PRESS

The upside of depression – an award!

SHRINKS took the 1st place award for outstanding achievement in a comedy short at the 2007 Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF). This was the film's world premiere.

RIIFF Awards carry significance since the Festival is an official Academy Award qualifier for the short film category. Of over 3,000 festivals worldwide, only 61 share this distinction.

The SHRINKS screening and RIIF festival experience couldn't have been better. Audiences were buzzing and laughing hard enough to miss entire lines, leaving the theater with a heartfelt connection to the film.

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PROVIDENCE, RI (August 12, 2007). The 2007 Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) announced the winners in this year's film competition at its annual Awards Ceremony held at the Federal Reserve, 60 Dorrance Street in Providence, RI. Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the RI Film & Television Office, sponsored the event and welcomed over 150 attending filmmakers at the ceremony.

This year's RIIFF ran August 7-12th and showcased 320 cinematic works submitted from over 70 countries, and 34 states in the United States. The 2007 RIIFF presented 125 World Premieres and 36 US Premieres. A total of 34 Narrative Features, 75 Documentaries, 33 Animations, 12 Experimental and 161 Short Films were screened. Following months of adjudication and review, Festival films were selected from 2,491 submissions.

The Festival was not short on name actors who graced the screen with their work this year, or in some cases, behind the camera as director. These included: Bryce Dallas Howard, Minnie Driver, Lukas Haas, Neve Campbell, Kristin Kreuk, Alfred Molina, Brad Paisley, Jill Eikenberry, Seymour Cassel, Harry Groener, Michael Tucker, Alexa Vega, Vincent Pastore, Harrison Ford, Alan Cumming, Anne Heche, Carrie Fisher, David Boreanaz, Karen Black, Kevin Sorbo, Jennifer Tilly, Andie MacDowell, Russell Means, Colm Feore, Rupert Graves, Charles Dance, Joseph Mazzello, William Baldwin, Kathleen Quinlan, Harold Lloyd. Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Ian McKellen and Steve Coogan.

The RIIFF Awards were presented by RIIFF Executive Director George T. Marshall, Adam Short, RIIFF Producing Director. Don Farias, RIIFF Managing Director and Phil Capobres, RIIFF Operational Director.

"You are the celebrities of this Festival. You are the stars," said George T. Marshall, RIIFF Executive Director to over 150 filmmakers, producers, media representatives, and industry professionals attending the Awards ceremony. "We consider all of the filmmakers who played this year’s RIIFF to be winners and congratulate them for the excellence of their artistic achievement."