CASSEROLE CLUB and THE ABSENCE lead the pack with 9 nominations apiece!

VISIONFEST 11: The Other Festival (VF11), June 22-26, 2011, at Tribeca Cinemas (corner of Varick and Laight streets), announced its Independent Vision Award nominees, just moments after its opening night program wrapped up its post-screening Q&A to a capacity crowd in the Tribeca Lounge.

The nominations, which have always been used by the festival’s jury to determine who would take home the VF statuettes, were made public for the first time ever since the inception of the film festival, in 2001. Coming in with a whopping 9 nominations, including Production and Direction nods, was Steve Balderson’s THE CASSEROLE CLUB, which also landed recognition for its actors, Kevin Scott Richardson, Susan Traylor, and Jennifer Grace, who was singled out for the Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award, in memory of the legendary, iconic actor, known best for his work in several David Lynch projects. Balderson, who wore many hats on this project, was also nominated for the Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography and for his eye-dazzling use of color, as Production Designer of the feature-length period piece. Had he not already won a Domani Vision Award back in 2005 for his critically acclaimed, FIRECRACKER, the director would have been eligible for an award nomination in that category as well.

The short subject film, THE ABSENCE, by Alex DeMille. Which tied with CLUB, for the amount of nominations it received, prompted festival co-director, Bruno Derlin, to define the occurrence as “somewhat surprising,” adding that “it’s very rare that a short subject comes head to head with a feature, but since VF’s method of recognition is to single out outstanding achievement in individual craft categories, then it’s possible for something like this to take place. Although, I must admit that, even when we were doing the nominations as secret ‘in-house’ ballots, I never saw such a close race between a feature and a short. I think it’s fantastic.”

Other contenders with multiple nods include: Jamie Greenberg’s STAGS and Conrad Jackson’s FALLING OVERNIGHT, each with 6 nominations; VIRGIN ALEXANDER, by Charlotte Barrett and Sean Fallon, Skylar Gordon’s controversial experimental feature, ONTOLOGICA!, and the short subject Student Academy Award contender, PHAROS, all with 5 apiece; Robert Celestino’s LEAVE and the Annette Apitz VF11 opener, FIGHTING FISH, closing out the feature circle with 4 and 3 nominations, respectively. Matt Kazman’s Student Academy Award nominated short, FLAGPOLE, also nabbed 4 mentions, and Daniel Stine’s GOD AND VODKA, followed with 3. And finally, Drew Mylrea’s QUARTERS, Eddie O’Keefe’s “THE GHOSTS,” and Shanna Maurizi’s HOW TO MAKE IT IN FILMMAKING, landed 2 mentions.

The full list of the nominees follows below:

Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent
Alex DeMille (The Absence)
Conrad Jackson (Falling Overnight)
Skylar Gordon (Ontologica!)
Jamie Greenberg (Stags)
Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon (Virgin Alexander)

Production
The Absence
The Casserole Club
Falling Overnight
Leave
Stags

Directing
Alex DeMille (The Absence)
Steve Balderson (The Casserole Club)
Conrad Jackson (Falling Overnight)
Robert Celestino (Leave)
Jamie Greenberg (Stags)

Writing
Frankie Krainz (The Casserole Club)
Conrad Jackson & Parker Croft (Falling Overnight)
Skylar Gordon (Ontologica!)
Jamie Greenberg (Stags)
Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon (Virgin Alexander)



Short Subject Narrative
The Absence
After-School Special
Flagpole
God and Vodka
Quarters

The Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award
David Gross (A Bridge to Bourne)
Jennifer Grace (The Casserole Club)
David Thompson (Flagpole)
Parker Croft (Falling Overnight)
Rick Faugno (Virgin Alexander)

Acting (Male Lead)
Kevin Scott Richardson (The Casserole Club)
Val Emmich (Fighting Fish)
Rick Gomez (Leave)
Eric Wheeler (Proposal)
Benim Foster (Stags)

Acting (Female Lead)
Sarah Paulson (After-School Special)
Susan Traylor (The Casserole Club)
Emilia Zoryan (Falling Overnight)
Anna Moore (Fighting Fish)
Jessica Faller (Stags)

The Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography
Dagmar Weaver-Madsen (The Absence)
Steve Balderson (The Casserole Club)
Doug Emmett (Fighting Fish)
Michael Fimognari (Leave)
Logan Roos (Pharos)

Editing
Erin Greenwell (The Absence)
Shanna Maurizi (How To Make It in Filmmaking)
Skylar Gordon (Ontologica!)
Jen Kozlowski (Pharos)
Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon (Virgin Alexander)

Original Score
Jonathan Zalben (The Absence)
Rob Kleiner (The Casserole Club)
Credit to be determined (God and Vodka)
Milosz Jeziorski (Ontologica!)
Jason Cummings & Ian Vargo (Pharos)

Art Direction/Production Design
Michael Bednark (The Absence)
Steve Balderson (The Casserole Club)
Jonathan A. Carlson (Leave)
Mc Graw Wolfman & Logan Roos (Pharos)
Monica Jacobs (Virgin Alexander)


Certificates of Merit


Most Promising Filmmaker
Elan Golod (Exclusive)
Matt Kazman (Flagpole)
Daniel Stine (God and Vodka)
Eddie O’Keefe (The Ghosts)
Shanna Maurizi (How To Make It in Filmmaking)



Short Form Documentary
Animation: A Palette of Possibilities
Below New York
Slip Cue


Short Form Screenwriting
Neil LaBute (After-School Special)
Jonathan Lisecki (Gayby)
Eddie O’Keefe (The Ghosts)
Matt Kazman (Flagpole)
Drew Mylrea (Quarters)

Sound Design
Danny Langa (The Absence)
Chris Dickinson (Ontologica!)
Josh Roos (Pharos)
Ronnie Cramer (Sixty in 60)
Credit to be determined (Waking Wallbauer)