2011 Bloodfest Fantastique: Award Winners

The first annual Bloodfest Fantastique genre film festival — which recently wrapped in Melbourne, Australia and was organized by the good folks of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival — has given out a slew of awards to films, filmmakers and actors. The big winner of the fest? The Sydney-based horror flick The Tunnel, directed by Carlo Ledesma.
The Tunnel took home three awards, including Best Film. Becoming a festival favorite is an especially interesting feat for a film that has eschewed the traditional distribution route and is already available for free online for anybody to view who wants to BitTorrent it through a deal with Paramount Pictures. The film also won Best Cinematography for the work of co-D.P.s Shing Fung Cheung and Steve Davis; while Davis also shared the Best Supporting Actor award with Michael Rooker, who appeared in Penance.
Amother big winner was Bloodfest’s Opening Night film Come and Get Me. Awards for this grisly slasher flick were given to Kelsie McDonald for Best Actress and Michael Gilbert for Best Editing, while Chris Sun won for Best Special Effects and Make-Up and shared the Best Directing award with Josh Reed, who directed the monster movie Primal.
Other winners include Chad Ferrin’s Someone’s Knocking at the Door, which took home the Genre Innovation Award; Jake West’s look at the ’80s horror boom, Video Nasties, won for Best Documentary; and Chris Mitchell’s Meth to Madness won for Best Short Film and Best Short Film Director.
The full list of Bloodfest Fantastique winners is below:
Best Film
The Tunnel (Carlo Ledesma)
Best Director
Chris Sun (Come and Get Me)
Josh Reed (Primal)
Best Actor
Damian Walshe-Howling (The Reef)
Best Actress
Kelsie McDonald (Come and Get Me)
Best Supporting Actor
Michael Rooker (Penance)
Steve Davis (The Tunnel)
Best Supporting Actress
Kerry Ann Reid (Family Demons)
Best Screenplay
Ursula Dabrowsky (Family Demons)
Best Editor
Michael Gilbert (Come and Get Me)
Best Cinematography
Shing Fung Cheung, Steve Davis (The Tunnel)
Best Special Effects and Make-Up
Chris Sun (Come and Get Me)
Best Cult Film
Starship Invasions
Best Short Film
Meth to Madness (Chris Mitchell)
Best Short Film Director
Chris Mitchell (Meth to Madness)
Best Short Film Actor
Jeremy Kewley (Shepherd’s Hill)
Best Short Film Actress
Jamie McDowell (Home)
Bloodfest Genre Innovation Award
Someone’s Knocking at the Door (Chad Ferrin)
Special Short Film Jury Prize
Flow (Scott Dale)
Special Jury Prize
The Reef (Andrew Traucki)
Best Documentary
Video Nasties (Jake West)