In just its second year, the Reel South SHORT award, which honors outstanding achievement in Southern documentary short-form at film festivals across the South, has expanded both the diversity of voices on public media from our region and Reel South’s own impact locally with each festival.
This month, Reel South inaugurates a new festival to help carry this awarded platform –– the BronzeLens Film Festival in the film and television capital of the South, Atlanta. In collaboration with Georgia Public Broadcasting as part of the Reel South consortium of station partners, GPB and Reel South selected a new documentary short to award for 2019 in this, the festival’s tenth year.
“Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the BronzeLens Film Festival is a terrific event not only because it celebrates Atlanta's creative community, but also because it honors the contributions of all people of color working in the film industry,” said Alison Hashimoto, Chief Content Office for GPB, “It was exciting for GPB to be able to attend the festival's awards show, representing the Reel South station partners to present the first-ever award for Southern documentary short. As a friend and neighbor, GPB looks forward to strengthening our relationship with BronzeLens in the coming months to provide support for the festival and its filmmakers.”
Creative director Deidre McDonald expressed her enthusiasm as well. “BronzeLens is looking forward to partnering with Reel South and Georgia Public Television in finding short documentaries that tell compelling stories from the region. I believe filmmakers will discover amazing people and issues that definitely deserve a larger platform that Reel South can provide,” said McDonald.
The winning film, Circle of Boundaries, directed by Porfirio Fernando Castillo, will be released in October 2019 across Reel South's digital streaming platforms and Facebook. The film was chosen from a handful of eligible short documentaries. Other notable highlights included Oklahoma is Black, an artful vignette of black life in rural Oklahoma by Melinda James.
The BronzeLens Film Festival is in its 10th year and supports independent films, filmmakers, and industry professionals of color.
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