grew up a rebel, but is now a man fully assimilated into corporate American life. Recently, he has begun to wonder if the 'good life' has been all it's been cracked up to be. As Peter searches for who he truly is, fate steps in and makes the decision for him.
* * *
Terrarium - Directed By: Mike Conway - Review - IMDB - Awarded April 2007
Synopsis: 12 astronauts volunteer to pioneer a colony, on a newly discovered planet. They awake from their frozen 15 year sleep to discover that the ship has crashed and that they are trapped in their cryotubes. To make matters worse, a hairy beast breaks in and begins devouring them, one by one...
* * *
Witt's Daughter - Directed By: Carole Holliday - Review - IMDB - Awarded February 2009
Synopsis: A touching, emotional and often humorous story of a man who returns home from the Korean war to find that his daughter, who was only an infant when he left, barely remembers him and treats him like a stranger. Now, left alone with her for the evening while his wife fulfills a babysitting commitment for a friend, he has to try to deal with the issues of coming home to a troublesome child who feels no connection to him.
