PRESS RELEASE
Jury Chair Bruce Beresford announced Transfusion as the winner of the prestigious *Howard Frank Van Norton Award for Best Film among a cluster of Red Poppy Awards including Sam Worthington for Best Actor and Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress for Causeway at the annual international Veterans Film Festival during a gala Closing Night on Sunday at the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney.
The coveted Red Poppy Awards, titled after the war poem ‘In Flanders Field’, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, saw films from 14 countries in competition across the 4 -day festival.
Writer, director and actor Matt Nable and producers Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz collected the $10,000 prize for the Best Film Award. The film’s star, Sam Worthington was awarded Best Actor. Causeway, which opened the festival, also won the Sgt Joseph Cecil Thompson Award (named in memory of the cornet player of the 9th Battalion Band that landed at Gallipoli in 1915) for Best Music by Alex Somers as well as Lawrence’s Best Actress gong.
Others Red Poppy Awards presented:
- The Spectrum Films Award for Best Short Film went to US film Soldier by Justin Zimmerman. The prize includes $4000 cash and $2500 in post production support from Spectrum Films.
- The Award for Best Student Film was won by The Search by veteran Thomas Brouns.
- The Best Music Video went to Better Off – song by Johnny Reveille, directed by Casey Andrew both veterans.
- The Harry Julius Award for Best Animation went to the Iranian film The Sprayer by Farnoosh Abedi.
- The Beyond Blue Award for the Best Film Reflecting Hope and Resilience went to The Healing by Nick Barkla.
Winners were selected by the Jury panel of Bruce Beresford, Lisa Hoppe, Jenni Baird, Alan Dukes, Julie Kalceff, Cameron Patrick, Petra Salsjo and Gus O’Brien-Cavanough.
The Awards have been presented annually, except for a COVID break, since 2015. The last time the Awards were held in 2020 the Best Feature was won by Ukrainian drama U311 Cherkasy and Best Short was awarded to Australian entry Trust Frank. Previous winners here.
*Private Howard Frank Van Norton was a veteran of the US Army in WW2 and is the late father of the Veterans Film Festival leading patron Kay Van Norton Poche.
Private Howard Frank Van Norton was born in 1925 and passed in 2012. He landed in France on 8 June 1944, two days after the main D-Day landings. During the Allied advance through France he was shot in the back by the enemy while repairing communication lines. Wounded, he continued to repair the wiring until communication was restored to his Unit. For that action he was awarded a silver star and the Purple Heart. After the war Howard continued his service to others in the community all his life.
