Canberra, Australia – December 24th 2020 – Today Veteran Film Festival announced Trust Frank, an Australian short film directed by Penny Moore as the winner of Cinema Without Borders’ GoE Bridging The Borders Award sponsored by Go Energistics.
2020 Veteran Film Festival due to the pandemic was held online.
Here is our GoE Bridging The Borders Award jury statement: “We had many exceptional nominees for the GoE Bridging the Borders Award at the 2020 Veteran Film Festival. These films offered rich and powerful stories, all centered on Veteran experiences around the world, and choosing a winner was a challenge of its own.
The winner of the GoE Bridging the Borders Award, sponsored by Go Energistics, studies the many different battles we face – both literal and symbolic – and how we can help one another through human connection. The film tells the story of two elderly neighbors, a Veteran and the wife of a fallen soldier, who strike up a relationship and find comfort in their mutual experiences. Though it is not explicitly about war, it delves deeply into its repercussions, and the main two actors do an excellent job of portraying the internal struggles of those left behind.
The winner of GoE Bridging the Borders Award at the 2020 Veteran Film Festival is TRUST FRANK directed by Penny Moore”
TRUST FRANK
Country: Australia
Director, Writer, Producer: Penny Moore
Cast: John Flaus, Brenda Palmer
“Trust Frank” is a sentimental and gently humorous film about two lonely elderly people struggling to battle serious infirmities as they age.
Neighbours for many years, Frank and Rose share a distain for each other and have made a sport out of swapping barbed comments over the fence. Rose is fastidious by nature but as her dementia progresses, her tight grip on reality starts to fail her. In contrast, the bawdy Frank is a Vietnam veteran with lung cancer who has given up the fight for life.
When Rose has a bad dementia episode in public and latches onto Frank, the walls come crashing down and a friendship develops between them. Rose encourages Frank to fight cancer and Frank assists Rose to live at home unassisted. Together they find the strength and determination to go on living, but in the process of letting down their guard, they form a deep bond, proving it’s never too late to find love.
Jury members for GoE Bridging the Borers Award were:
Hamid Jafari
Hamid was born in Bandar-e-mahshahr in Iran. He studied cinema at Sooreh University .He is researcher, writer, director and producer. He made many documentaries from 2002. For example; ”Thus Spoke The Yeoman“, 38 min, 2012 won the award of the union of cinematographers of Armenia . ”The Rock“, Documentary, 25 min, 2015 won Most Innovative Short Film in Visions Du Réel 2016, and The Best Short Documentary in New Orleans, Irvine Film Festival 2017, and Baikal film festival in 2018.
“The wind” a documentary about an old ritual ceremony in Iran, has finished in 2019.
And his last documentary “The Leaves” has finished in 2020.
Susan Morgan Cooper
Susan Morgan Cooper is a Director/Producer/ Writer and her credits include:
To the Moon and Back, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2016 (A cinematic act of love and courage’ … Broadway World) – Hopper [In his own words] Documentary, Producer/Writer 2013 (“I was moved to tears” Mike Medavoy) – Mulberry Child, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2012 (‘A powerful and touching film’… 31/2 stars. Roger Ebert) – An Unlikely Weapon [The Eddie Adams Story]..Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2008 ( ‘A terrific documentary’ The Hollywood Reporter) – Making Of Shadows in The Sun, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2005 – Heroes And Sheroes. Television Series, Director/Producer/Writer 2000
Mirjana: One Girl’s Journey, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 1997 – Stringers, Narrative Short Director/Producer/Writer 1990 – Hadley’s Rebellion, Narrative Feature Associate Producer 1989
Adam Shepherd
Adam Shepherd, President and Chief Executive Officer of Go Energistics (GoE), has been a champion for social awareness and strong supporter of numerous non-profit organizations dedicated to healing. As the founder of (GoE) a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Adam is devoted to serving the men and women of our Nation’s military, Veterans, and their families by supporting the health care systems that serve them.
Adam not only witnessed but experienced first-hand, how people all over the world are eager to connect beyond their borders and despite their [perceived]differences. Continually moved by the spirit of people, Adam actively seeks out opportunities to encourage and enact positive social awareness and change.
Adam’s appreciation for the arts, especially cinema and its power to globally unite people, drives him to serve a higher purpose that goes beyond traditional borders. Adam’s philosophy and core belief that each of us can have a positive impact in our world are echoed through GoE’s sponsorship of the Bridging the Borders Award; which recognizes and highlights those who are most successful in bringing people of our world closer together through film.
Bijan Tehrani
Bijan Tehrani a film director, film critic and writer, works as Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders and CineEqual, while teaching Language & History of film workshops and organizes film screening events and festivals. Bijan has won several awards in international film festivals and book fairs for his short films and children’s books.
For the tenth anniversary of Cinema Without Borders, Bijan has received Ambassador of International Cinema Award from South east European Film Festival, Friend of the Festival Award from Polish Film Festival, LA and Gateway to International Cinema Award from Hungarian Film festival. Bijan Tehrani is recently working on a few new children books, a screenplay for a feature film and organizing an international film festival on immigration.
Other nominees for the 2020 GoE Bridging The Borders Award at Veterans Film Festival nominees were:
L’alleato / The Ally (Italy), Dead Times (Italy), One of the Missing (Hungary), Heritage (Iran), I am not Alice (Iran) and The old man next door (New Zeland)