The short comic film Gourmandizing by Levi Friedman & Matt Law-Phipps, has been named an Official Selection of the 10th Annual River Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The festival is the largest film festival in Brazil and Latin America. Each year, major films of the Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Berlin, and Australian film festivals are presented to the public during the event. The festival also features films by youth 18 and younger. It has a distinguished history of showcasing the early work of young filmmakers who have gone on to successful film careers.
This year, the festival received 143 entries from youth in Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Italy, the United States and Canada. The festival committee contacted Levi and invited him to enter his films after they saw his student Emmy-winning PSA Don’t Spill (produced with Ryan Zemke & Jacob Kutrakun) on You Tube. The festival opens on September 25 and continues through October 8. For more information, just click on the headline to visit the festival website.
This marks the second time this year that Ballard video students have had their films requested by international film festivals. In May, Diana Federighi, Kaelan Gilman & Del Brummet were contacted by the Seoul International Youth Film Festival and invited to exhibit their award-winning short film Unplugged.
