announcING THE FIVE 2006 fyi - fILM YOUR ISSUE WINNERS
Dear Reader:
Narrowing the field of these amazing films to a mere five winners was an impossible, agonizing task that was accomplished only because we had to commit to just five!
The judges lamented that they could choose only five. We all cleaved to entries in our hearts and minds. We had had a hard enough time winnowing several hundred down to 35 semi-finalists, leaving out many which should have seen the light of day — except for the pragmatic constraint of the number of entries that could realistically be posted on a website, to be publically voted on.
So we have selected five winners — and as we announce and celebrate them, lament the exclusion of those which were not selected, and celebrate those as well.
There were so many favorites. And the taste of the judges and the public were vastly different, which complicated matters. There were so many elements to consider, from filmmaking skill to execution of an idea, to originality, to its power and passion and unmistakable heart beating within.
The five winners, then, are a distillation of all of the above — the public favorites and the judges favorites, the cinematic prowess and the authentic voice, the polished and the personal. And as we anoint these five, we want to acknowledge and celebrate all the films: the clever “Saturday Night Live” faux-commercial quality of “Democracy” and “Capital Punishment” .... the raw power of “Cry of Humanity,” and the environmental message of “One Less Car, One More Bike” ... the poignancy of “The Holocaust: What If,” which resonated strongly for many of the judges, as did “To Produce An Egg.” We were excited by the superb filmmaking of “Unplug Your Paranoia,” “Roe Vs. Wade” and “On the Street.” “Hippocratic Oath” touched us deeply. And on and on.
These films, beyond the five winners, will have a life, as they circulate through the corridors of Hollywoodland and elsewhere, and reverberate with judges who commented on many of them.
We are excited at the success of FYI – FILM YOUR ISSUE — for attracting and eliciting such depth, talent and social consciousness from this great swath of 18 to 26 year olds across the country, to the astonishing level of support for this initiative from some of the most formidable companies, organizations and individuals on the planet, to the unexpected avalanche of votes which broke the record for video streaming polling at MSNBC.com. We never anticipated that our “issue film” competition could out-poll the Super Bowl ads voting page. Will wonders never cease!
So thank you for your support, enthusiasm — and, ultimately, your idealism. We look ahead to our awards ceremony, to the celebration of all of the 2006 films, and the beginning stages for
FYI - FILM YOUR ISSUE 2007.
We welcome your input and suggestions as to how to make this powerful, life-changing initiative even more dynamic, meaningful, and society-enhancing and, on a pragmatic level, how we can tweak the rules, objectives, parameters and so forth for the next round. We’re all ears.
Here’s to our wonderful, impassioned, talented and socially-conscious youth — and their future!
Click here to view the 2006 FYI FILM YOUR ISSUE winners.
HeathCliff Rothman
President, FYI - Film Your Issue
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