True crime reigns supreme over 100-plus PollyGrind Film Festival awards

Nov. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- True crime reigned supreme at the third annual PollyGrind Film Festival in Las Vegas this year.

Chris Sun’s Australian masterpiece Daddy’s Little Girl was named the Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind, while The Video Diary of Madi O, Final Entries and My Name is A by anonymous rounded out The Big Three with the official announcement of the film festival’s list of more than 100 winners.

Aside from the festival’s grand jury prize, Daddy’s Little Girl, a heartbreaking revenge story inspired by true events, also won Best Director, Best Overall Individual Performance (Michael Thomson) and Best Screenplay.

The Video Diary of Madi O, Final Entries, which is supposedly a true New Zealand police tape submitted by Harold Brodie, was first runner up and won Best Found Footage Film.

Shane Ryan’s My Name is A by anonymous was second runner up. The film inspired by 15-year old Alyssa Bustamante, who was convicted of killing a 9-year old neighbor, won Best Arthouse Film.

Last year’s top three films were The Bunny Game, Dear God No! and The Super.

Legendary filmmaker Albert Pyun was another big winner at PollyGrind 2012. In addition to taking home a Lifetime Achievement Award for being a Filmmaker of a Different Breed, three of his films won various awards.

Road to Hell, which screened to a crowd of 200-plus at Rave Cinemas, won Best Fantasy Film and Audience Favorite. It won a slew of other awards, including Best Actor (Michael Paré) and Best Actress (Clare Kramer).

Pyun’s Bulletface was named Best Crime Film and its star Victoria Maurette won the Bad Girl Award, while his festival closer H.P. Lovecraft's Cool Air picked up awards as well.

PollyGrind’s 2012 event, which was called “epic” by Las Vegas Weekly and "mind-blowing at its best" by CouchCutter.com, ran for five weeks with 17 days of programming in October. The festival screened 13 feature film world premieres. Early awards were announced October 17, 21 and 27.

2012 PollyGrind Awards
FEATURES
THE BIG THREE
Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind
(Grand Jury Prize)
Daddy’s Little Girl
Written & Directed by Chris Sun / Produced by Leah Bray, Dominic Crisci & Sean Gannon

(First Runner Up)
Best Found Footage Film
The Video Diary of Madi O, Final Entries
Submitted by Harold Brodie

(Second Runner Up)
Best Arthouse Film
My Name is A by anonymous
Written & Directed by Shane Ryan / Produced by Shane Ryan, Kevin Gage, Alisha
Rayne & Ryan Nicholson

BEST OF THE REST
Best Exploitation Film
Day Job, dir. by Dave O'Shea

Best Horror Film
I am a Ghost, dir by H.P. Mendoza

Best Crime Film
Bulletface, dir. Albert Pyun

Best Thriller
Zero in the System, dir. Tim McCann
Best Action Film
Burlesque Assassins, dir. Jonathan Joffe

Best Fantasy Film
Road to Hell, dir. Albert Pyun

Best Dark Comedy
Race War: The Remake, dir. by Tom Martino

Best Foreign Language Film
Fat Cat, dir. by Michele Fiascaris

Best of Zombiepalooza
After the Dawn, dir. by Mitchel A. Jones

Best Experimental Film
Blood for Irina, dir. by Chris Alexander

Best Animated Film
Blood Trail, dir. Emerson Frakes

Best Science Fiction Film
Trash and Progress, dir. Abraham Dieckman

Best Transgression Film
Hate Crime, dir. James Cullen Bressack

Best Documentary
Nightmare Factory, dir. Donna Davies

DIRECTING
Best Director
Chris Sun (Daddy’s Little Girl)

Best Woman Director
Lindsay Denniberg (Video Diary of a Lost Girl)

Director on the Rise
Henry Weintraub (Killing Me)

Director Showcase Award
Richard Griffin (The Disco Exorcist / Exhumed)

ACTING
Best Overall Individual Performance
Michael Thomson
as Derek in Daddy’s Little Girl

Best Overall Cast
Exhumed
Debbie Rochon as Governess,
Michael Reed as Chris,
Evalena Marie as Rocki,
Sarah Nicklin as Laura,
Jocelyn Padilla as Cute College Girl,
Nathaniel Sylva as Matthew.
Jonathan Thomson as Nate,
Rich Tretheway as Lance,
& Michael Thurber as Butler.

Best Actor
Michael Paré
as Cody in Road to Hell

Best Actress
Clare Kramer
as Caitlin in Road to Hell

Best Supporting Actor
Scott Paulin
as Brendon Wexler in Bulletface

Best Supporting Actress
Angela Favella
as Gloria in Fat Cat

Best Cameo Appearance
Jessica Cameron as Marilyn Monroe in The Black Dahlia Haunting

BEST OF CATEGORIES
Best Screenplay
Daddy’s Little Girl written by Chris Sun

Best Writer
Cynthia Curnan (Road to Hell / Cool Air)

Best Cinematography
When Time Becomes a Woman (Zaid Baqaeen)

Best Visual Effects
Road to Hell (Daniel Ray Gutierrez)

Best Song
Road to Hell (Streets of Fire)

Best Film Score
H.P. Lovecraft's Cool Air (Tony Riparetti)

Best Editing
President Wolfman (Mike Davis)

Best Sound Design
Bulletface (Tony Riparetti)

Best Poster
Play Hooky (Frank S. Petrilli)

For all the full list of awards, visit www.pollygrind.com