Reporter's Notebook

Awards

The following pictures won “Best of” Awards, as judged by a panel of “film industry professionals,” the founders said:

Best Student Film: “As You Were” directed by Ben Bumgarner

Best Feature Short: “God and Country” directed by Daniel Piatt

Best Documentary Short: “Spitfire 944” directed by William Lorton

Best Feature Narrative: “A Soldier’s Heart” directed by Anthony Lover

GI Family Movie Award (given to a movie inspired by a military family member of the filmmaker): “The Flyboys” directed by Rocco DeVilliers

Best Feature Documentary: “Brothers at War”

Founder’s Choice: “The Last 600 Meters”

The Milletts also gave a Volunteer Award to ticketing organizer Debbie Stewart, which I thought was a classy move. It turns out the festival was run by an all-volunteer staff, which is pretty impressive; there wasn’t any point in the festival that didn’t seem to run smoothly.

The final award was the GI Hero Award, which you might expect would go to a GI, but in fact went to the media liaison/organizer/rainmaker Aimee Fasi. I can say from personal experience that she was a big help, and would be a credit to any Public Affairs office if she ever signed up.

So that’s it for this year’s GI Film Festival! I enjoyed the vast majority of the films I saw, and I heard great things about the films I wasn’t able to see. Here are my personal recommendations:

Must-see flicks: “Brothers at War,” “Year at Danger,” “The World Without Us”
For history buffs: “Spitfire 944,” “I’m Staying with My Boys”
Expand your mind: “The Men,” “Fighting for Life”
Rot your brain (and enjoy it): “The Marine,” “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”
Show respect: “This is War,” “The Last 600 Meters,” “The Undefeated: Why We Fight”
I didn’t see it, but I heard great things: “Swim,” “Outside the Wire”

I’ll wrap up the blog tomorrow morning with the last of the video and an interview with Brandon Millett and Laura Law-Millett.