May '23 Award Nominees for Talking It Out Virtual Film Festival are out!
The Talking It Out Virtual Arts Festival has announced its full list of award nominees for the May 2023 Virtual Film Festival
On Saturday at May 27th at 7pm EST, the award-winners will be announced in a livestreamed ceremony hosted by Anthony J. Piccione and Maria Fe Picar exclusively on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@talkingitoutfest.
Full List:
BEST FILM:
Escapism - Gregory Bray
What’s the Rule? - Justin Janoson
Walking In Place - Clayton James Favor
Apples, Oranges, Lemons & Limes - Pat Mitchell
BEST DIRECTOR:
The Reflection of Francisco - Jon Frankel Garcia
The Most Dangerous Place - Josh Parham
Walking in Place - Clayton James Favor
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Circles - Taylor Hicks
A Month, A Day, A Year - Hunter Brockman
Walking in Place - Clayton James Favor
BEST ACTOR:
Escapism - Joseph Anthony Davis
The Most Dangerous Place - Kerby Darius
Apples, Oranges, Lemons, & Limes - Cal Waldau
BEST ACTRESS:
Bruises - Lily Watson
The Reflection of Francisco - Clara Navarro
The Lady on the Hill - Alicia Lowe
BEST SOUND DESIGN:
A Month, A Day, A Year - Hunter Brockman
Escapism - Brett Barry/Joseph Vlachos
BEST FILM SCORE:
Silent Therapy - Idgie Winchester
The Reflection of Francisco - Juan Mendizabel
Escapism - Danny Mark Asis
BEST SCREENPLAY:
Escapism - John Patrick Bray
Apples, Oranges, Lemons, & Limes - Pat Mitchell
What's the Rule? - Justin Janoson
BEST EDITING:
The Most Dangerous Place - Joshua Parham
A Month, A Day, A Year - Hunter Brockman
Walking in Place - Clayton James Favor
Watch the live-streams of our May 2023 featured films now until May 31st:
Founded by Anthony J. Piccione, the original Talking It Out performance was presented live at the Dramatists Guild Foundation's Music Hall on March 10th, 2019. At the time of the initial readings, Michael D'Antoni wrote a rave review of the event for Five-Star Arts Journals, describing it as having “nothing less than pure, unadulterated, genuine, unpretentious focus on the agonies and anguish of mental illness, while also celebrating the triumphs and accomplishments over those living with, or those living with someone who suffers from mental health issues.”
Originally intended to be a one-time event of minimalistic staged reading of short plays, the event has since been revived as an ongoing festival of virtual plays - as well as an expanding line-up of additional arts programming - presented online via Zoom. At the time of the inaugural November 2020 performance, Jan Ewing of Hi! Drama praised the festival for having “drawn from a wide range of ages and genders” and for “detailing the pain and distress encountered not only by those suffering from the various disorders but also those who support them.” Since then, the festival has continued to reach thousands of artists & audience members worldwide, and recently received four nominations for the 2023 Young-Howze Theatre Awards including for Festival of the Year. Each of the plays is presented by an ensemble of actors from different corners of the world, highlighting various issues related to mental illness - ranging from anxiety, depression, neurodivergency, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, and more. Follow @talkingitoutfest on Instagram and Facebook for updates.