The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival recently announced the addition of a new cash prize to the array of awards presented annually at MNFF’s August festival. Thanks to the generosity of the Shouldice family, prominent lifelong residents of Vermont, MNFF will present the Shouldice Family Prize for Best Vermont-Made Film to either a short or feature film created in Vermont. The Shouldice Family Prize, like others given to winning MNFF filmmakers, is valued at $1,000. The inaugural presentation of this prize will take place at the Closing Ceremonies of the 5th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival on Sunday, August 25.
“The Shouldice family members have been foundational supporters of MNFF since the very inception of the festival five years ago,” noted Lloyd Komesar, MNFF Producer. “We are so delighted that the family has increased its support to a whole new level with this substantial cash prize, named in their honor. The festival has worked hard to provide diverse opportunities for new filmmakers and creating a Vermont-centric prize like this is a major milestone in our development. We hope that the Shouldice Family Prize will be a significant incentive for Vermont filmmakers, whether they’ve created a short or a feature, to put their films in consideration at MNFF.”
Speaking for the family, Carole Shouldice said that “the family was proud to underwrite this new prize at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. The Shouldice family has been very active in support of the Fest since Lloyd was first inspired to found this great event. My husband Bill and our daughter Heather were involved early on in securing sponsors, and our son Bill, through his leadership of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, collaborated with Lloyd on the design and build of the iconic VTeddy Awards that Festival winners receive. So, we are very excited about presenting the Shouldice Family Prize in celebration of the Best Vermont-Made Film at MNFF this August. We all think this is a wonderful event.”
The MNFF was formed to support, promote and showcase the dynamic and imaginative efforts of first and second time filmmakers from around the world. The bedrock commitment at MNFF is to offer a level playing field to new and emerging voices in independent filmmaking, to give festival audiences an opportunity to discover fresh and engaging talent and to give filmmakers a chance to be discovered in a setting that is all about their work, from start to finish. All genres are welcome at MNFF including narrative, documentary, animation, experimental and virtual reality. The festival takes place in scenic Middlebury, in late August each year. The 5th Annual festival will roll out Aug. 22-25 this year. For further information, contact [email protected].