The 2017 KKP Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film has been awarded to Hamilton filmmaker Peter Riddihough for his 1920s-styled silent film, The Ballad of Gloria Sedgwick.
The film, which screened Sunday January 29th ahead of the Milton Film Festival’s closing feature, Marguerite, stars actress and co-producer Bex Carney as an irrepressible heroine whose curiosity inspires her to take a chance and explore an unfamiliar world.
Born in Ireland, raised on Canada’s West Coast and now living in Hamilton, Peter Riddihough studied film at Ryerson University Toronto and has developed a broad range of experience in film and video production. He began his career directing television commercials before shifting over to documentary film. His feature film, One Man’s Island, the story of one man’s obsession with the world’s most dangerous motorcycle race, is a cult favorite amongst motorcyclists. His second documentary feature, Jump, was shot amidst the condo boom in Toronto and profiled a waiter by day, base-jumper by night.
Audiences at the Milton Film Festival responded warmly to Riddihough’s latest effort.
“All five shorts were rated very highly by our audience members, but you could tell just by their reactions that they really responded to Gloria Sedgwick”, said festival founder and director Jennifer Smith. “Our selection committee was very pleased to be able to bring such a clever and heartwarming film to our Milton audience – especially from a filmmaker so close to home”.
“We are delighted and honoured that Gloria has been chosen for the KKP Audience Choice Award” said director Peter Riddihough when he was informed of the film’s win. “It was a privilege to share our work and gratifying to know that the film resonated with its audience. The value and importance of festivals such as the Milton Film Festival cannot be underestimated; the interest and excitement that the festival builds helps to keep the art of cinema vibrant and relevant. As independent filmmakers, the festival is also a hugely important opportunity to share our work, engage with audiences and learn from other filmmakers.”.
The second place short film, Missy, came from Dunnville filmmaker Jordan Heron and was inspired by the CanLit Random Premise Generator website. The other films in the short film program were Swim Low by Milton filmmaker Amanda Wong, Our World by the students of E.C. Drury School for the Deaf, and Last Train by Stratford native Matthew Knarr.
The Audience Award is sponsored by KKP Printing Milton, and the Anders family. Short films are shown before each presentation, and the audience asked to rate them from 1-5 stars on a ballot. The winner is the film with the highest average rating.
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