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HDFEST Announces 2004 Deffie Awards at NYC Festival Tour Finale

On Sunday, December 5th at the Tribeca Grand Screen Theatre, HDFEST announced the winners of its 2004 HDFEST Deffie Awards to cheering crowds of festival-goers. The December New York event was the conclusion to the HDFEST 2004 World Tour which began in May 2004 and featured six high-definition festival events. Alongside indie HD films and high-definition filmmaking panel discussions, the HDFEST New York event also included special presentations of two high-definition films "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and "Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation." HDFEST handed out twelve HDFEST Deffie Awards recognizing excellence and achievement in high-definition filmmaking. Among top festival recognitions were the HD feature film "Particles of Truth," the animated HD short "Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher," the HD documentary feature "Water's Journey- The Hidden Rivers of Florida" and Francois Velle, director of the HD feature "New Suit."

The HDFEST tour is to date the largest HD Focused event in history with thousands of attendees from across the globe. Special thanks this year go to discreet, HDFEST 2004's presenting level sponsor, who was instrumental to the success of this year's tour. This year's HDFEST events featured a record number of screenings during its run of seven events in six cities on three continents. HDFEST took place this year in Sydney, Australia; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; London, England, Hameenlinna, Finland; Los Angeles, California and New York, New York. The events featured sixteen panel discussions with over 80 total HD panelists including industry experts and HD filmmakers. The festival also included over 35 HD premieres- presentations of films that had never before been seen in HD format. This year marked a variety of "HDFEST/High-Definition firsts" including the first 2K Film Festival, the first East Coast High-Definition Film Festival, Florida's first High-Definition Film Festival, the first Australian High-Definition Film Festival, and the first Scandinavian High-Definition Film Festival.

The HDFEST award for best HD feature film of 2004 is entitled "The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Definition Feature" presented by discreet. This is the first year that the HDFEST awards have the official title of "The Deffie." This Deffie went to "Particles of Truth" written, produced and directed by Jennifer Elster. This feature recently was released theatrically in New York City, it also premiered this month on the Sundance Channel. "Particles of Truth" also received runner-up placement for "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in an High-Definition Feature" and honorable mention placement for "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in an HD Feature." The feature film "New Suit" won "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in an HD Feature" presented by Filmmaker Magazine. Other HDFEST Deffies for feature length projects went to the UK/France feature film "Luminal," which is a sci-fi film based on a best-selling French novel. "Luminal" won "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in an HD Feature" presented by Film and Video Magazine. Multiple festival recognitions also went to the HD feature film "Inheritance," which received runner-up placement for Best High-Definition Feature and Best High-Definition Cinematography.

HDFEST also handed out a variety of Deffie recognitions for short HD films. "The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Definition Short" presented by Widescreen Review went to "Happiness is at arm's length but sometimes we find it at the bottom of a sea of sadness" from Montreal-based writer, director, producer Marie Helene Panisset. The short suspense film "Descent" from writer, director, producer Jay Holben, won "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in a High-Definition Short" presented by The Hollywood Reporter. Also the stop-motion animation "Oedipus" won "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in a High-Definition Short" presented by Midtown Video. New HDFEST awards this year recognize achievement in HD animation and special/visual effects in HD films. Alexander Woo's animation "Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher" won "The HDFEST Deffie for Best HD Animation" presented by Goldcrest Post. This HD short also won this year's 2004 Student Academy Award. Also the short film "Just Like You Imagined" won the "HDFEST Deffie for Best Visual/ Special Effects in a High-Definition Project" presented by discreet. The special effects supervisor for the film was Luke Ditommasso, and Jeff Most, producer of "The Crow," produced the short. More information about 2004 HDFEST Deffie award winners, as well as runner-up and honorable mention recognitions, can be found at the HDFEST website www.hdfest.com.

**HDFEST 2004 DEFFIE AWARD WINNERS**

The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Definition Feature presented by discreet Particles of Truth

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in an HD Feature presented by Filmmaker Magazine New Suit

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in an HD Feature presented by Film and Video Magazine Luminal

The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Definition Short presented by Widescreen Review Happiness is at arm's length but sometimes you find it at the bottom of a sea of sadness

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in a High-Def Short presented by Hollywood Reporter Descent

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in a High-Def Short presented by Midtown Video Oedipus

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Visual/ Special Effects in a High-Def Project presented by discreet Just Like You Imagined

The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Def Documentary presented by Film and Video Magazine Water's Journey- The Hidden Rivers of Florida

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in a High-Def Documentary presented by On Sight Water's Journey- The Hidden Rivers of Florida

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Comedic High-Def Short presented by Film Threat Killing Kevin

The HDFEST Deffie for Best Dramatic High-Def Short Presented by Production Update The Bug Man

The HDFEST Deffie for Best HD Animation presented by Goldcrest Post Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher