2024 Jury Award Nominees

Salem Film Fest begins this Thursday, bringing forward a selection of jury award nominees across five distinct categories. This year's lineup includes up to five films per category, each chosen for its storytelling prowess and cinematic quality. The festival serves as a vital platform for filmmakers to present their work, competing for recognition in categories that span from feature-length documentaries to innovative shorts.

In a unique tradition of the fest, winners in each category will be awarded original handmade trophies created by artists based in Salem. These awards not only honor the filmmakers' achievements but also celebrate the collaboration between the film festival and the local art community. As we explore the nominated films and the visionaries behind them, we aim to spotlight the talent and creativity that mark the highlights of this year's Salem Film Fest.

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THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES

Special Jury Award:

ALL WE CARRY

BYE BYE TIBERIAS

THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES

LA LUCHA

QUEENDOM

Jurors include:

• Clemence Taillandier (Distribution consultant)

• Erin Trahan (Arts journalist)

• Chek Wingo (Filmmaker)

• Shaun Clarke (Arts educator)

THE BODY POLITIC

Cultrera Cuts Editing Award:

THE BODY POLITIC

BYE BYE TIBERIAS

LUCHA: A WRESTLING TALE

THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES

NATHAN-ISM

Jurors include:

• Sally Wu (Film editor)

• Susanne Rostock (Film editor)

• Flavia de Souza (Film editor)

• Khary Jones (Film editor)

BRING THEM HOME

Michael Sullivan Award for Journalism:

BRING THEM HOME / AISKÓTÁHKAPIYAAYA

CITIZEN SLEUTH

FIRST WE BOMBED NEW MEXICO

INUNDATION DISTRICT

SUBTERRANEAN

Jurors include:

• Peter Keough (Film critic and journalist)

• Joe Cultrera (Co-Founder, Salem Film Fest)

• Delores Edwards (Executive Producer, Basic Black (GBH))

• James Sullivan (Program Director, Newburyport Documentary Film Festival)

QUEENDOM

American Cinematographer Magazine Award

SUBTERRANEAN

THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES

QUEENDOM

OUT THERE: A NATIONAL PARKS STORY

Presented by Stephen Pizzello, Editor-in-Chief, American Cinematographer Magazine

THE SHELMECA SERPENT

Best Short Award:

A HOME ON EVERY FLOOR

BETWEEN THE DELICATE AND THE VIOLENT

IN EXILE

THE SHELMECA SERPENT

SOFT LIGHTS AND SILVER SHADOWS

Jurors:

• John Gianvito (Educator, curator, filmmaker)

• Sara Jordano (Filmmaker)

• Katherine Irving (Programmer)

• Katelyn Rebelo (Winner, Best Short Award, Salem Film Fest 2023)

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Salem Film Fest 2024 begins on Thursday, March 21, and showcases 23 features and 14 shorts.

Meet Salem Film Fest Volunteer Coordinator Nancy Lillydale

Interview by Bridie O’Connell, SFF Organizer

Bridie: How did you become the Volunteer Coordinator for Salem Film Fest?

Nancy Lillydale: I retired about 10 years ago with the goal of doing things that had more of an impact on my local community.  During the spring, summer, and fall (and some winter), I volunteered at a local farm that was working to make local food available to all and reduce food insecurity. I started volunteering for Salem Film Fest about 7 years ago during the farm’s offseason.  I enjoyed the documentaries more than I expected — I loved how well the films were selected to engage my thinking about important social topics from all over the world.  So much of what I read and hear often is sound bites. The power of a story gives real insights and feelings that you just can’t get watching the news or reading a newspaper. It has the power to bring people together, which is needed during these turbulent times.

B: How do you recruit and select volunteers for the festival?

NL: Most of our volunteers return year after year, but we always need new volunteers each year, as people have other things that come up and may miss a year. Many volunteers are recruited by others volunteering at SFF. Most sign up through our website and we engage our pool of volunteers at the beginning of the year. We send out brief surveys to determine what roles people are most interested in and continue communication through email as opportunities come up.

Nancy next to the Salem Film Fest sponsored ice sculpture during the Salem So Sweet festival.

B: How do volunteers make an impact at Salem Film Fest?

