Hamilton Film Festival

FEATURE FILM - Klondike
DIRECTOR - Maryna Er Gorbach (Klondike)
SCREENPLAY - Maryna Er Gorbach(Klondike)
SHORT FILM - Fieldtrip
DOCUMENTARY - Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters
PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE - Kimberly-Sue Murray
PERFORMANCE IN A SHORT - S. Epatha Merkerson
CINEMATOGRAPHY - Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi (Klondike)
PRODUCTION DESIGN - Myles Yaksich (Albatross)
EDITING - Corey Stanton (Trader)
MUSIC - Corey Stanton (Trader)
SOUND - Srdjan Kurpjel (Klondike
STUDENT OR FIRST-TIME FILM - When She Was Good
SPECIAL EFFECTS - The Sprayer
SPARQUIE THE SQUIRREL - Memento Mori

3 local award winners for the Hamilton Film Studios certificate
1. $1500 certificate for location use (expires in 12 months) - Albatross
2 $1000 certificate for location use (expires in 12 months) - Amortal
3 $500 certificate for location use (expires in 12 months) - Alfie

PITCH RECIPIENT
A J BATE, JOE BOTELHO
$1000 cash from Hamilton Film Festival
$50 certificate from Hamilton Film Studios

3 local award winners for the Hamilton Film Studios certificate
Sponsored by Hamilton Film Studios
1. $1500 certificate for location (expires in 12 months) - Albatross
2 $1000 certificate for location (expires in 12 months) - Amortal
3 $500 certificate for location (expires in 12 months) - Alfie

PITCH RECIPIENT
Sponsored by the Hamilton Film Festival and Hamilton Film Studios
A J BATE, JOE BOTELHO
$1000 cash from Hamilton Film Festival
$50 certificate from Hamilton Film Studios
40 hours of mentoring and training support from the Hamilton Film Festival

Best Screenplay Submissions
Sponsored by Ink Tip

1st Place - Big Day
Writer Taryn Crankshaw

2nd Place - All For Uncle Sam
Writers David Walpole, Nik Benn

3rd - Place New Year's Lobster Drop
Writer David Gray

TRULY INDEPENDENT - ALYSHA MAIN

Alysha Main has been on our radar for a while and every year she continues to impress and evolve. Alysha has dedicated much of her time to the Hamilton film scene, music scene, and beyond. Alysha Main is a Music Supervisor, Event Manager, DJ, and Podcaster who has been working in the entertainment industry for 20 years. Her career has taken her to Toronto, London, and Melbourne, working in Artist Management, Event Promotion, Sales, and Marketing. She is the creator and host of the Hamilton Film podcast, documenting the local film industry, and the co-founder of The Hamilton Ladies of Film & TV. In 2017 she shifted her focus to Music Supervision, studying at Berklee College of Music, working on film and TV projects in Canada and the USA. In 2022 she joined the team at the historic Westdale theatre as Venue & Events Manager.

We're very proud to announce Alysha as this year's Truly Independent recipient.

Truly Independent is given to an organization or person who has championed the local film scene.
Past recipients include Eves Raja, Ken Turner, Craig F. Watkins, Robert Ezergailis, Sharon Borbill, The Staircase Theatre (Hugh, Kathy and Colette), Cher Obediah, Marty Fleet and Erin Shields, and Brent Perniac.

Honourable Mentions

FEATURE FILM - Trader
DIRECTOR - Corey Stanton (Trader)
SCREENPLAY Corey Stanton (Trader)
SHORT FILM - All That Glitters
DOCUMENTARY - Bob Lanois: Snake Road
PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE - Vaughan Murrae (Before I Change My Mind)
PERFORMANCE IN A SHORT - Sophia Miles (All That Glitters)
CINEMATOGRAPHY - Ricky Fosheim (Last Frame of Sand)
PRODUCTION DESIGN - Brianna Kolybaba (Before I Change My Mind)
EDITING - Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters
MUSIC - Before I Change My Mind
SOUND - Fetch
STUDENT OR FIRST-TIME FILM - An Island Drifts
SPECIAL EFFECTS - The Well
SPARQUIE THE SQUIRREL - Lost Footage

LOOK UP!
17 years at the Hamilton Film Festival and we've hit the TOP 100 best reviewed festivals status a few times on FilmFreeway! The industry is watching, filmmakers are looking our way, and we aim to deliver!
Look Up! The theme of the festival this year is Sci-Fi. It's a broad genre and we can't wait to see what you've come up with! Look to the skies, look to the screens...just Look Up!

The 17th Annual Hamilton Film Festival continues to be one of Canada’s most important film festivals for Canadian and International films as it has an industry development component, and a market. Hosted in a city with a booming film scene, it has become a go-to destination to live and work for several people in the film and television industry with year-round opportunities to network, engage, pitch and participate. Distributors, festivals and industry professionals actively look to the Hamilton Film Festival for content, connections and top-notch engagement.

Sci-Fi design by David Scacchi and Gary Welsh

HFF Guests have included Academy Award® winner Colin Chilvers, Kim Coates (Sons Of Anarchy) Juno Rinaldi (Working Moms), DB Sweeney (Fire In The Sky) Michael Pare (Eddie and the Cruisers), Tony Rosato (SCTV), Marc Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Catherine Dyer (Stranger Things) Robert Miano (Donny Brasco), Alex Elena (Drummer for Bruce Dickinson) Jason MacDonald (Vampire Diaries) Frank D’Angelo (Red Maple Leaf), Fred Fuchs (Godfather III Executive Producer, Milton's Secret) Art Hindle (Black Christmas), Doug McGrath (Goin’ Down the Road), Lynne Griffin (Curtains), Julian Richings (Superman: Man of Steel), TJ McGibbon (The Umbrella Academy), Craig Davidson (Author / Rust and Bone) Kirsten Bodenstedt (COO and Co-Owner of Peregrine Labs) Academy Award® winner Colin Doncaster, Bob Munro (The Expanse), Sean Sullivan (Wayne’s World, Back to the Future III) Lisa Langlois (Class of 1984), Danial Baldwin, Matthew Willson (Exec. Producer) and many, many more! Filmmakers and producers have attended from England, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Cyprus, Australia, the USA, and all across Canada.