The Foundation For Conscious Living presents:
The Second Annual
Conscious Loving
Film Festival
An Online Festival Exploring the Heart and Soul of Relationships.
Our festival has concluded. Thank you helping us raise this festival to new levels in our goal to inspire filmmakers to produce highly entertaining art that also contributes valuable insights to a world hungry for new and positive perspectives on love. We hope you can join us next year for our Third Annual Film Festival!
This year's winners are listed below:
FIRST PLACE and the Grand Prize winner of $10,000
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Written and Directed by Jason Lange
In a near future, romantic partners John and Abby hit the point in their relationship where they must decide whether or not to take it to the next level - in this case whether or not to use a technology that allows them to share their entire life histories with each other - all their thoughts, memories, fantasies and desires. Digitally transmitted in an instant, it's the ultimate form of commitment and intimacy that puts everything at risk.
SECOND PLACE and the winner of $5,000
Lost in Aroncore
Directed by Ryan Wagner
Written by Dezi Gallegos
After Audrey returns home from college due to a failed suicide attempt, her little sister Lucy must reconnect using their shared love of childhood fantasy stories. Lucy must learn that depression is not something that you save somebody from; rather something you sit with somebody through.
THIRD PLACE and the winner of $2,500
Elwood Takes a Lover
Directed by John Ira Palmer
Written by Youthana Yuos & John Ira Palmer
Cancer patient Hannah fears her husband Elwood will have no one to care for him after she’s gone. Long suspecting Elwood had feelings for another man in his youth, Hannah sets out to find his unrequited love in hopes of reuniting them.
HONORABLE MENTIONS and winners of $1,000
Hey, FiBi!
Directed by D.W. Thomas
Written by Tom Becker
A happy couple's relationship falls apart when their digital assistant starts making plans of her own.
Dear Kimberly
Directed by Jonathan Steinfield
Written by Andrew Hartman and Jonathan Steinfield
On his last day of work, a straight-laced consultant writes a love letter to his office crush, telling her all the wonderful ways she’s inspired him to change his life.
Match
Directed by Danny Muñoz
Written by Tinbete Daniel, Danny Muñoz, Boson Wang
An alone and dejected sock meets an unlikely pair.
A Conversation
Written and Directed by Jingyi Shao
A respected English professor wakes up in a Chinese hospital with a frightening condition: she can no longer speak Chinese, her native language. With the hospital staff unable to communicate in English, Mei can't explain that she has to leave for an important meeting with her estranged daughter- until she encounters Kelly, an English ex-pat- thief.
Wear Your Heart
Directed by Eva Van den Bulcke
Written by Miki Laval
This is a Power Portrait of Yumi Katsura, a Japanese wedding dress designer who fought her way through the heavy and strict Japanese bridal traditions. The movie makes a parallel between her work and love, and how we should always fight to get what we want.
Rise and Shine
Directed by Justine Suh
Who cooks breakfast in your family? In this short documentary, four diverse families discover a simmering conflict behind the most important meal of the day.
The Best and the Loneliest of Days
Written and Directed by Qianzhu Luo
When Yang, a Chinese girl living in Los Angeles, has a dream in English, she needs to prove that she’s still a hundred percent Chinese. So she organizes a big Chinese New Year’s party, but things don’t end up the way she planned. A comedy about feeling homesick, friendship and identity.
About the Festival
The Conscious Loving Film Festival was created in 2017 by Katie and Gay Hendricks, through their non-profit Foundation For Conscious Living. This online Film Festival’s purpose is to inspire innovative filmmakers to produce highly entertaining art that also contributes valuable insights to a world hungry for new and positive perspectives on love.
The festival is proud to award these winning films that so creatively illuminate new ideas, fresh interactions, and transformational moments that forge richer, more loving and supportive relationships.
"Hats off to the festival organizers and founders for supporting filmmakers that are enhancing the sum total of positivity on this planet. We feel so blessed that our film "Birthday" was selected as the first prize winner of the inaugural festival and eagerly await the release of this year's winners!"
Chris and Heather King - Grand Prize - 2017 Festival
A Message from Katie and Gay Hendricks
We are noticing that so much of what we see in TV and movies right now still harkens back to old paradigms:
“You must be married.”—referring to a glum look on a colleague’s face.
“They talk like they’ve been married for years!!”—implying that bickering is the inevitable outcome of marriage.
“You don’t share everything in a relationship, you hold back something, everybody does.”
We’d love to create a context where filmmakers explore the possibilities of joyous long-term relationships, marked by appreciation, creativity, wonder and respect, instead of the usual blame and criticism escalating into adrenaline (fear interactions), which most people think is normal.
What would it be like to explore the foundational opening created by being real with each other, being open to authenticity and to hearing what is really going on? What if we saw partners liking and enjoying each other, having fun together?
We can’t wait to see what you come up with this year.
We are delighted to sponsor this festival through our non-profit Foundation For Conscious Living. We are especially pleased that Stephen Simon and Anna Darrah have again joined us as co-directors of the festival. Stephen and Anna have achieved worldwide recognition for their work with The Spiritual Cinema Circle, which has brought attention to the films of more than 600 independent filmmakers since its debut in 2004. With their leadership, we hope to inspire the filmmaker community to explore the always-fascinating world of relationships.
"I want you to know how deeply grateful I am for the prize money you awarded me... I used the money to fulfill a dream. The dream was to develop "Play Date" into an Educational Program for Middle Schoolers, to raise awareness about homelessness. It’s not often that a dream driven by sheer determination and blind faith can come true. I’m so incredibly grateful to you and the Conscious Loving Film Festival."
Paige Morrow Kimball - Third Prize - 2017 Festival
A Message from the
Festival Directors
Welcome to our Second Annual Conscious Loving Film Festival, exploring the challenges and possibilities of relationships in a time of accelerating change. We’re thrilled to be directing a festival that inspires innovative filmmakers to produce highly entertaining art that also contributes valuable insights to a world hungry for new and positive perspectives on love.
Anna and Stephen
"Such a wonderful festival to be a part of. No entry fee, and I won an unexpected $2500! It was a great pleasure watching the heartwarming, powerful films from the other winners. I will definitely submit my next film. So grateful for this terrific festivall! Thanks again, Anna & Stephen! It was an honor being part of the festival last year."
Kazu Takeda - Third Prize - 2017 Festival
Anna Darrah
After sourcing and licensing films for Spiritual Cinema Circle and Gaiam for more than a decade, Anna Darrah is now consulting with filmmakers on their distribution strategy, teaching film distribution workshops, and producing and developing projects for Film Nest Studios and Santa Fe Network.
Stephen Simon
Stephen Simon produced such films as “Somewhere in Time”, “All The Right Moves”, and “What Dreams May Come”; co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle which he still hosts, and is also a consultant for writers, directors, and producers (both experienced and aspiring.)
© 2018 The Hendricks Institute & The Foundation for Conscious Living. All Rights Reserved.