NL: Since we rely almost entirely on volunteers to run SFF, it would be impossible for the fest to run without volunteers. We had volunteers out during the Salem So Sweet festival, standing by our ice sculpture in downtown Salem and talking to people about the fest. Volunteers have put up posters at so many businesses in Salem (and surrounding towns) - as you walk through downtown Salem you can’t miss them. They distributed take-one cards advertising the SFF Lineup Reveal Event at Cinema Salem. And during the fest, they will be taking tickets, handing out ballots, answering questions, and generally helping attendees and filmmakers enjoy the SFF.

B: What is your favorite thing about being the Volunteer Coordinator?

NL: The best thing about being the Volunteer Coordinator has been getting to know the volunteers better. And to see how wonderful and supportive the business community is in Salem. This event really helps to build community in Salem and allows us to show visitors what makes Salem great.

American Cinematographer Award at Salem Film Fest 2023

Salem Film Fest — American Cinematographer Magazine Award 2023

This year’s crop of nominees for the American Cinematographer Award may be the strongest since the honor’s inception. All four demonstrate the value of a cinematographer’s eye in bolstering compelling subject matter with strong imagery that provides observant subtext and beauty. Picking a winner was very difficult, so I’d like to note that all of the filmmakers in this group deserve to be applauded for their efforts.

KASH KASH: Without Feathers We Can’t Live

KASH KASH: Without Feathers We Can’t Live signals its cinematographer’s intelligent approach with a striking opening shot of pigeons being placed in a sack — from an unusual perspective that places the viewer at the bottom of the bag. Set in Beirut, Lebanon, this documentary provides a modern-day look at an old tradition known as “the King’s Profession.” As legend has it, a pair of rulers decided to settle a conflict and avoid more bloodshed by pitting their flocks of birds in combat. That game, now called Kash Hamam, involves players attempting to lure other players’ pigeons into their own rooftop bird lofts. The game only involves male pigeons, specifically marked to distinguish their flock. If a player succeeds, the reward is “Kash.”

Director Lean Najjar and cinematographer Jonas Schneider create a strong sense of place in documenting this pursuit, which is too serious and involving to be called a mere hobby. Their documentary profiles several pigeon-loving players whose passion for this undertaking is evident throughout.

The fascinating exploration of this unusual game is strengthened by trenchant commentary on the political and social crisis in Beirut, drawing parallels between the game and the plight of its players. Throughout the doc, Naijar employs a variety of techniques — including lens flares, selective focus, mixed lighting and an artful use of background bokeh — to enhance the ambience of its settings; scenes of political unrest are also handled artfully and skillfully.

In sum, Kash Kash does what a good documentary promises by immersing viewers in the subject matter, providing intelligent context, and promoting empathy and understanding. It was justly rewarded with the top prize for feature documentaries at the 2022 Camerimage cinematography festival in Poland.

LAGUNARIA

LAGUNARIA, directed and shot by Giovanni Pellegrini, takes viewers on an elegant and scenic tour of Venice, Italy, a legendary city that is a work of art in itself. Pellegrini shows us all facets of the famous place, often in floating, ethereal shots that capture the city’s languid rhythm. His use of the widescreen format maximizes his outstanding compositional approaches to architecture, and shots featuring watery reflections give the documentary a dreamlike, timeless feel. An exceptional use of color flourishes prevails throughout, and the doc’s night shots convey the quiet, sometimes eerie mystery one experiences on a tour of Venice.

CABIN MUSIC

The landscapes of the mind are the focus of CABIN MUSIC, a portrait of an unconventional pianist — James Carson, who also directed the documentary — that conveys his creative process in a parade of dazzling images that place viewers in his subconscious. Translating musical inspirations into images is no easy feat, but this documentary’s team of cinematographers (Carson, Brian Leisring and Aaron Munson) manages the challenge with a free-flowing stream of abstract images paired with handsomely crafted shots of the musician, his instrument, and his surroundings as he travels restlessly around the world seeking inspiration. Gorgeous widescreen landscapes and contemplative shots of nature are juxtapositioned with shots of frenetic urban activity, producing a Zenlike meditation on the elusive nature of musical creativity. The abundance of otherworldly images is expertly edited, lending a sense of musicality to the visual rhythms. In sum, CABIN MUSIC is a poetic journey through the mind of its creator, and a supremely immersive visual experience.

