Last Day of Freedom--an animated short by UC Santa Cruz associate professor of art Dee Hibbert-Jones and San Francisco artist Nomi Talisman--was honored with two awards at the 18th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.
It received the Jury Award for “Best Short,” qualifying the film for a possible nomination for an Academy Award next year in the category of "Best Documentary (Short Subject)."
In choosing Last Day of Freedom for the award, the festival judges noted: “This film demonstrates and reminds us of the simple power and intimacy of the human voice. It interweaves different visual styles of animation and engages the audience fully in an increasingly fraught tale that ultimately presents the supreme cost of doing the right thing.”
The short blends animation with poignant testimony to create a haunting story of a man who discovers his brother has committed a serious crime.
The 32-minute film is a portrait of a man at the crossroads of some of the most pressing social issues of the day--including veterans’ care, mental health access, and criminal justice.
Last Day of Freedom also received “The Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award,” presented by the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies.
This award honors a documentary artist whose work is a potential catalyst for education and change.
“Coming from a fine arts background (both of us) and photography background (Nomi), we are long time admirers of the Center for Documentary Studies,” said Hibbert-Jones. “Joining the long, prestigious line of previous filmmakers to win this award is more than we ever wished for.”
The Full Frame festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of nonfiction cinema. One of the nation’s premier documentary film festivals, Full Frame is a qualifying event for consideration for nominations for both the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject and The Producers Guild of America Awards.
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