The 2018 Rendezvous Film Festival concluded Sept. 22 with an awards ceremony and horror movie screening at Jack & Diane's in Fernandina Beach.
Kim Murray, director of the festival, hosted the ceremony and delivered remarks at the beginning and end of the event. Prior to handing out the awards, Murray said she loved every film that was in the running and was thankful for her colleagues who helped put this year's festival together.
"Without this extraordinary team this would not have happened," she noted. "Please give them a round of applause, they made this all possible."
The overall award winners were:
· Best Overall Feature Film: "Fear Love and Agoraphobia”
· Best Overall Documentary: "The Defiant One"
· Best Overall Film: "The World in Your Window"
· Best Overall Short Film: "A Short Film by Andrew Coll"
· Best Overall Florida Film: "A Brilliant Monster"
· Best Overall Actor: Javier "Andy" Zavala
· Best Overall Actress: Linda Burzynski
· Best Overall Director: Alex D'Lerma.
“You were all amazing," Murray said after giving out this year's awards. "We submitted the list of nominations today and that was literally the first time the festival has ever done that, because the board was just so torn over the quality of films that you all sent us. We can't just not recognize all these wonderful films. Please know we loved everything you sent us and we can't wait to see what you send us in the future."
Following the awards ceremony, attendees enjoyed a screening of horror shorts to preview the Rendezvous Scare Fest, which will take place in October at AMC 24 Orange Park. One of the short films, "Jax in Love,” chronicles a mysterious and lonely young woman named Jax whose car breaks down during a trip across the American West.
The annual three-day Rendezvous Film Festival includes workshops, parties and the opportunity to mingle with visiting actors and filmmakers. This year's event, which took place Sept. 20-22 (with a Sept. 23 brunch to cap off the festival), featured over 80 films as this year's selections. The festival screens short films, feature films, documentaries and more.