NORTH CIRCULAR

NORTH CIRCULAR, directed by Luke McManus and shot by a clearly skilled team of cinematographers (McManus, Evan Barry, Jamie Goldrick, Patrick Jordan and Richard Kendrick, with additional camerawork by Alex Sapienza and Thomas Beug), presents a stunning array of black-and-white images framed in the boxlike 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The documentary’s title refers to a road that curves through Dublin’s inner city, where its residents give voice to their struggles through interviews and musical interludes that celebrate a strong Irish tradition of personal expression through song.

Bold framing of the doc’s settings result in striking compositions throughout this documentary. Shots of natural settings and urban landscapes are presented in graphically compelling frames that create an aura of melancholic reflection as subjects discuss the hardscrabble realities of life in this particular section of Dublin. The images have a truly cinematic quality that occasionally recall black-and-white “kitchen sink” films of the 1960s, or even film noir. Tougher images are balanced with others that have a lighter, lyrical quality, providing viewers with the full sense of the area’s ambience.

In assessing all of these creative visual undertakings, I’ve ultimately selected the documentary whose images lingered the most vividly after a few days of contemplation: NORTH CIRCULAR, which presents a consistent cavalcade of shots and compositions that boast an aesthetically impressive “wow” factor. Congratulations to all of these documentarians, whom I’d like to thank for a series of very memorable viewing experiences.

Stephen Pizzello
Editor-in-Chief
American Cinematographer Magazine

Meet Salem Film Fest Program Director Jeff Schmidt

This post was written by Alyssa Gentile, Sophie Dack, and Amanda Gilliland in Mr. Ryan’s AP Language and Composition class.  We are very grateful to have interviewed Mr. Jeff Schmidt about his experience volunteering for the Salem Film Fest.  This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MHS: Did you grow up in the area?

Jeff Schmidt: I actually grew up in Ohio. But I have lived in Massachusetts for 27 years now; 19 in Salem. My wife and I have made Salem our home. We have a daughter and love living on the North Shore.

MHS: You have experience in the film industry. Could you tell us more about everything that you have done?

JS: I have had the opportunity to work on a number of documentary-style projects during my career. At the beginning of my career, I worked for ESPN Regional and produced and directed a documentary about NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace. I also worked locally on a project called the MILLION CALORIE MARCH, where I was the editor and the associate producer of the film. It followed a recovering food addict as he walked up the East Coast from Florida to Boston. More recently I was one of the producers of THE HOUSE WE LIVED IN, which played at a number of festivals this past year, and another film called, THERE FROM HERE which is launching this year.

MHS: What got you first interested in the Film Fest?

JS: My background in video production and documentary projects have [drawn] me to become  involved with the Festival. I found out about the Festival after the first year, and I followed up to see how I could get involved in an event that was taking place in my community. Fortunately, I was offered the opportunity to participate, and it’s been quite the journey since.

MHS: What is your role at the Film Fest, and what does it involve?

JS: As the Program Director of Salem Film Fest, I am the lead in researching films and [ultimately bringing them] to the Festival. I oversee multiple Selection Committees that view films from September through early February. I’m in constant communication with filmmakers; it’s practically a full-time job on top of my regular day job. A lot of our volunteers spend a lot of their free time putting together the Festival each year and maintaining the level of significance and quality of the Festival we put on each year.

MHS:  How and where do you find the films?

JS: We’re different from most festivals in that we are invite-only, so that means that we do not receive as many submissions as other festivals do.  [Instead], we research, go to festivals, and talk to alums, sales agents, and distributors to find films we think will appeal to our audience.  Then, our selection committees (which we have for our features, shorts, and student competitions) spend a great deal of time watching films and discussing them within our group.

MHS:  Salem Film Fest must have changed in myriad ways over the years. Can you track its trajectory, in broad strokes?

JS: From the beginning of the Festival, the focus was on celebrating filmmakers and bringing them to the North Shore to present their works and speak to our audiences. Over the years, we have certainly grown in scope and size. We’re fortunate that the filmmaking community has respected our work, and we have developed a reputation in the U.S. and internationally. We’re also very fortunate that the local business community has embraced the Festival as much as it has.  

MHS: What do you enjoy most about volunteering?

