PFF 2006 - Awards Ceremony

Bruce & Connie Dellis

Arizona Filmmaker of the Year 2006

All I have to say about the PFF 2006 awards ceremony is get on with it! It was an hour of dancing and music followed by a handful of awards, followed by more music, a few awards, music, etc. and on and on. The band wasn't bad, it was the waiting that was bad, and we weren't even up for any awards. It wasn't until midnight that the ceremony wrapped up, three hours after it started.

On to the awards, here are my highlights:

• Brian and Dean Ronalds won Best AZ Short Film for Little Victim. This was well-deserved. Not only was it a great film, but they broke through in bringing some big-name talent to the valley.
• Bruce Dellis won AZ Filmmaker of the Year. Bruce wrote and directed two great films that won in Screen Wars last year, along with writing the aforementioned Little Victim, Netherbeast which was all over film festivals last year, and the upcoming Netherbeast feature film. Why does he still have a day job?!
• Andrew Jenks, Room 335 won Best Feature. This was absolutely the right choice, but it was major drama in getting the award. They had already given on Best Documentary and Audience Award to other films, at which point I thought AJR3 was out of the running. I assumed Best Feature referred to narrative films only. I guess not. Andrew himself was looking a bit dejected, likely thinking the same thing, up to the point they called his name to close out the night. We all took turns talking to Andrew in the down time between awards, and he was a great guy. This film is going to have a long run at the festivals, and he's already starting to get outright invitations. Beyond that, I'm sure he'll continue to make great films.