The goal of the Humanitarian Award is to honor filmmakers who are bringing awareness to issues of Ecological, Political, Social Justice, Health and Wellness, Animals, Wildlife, Conservation and Spiritual importance. Each year IndieFEST bestows a Humanitarian Award to a deserving filmmaker who is committed to making a difference in the world.
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2013
Gary Null: Truth and Happiness – Null has created some of the most contentious content ever seen on YouTube. The Accolade Competition grants its Humanitarian Award to a filmmaker for dedicated service to social justice, humanitarian causes or environmental issues; Null’s work fits all three categories. Read More:
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2012
Alicia Arinella: What You Can Do – The series premiered in 2009 with 21 episodes on PBS affiliate, WLIW21. To follow-up this successful launch, the producers decided to dedicate 2010 to the series by airing an episode online each weekday for the entire year. In that time, we produced over 260 videos about some of the world’s most dire issues. Read More:
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2011
Lincoln & Alice Day: Scarred Lands & Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War – The scale of environmental damage is unprecedented. Falling water tables, shrinking forest cover, and declining species diversity are all a result of war. These issues and more take front and center in Scarred Lands & Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War: by film makers Alice and Lincoln Day. Read more:
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2010
Chera Van Burg: Call of Life: Facing the Mass Extinction – The 2010 award to Chera Van Burg in recognition of her documentary, Call of Life, which raises awareness among the public about the plight of other species. Award-winning filmmaker Chera Van Burg wears a lot of hats: psychologist, educator, musician and activist. But each hat seems to fit her ultimate goal: to compel people to appreciate the world around them, and act now to save the biodiversity of our planet. Read More:
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2009
Matt Nelson: Ubuntu: The Street Child Story – Gripping and unrelenting in its quest for truth, Ubuntu: The Street Child Story, documents with palpable authenticity the plight of street children in urban Africa. Matt Nelson, the film’s young director, spent three months in southern Africa living with street children. The result is a compelling, iconic work that draws viewers into its subject. Ubuntu pulls no punches in its honest, tragic revelation of children abandoned by a society and sometimes their own families. Read More:
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2008
Adrian Belic: Beyond The Call – A rousing documentary that leaves the viewer breathless , Beyond The Call could be categorized as an action adventure feature. Except that it’s real life. Following several seemingly ordinary men as they bounce from one impoverished war-torn country to another (bringing food and medical supplies that they’ve purchased themselves to surprised victims),’Beyond The Call’ has a clear message: doing for others incapable of doing for themselves is highly rewarding. Why else would anyone risk his life to help a stranger? Read More:
HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2007
Deborah J. Fryer: Shaken: Journey into the Mind of a Parkinson’s Patient – The Accolade’s annual humanitarian award goes to Shaken: Journey into the Mind of a Parkinson’s Patient, produced and directed by Deborah J. Fryer. Shaken is a tour de force about the elusive disease that doctors are calling the most common uncommon illness in America. Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that results from decreased dopamine production and currently affects 1.5 million people across the country. While there are many therapies, the disease is progressive and there is no cure. Read More: