May 28, 2015 - 10:51 AMT
“Wildlike” wins best feature prize at Hawaii’s Big Island Film Fest

Frank Hall Green’s “Wildlike” – the tale of a teen in Alaska who escapes her abusive uncle and tries to find stability with a stranger – won the best feature prize at the Big Island Film Festival, which just wrapped in Hawaii, Variety reports.

“Patterson’s Wager”, directed by Canada’s O. Corbin Saleken, won for best foreign feature. In the film, a man discovers he has the disturbing ability to see two minutes into the future.

Tim Savage’s “Under the Blood Red Sun,” which follows two teenage friends on the days surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, won for best family feature.

“Jilel – The Calling of the Shell,” directed by Jack Niedenthal, won the fest’s Barbara Award. In it, a young Marshallese girl is given the responsibility to protect an ancient family heirloom.

The following films won in the shorts category: Linda Palmer’s “Our Father” for best short; Danila Dunaev’s “The Rabbit” for best foreign short (Denmark); Cayman Grant’s “Butterflies” for best family short; David Rosen’s “The Fishing Club” for best Hawaii short; Steven Ayromlooi’s “The Sun Devil and the Princess” for best special-effects short; and Iz Gutierrez’s “Sin Frontera” for best student short.

“Butterflies” also took the prize for best audience choice short. James Bird’s “Honeyglue” won the audience choice for feature.

BIFF marked its 10th anniversary this year. According to founder/exec director Leo Sears, the fest drew 2,648 attendees – a new record.