FILM FOR PEACE 2020

Award Winners

As compiled by Head Judge Frank A. Caruso, based on scoring of 7 official judges.

Best short film (under 30 minutes) The Cabin (France)
Director: Chefdeville Maxime

Honorable Mention: Over The Wall
Director: Roy Zafrani

Best Doc (under 30 minutes) Sadika’s Garden (Canada)
Directors: Julia Iriarte & Chad Galloway

Honorable Mention: Legacy Voices (Canada)
Director & Producer: Akil McKenzie

Honorable Mention:
Haunted (USA)
Director: Xavier Plater

Best Doc (over 30 minutes) W’at About Us (Canada)
Director: Beverly Vergel
Producer: Shelley Jarrett

Honorable Mention:
The Long Ride Home (Canada)
Director: Steve Haining

Best short film/Doc under 10 min) The Mother (Viet Nam)
Director: Le Huy Anh

Honorable Mention:
8 out of 10 (USA)
Director: Jake Schaumberg-Dineen

Best Director Chefdeville Maxime (The Cabin – France)

Honorable Mention:
Adetokumboh M’Cormack
(The German King)

Best Story The Cabin (France)

Best Soundtrack Marathon (Iraq)

Honorable Mention: The German King
Honorable Mention: Presence

Best Producer Marathon (Iraq) Jamal Lutfi

Best Animated Short (under 30 min) A New Vision (USA)
Directed & Produced by Michael Strauss

Best Actress Safa Najiim (Marathon)

Best Actor Thomas Alden & Leopold Bara (tie)
(The Cabin – France)

Honorable Mention:
W. Earl Brown & Marcus Henderson (tie) (Bodyman)

The 2nd annual INTERNATIONAL PEACE FESTIVAL (IPF) and FILM FOR PEACE FESTIVAL (FFP) was presented at Artscape (585 Dundas St. E., Toronto, Ontario) and also as a free live-streamed three-day event September 18 to September 20, 2020!

The online event was streamed through YouTube and was available at www.internationalpeacefestival.com and also accessible worldwide. All listed times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC -04:00).

“Film for Peace” is an experiential creative initiative organized by Toronto Waterfront Magazine to address the escalation of violence. You are invited to submit a short film addressing the issue of violence that is informative, inspiring and entertaining. The key component of the festival is to raise awareness of the underlying contributing factors leading to violence, such as bullying, mental health, addictions, social isolation, poverty, rejections of minority groups, etc. Entrants will be judged on their ability to effectively communicate, through the medium of film, potential solutions to achieving sustainable peace as a community. Valuable prizes and scholarships will be available to winning entrants, as judged by the team of volunteers with art and filmmaking backgrounds.

Karim Mirshahi…………………………….Festival Founder & Judge
Frank Caruso………………………………..Executive Director & Head Judge
Mark Ironside...............…………………Technical Director

KEY JUDGES
Angelica (Angela Johnson)
T.C. Frantz
Erwin Sniedzins
Ross Monroe
Satie Narain-Simon
Shirin Tobie-Paul
Ella Muzak
Kalman Szegvary

Awards & Prizes

Valuable prizes and scholarships will be available to winning entrants. TBA

Rules & Terms

The festival is hosted by Toronto Waterfront Magazine (TWM), located at 20 Bay St., Suite #1100, Toronto, Ontario. Participation in the festival constitutes entrants’ full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of the rules and the decisions of TWM, which are final and binding. Festival entries may be submitted by an individual or by a group. All entrants must complete the “Permission Form.” If the entrant is under the age of 18, the permission form must be signed by a parent or legal guardian.
Entrants will be judged on their ability to effectively communicate, through the medium of film, the issue of violence. We encourage films that introduce potential solutions to achieving sustainable peace as a community.

9 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Joe Chang

    Wonderful film festival! Thank you for choosing my film.

    May 2021
    Helpful
  • Jean Contreras

    Total disappointment with the festival. I received the film's approval by the festival through the Filmfreeway, and since then I have not received any information or laurel for the selection of my short film. I sent several emails, asked a colleague of mine who lives in Canada to contact the place and it came to nothing. At the very least they sent me the link to watch the festival online on youtube, but my short film wasn't even shown. Total lack of respect with those who supported this festival from the beginning.
    I don't recommend it to anyone.

    October 2020
    Helpful
  • Daniel Lir

    This festival appears to have an excellent and honorable purpose. However we won an award listed in Film Freeway but the heads of the festival never reached out to tell us personally, never invited us to the screening or to participate in any way...just frustrating. I wrote multiple messages, no answer then called them. 2 weeks later still no follow up on our award. This is a severe problem in terms of what a festival is supposed to do to help filmmakers, engage with filmmakers and grow their positive impact in the industry. This festival needs to change their ways, responsibility and communication FAST.

    October 2020
    Helpful
  • Audrey Cuff

    Excellent festival! Happy to be invited

    September 2020
    Helpful
  • Isaac Díaz Esquivel

    We are very grateful for the attention that the organizers of the Film For Peace Festival gave us at all times. Congratulations to all the selected films, we have seen them on the online platform and they were amazing. Thanks to Frank Caruso and the entire festival judging team for allowing us to be part of this year's official selection. It was amazing!

    September 2020
    Helpful