Come up to Lake Arrowhead and watch the stars come out! 

2009 LAFF "Reaches" New Heights!

The 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival "reached" new heights as a crowd of well over 200 filmmakers and film fans packed the ballroom of the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa for the Filmmaker Awards Luncheon on Sunday, April 5.  Top prize went to "Reach for Me" - director LeVar Burton's heartfelt tribute to love in the face of aging, cancer, and death.  "Reach for Me" received both the Best Feature Film Award and the Best of the Festival Award.

Noted director Joe Dante ("Gremlins," "Innerspace") received the festival's award for Special Achievement in the Art of Independent Filmmaking.  Dante's honor kicked off the award ceremony and, in a comic twist, nearly every award recipient thereafter shared their own personal Joe Dante story.  The unplanned running gag culminated when actress June Lockhart jokingly referred to the event as the "Joe Dante Film Festival."

Other major awards presented on Sunday included Georgina Lightning's "Older Than America" which received the June Lockhart Special Achievement in Film Award and a surprise Special Recognition Award for director James Chressanthis for his moving documentary, "Laszlo and Vilmos: No Subtitles Necessary." (Cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs, ASC and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC were honored at the festival's Gala Awards Dinner on Friday night.)

Actor Chris McDonald served as the host for the ceremony.  Other celebrity presenters included Seymour Cassel, Charlie Robinson, Barry Primus, Cynthia Stevenson, Brett Cullen and Chris Mulkey.

Festival organizers were so impressed with the quality of the films received this year, they expanded the presentations to include Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards in each category.  The complete list of award winners is as follows:

Gold Star :  Best Documentary Feature-	AMERICA BETRAYED LESLIE CARDÉ
Silver Star :  Best Documentary Feature-	THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE CHARLES KINNANE
Bronze Star :  Best Documentary Feature-  TIE	THE WRECKING CREW DENNY TEDESCO & FORT ROOSEVELT REQUIEM DAVID DIBBLE
Gold Star :  Best Feature Film-	REACH FOR ME LEVAR BURTON
Silver Star :  Best Feature Film-	JACKSON J.F. LAWTON
Bronze Star :  Best Feature Film-	BADLAND FRANCESCO LUCENTE
Best Ensemble Cast	REUNION ALAN HRUSKA
June Lockhart Special Achievement in Film Award:	OLDER THAN AMERICA GEORGINA LIGHTNING
Best of the Festival	REACH FOR ME LEVAR BURTON
Gold Star:  Best Short Documentary	GROWING UP MISCHLING PETER SHAFRON
Silver Star:  Best Short Documentary	THE GREAT SILENCE EVAGELIA KOSMAS
Bronze Star: Best Short Documentary	GENIUS AMONG US: YOUNG COMPOSERS IN MISSOURI RANDOLPH SINQUEFIELD
Gold Star:  Best Short Film	GONE FISHING CHRIS JONES
Silver Star:  Best Short Film	WORTH KATHI CAREY
Bronze Star:  Best Short Film	TRUE BEAUTY THIS NIGHT PETER BESSON
Gold Star:  Best Animated Film	ANIMATED AMERICAN JAMES BAKER & JOE HAIDAR
Silver Star: Best Animated Film	THE EYES OF SILENCE AVI SIDHU
Bronze Star: Best Animated Film	LOOKING THRU THE B-SIDES SAIMAN CHOW & SEAN DOUGHERTY
Gold Star: Rotary Club’s Best Student Film	THE LIGHT T. JUSTIN ROSS
Silver Star: Rotary Club’s Best Student Film	FREE LUNCH RICK CURNUTT
Bronze Star: Rotary Club’s Best Student Film	JEWSUS BENJAMIN C. BLISS

To view the 2009 films, click here.