JS: What I enjoy most is once the Festival begins, and you finally meet filmmakers you’ve been communicating with for months. You watch filmmaker and audience interactions during screenings, and that’s why we do this every year, to see that interaction. Hopefully we provide an opportunity for people to learn more about the world around them.

MHS: What are some challenges you have faced?

JS: The biggest challenge is that it occupies a lot of time. To work on a festival of this size requires many hours on a daily basis. It certainly is a passion project for all of the volunteers who work so hard each year to present Salem Film Fest to the world.

MHS: Do you have an all-time favorite Film Fest film?

JS: One of my memorable experiences with Salem Film Fest was when I found a documentary about cats in Turkey that was just beginning applying to festivals. We ultimately hosted the North American premiere of the film, KEDI, which [eventually] was one of the highest-grossing documentary films in the United States in the next year. We flew out the filmmaker Ceyda Torun, and she later shared that after attending our festival, she knew she had made a film that would have massive appeal.

MHS: What do you think attendees should know about the Fest?

JS: It’s really an opportunity to learn more about the world around you, and certainly [attending] the in-person portion of the Festival is a great opportunity.  But we’re also going to be streaming from March 27 to April 2, so if you weren’t able to catch films at the in-person festival, there’s still an opportunity to watch them online.  For more information, people can visit SalemFilmFest.com.

Meet Salem Film Fest Assistant Director Bobbie Bush

This post was written by Kate Burns, Sophia Hallisey, Grace Mortensen, Sofia Grubor, Meg Maguire, and Lauren Zisson of Mr. Connor Ryan’s AP Language and Composition class. We thank Ms. Bobbie Bush for coming to Marblehead High School to speak to us about her experience volunteering at the Salem Film Fest. The below interview is edited for length and clarity. 

MHS: Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Bobbie Bush: I have lived in Salem for 33 years. I grew up outside of Hartford, but I've been in Massachusetts since college. I love Salem; it's my home by the ocean. 

MHS: How did you get into photography?

BB: From a young age, my parents knew I had a talent, even when I had my first [Kodak] Brownie camera. When I went to high school, there was a photography program with a dark room and training. I took to it very quickly. I was the Photography Editor for the yearbook, and then in college, I [was] the photo editor of the St. Lawrence newspaper.  

MHS: Do you like photography better than business?  

BB: Running your own photography business requires business skills; it just so happens my product is photography. I was fortunate that I had business corporate world experience. 

MHS: Do you have other people helping you with the photography and the business, or do you do it all yourself?

BB: Currently, I build my own websites and do my own marketing. I do [photography work], client emails, and email campaigns. In the past, [I] had employees, but it is hard to find workers that work as hard as you and care as much.

MHS: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

BB: I enjoy going out to dinner with friends, going up to a family house on the coast of Maine, and going on long walks in Lynn Woods. I also love kayaking off the Coast of Maine and Marblehead and Salem harbors.

MHS: How did you begin working for the Film Fest?

BB: At first, I was a big fan of the Film Fest; then, I became a business sponsor and an organizer.  I learned about the logos that had to be on the website and asked who was in charge of them. Before you knew it, I was in charge of the website because I had graphic design skills. Then this past summer, I was approached to step up into the role of Assistant Director.

MHS: As Assistant Director, what are your responsibilities?

BB: My primary responsibility is to assist the Fest and Programming Director. I already knew I would be doing the website and sponsorship, but when you know somebody might not be able to do a role, people ask if you can fill in. There's a lot of filling in the cracks. 

MHS: What are the challenges your role faces?

BB: The biggest challenge is how compressed the timing is. We can’t make everything official with the design until we choose the films and confirm which filmmakers are attending.  This means that most of the final decisions have to be made in a short period of time.

MHS: What do you enjoy most about the Film Fest?

BB: I love it. It's eye-opening, thought-provoking, and engaging; I learn so much and see different parts of the world. The tagline Come to Salem to see the world is so true. I also love going in and watching the films. 

MHS: Do you have an all-time favorite Film Fest film?

BB: One of my favorite films is THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL. It's about aging women in Russia who survived the meltdown and refused to leave despite the radiation. It is heartwarming, sad, eye-opening, charming, and cryable!

THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, featured in Salem Film Fest 2016.