The organizers of the 8th Annual Bike Shorts Film Festival are pleased have announced the winners of the 2018 Juried Prize, Best Local Film, Best Original Music, Best Teen Film, and first Audience Choice awards. RIDE Solutions received 11 videos representing local, national, and international filmmakers for the 2017 festival.
These films were reviewed by a panel of seven judges from the RIDE Solutions service area. This year, those judges were Greg Webster of the Roanoke Arts Commission; Charles Dye of the Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts; Tyler Godsey of the Five Points Music Sanctuary; Mike Allen, Arts and Entertainment Reporter with The Roanoke Times; Stephen Kissel of the James River Council for the Arts and Humanities; and Thomas Murray, Virginia Tech School of the Performing Arts.
The winners of the 2018 prizes are:
Juried Prize
“Thanet Road Club: Cycling for Generations” by David Robert, Kent, United Kingdom
Best Local Film
“Dandelion” by Chloe Shelton, Roanoke, VA
Best Teen Film
“Dandelion” by Chloe Shelton, Roanoke, VA
Best Original Music
“Dandelion” by Chloe Shelton, Roanoke, VA
Audience Choice, Roanoke
“Dandelion” by Chloe Shelton, Roanoke, VA
“Dandelion” was a production of students of the Grandin Theatre’s Film Lab. Tyler Lyon, Program Coordinator of the Film Lab, said, “We are proud that our community is recognizing the work of our students, and that our students are using their talent as visual artists to participate in great local events like the Bike Shorts Film Festival.”
Most of 2018’s submissions are also available on the Bike Shorts Film Festival YouTube channel, youtube.com/bikeshortsroanoke, for our YouTube Award. This award recognizes the video that receives the most views by the end of May. The YouTube channel hosts every film screened by the Festival in its seven year history.
Additional screenings will be held in Lynchburg, Blacksburg, and Clifton Forge later in the summer.
The Bike Shorts Film Festival is part of the Ride Smart Celebration, an program encouraging people to explore transportation options like cycling, public transportation, bikeshare, carpooling, and more. A full calendar of events can be found online at http://ridesolutions.org/ridesmart