PollyGrind Film Festival
The PollyGrind Film Festival is an annual event held in Las Vegas, Nevada that specializes in alternative film and video that would not otherwise be screened or find audiences. Spotlighting short films, feature length films, music videos and trailers of all genres, PollyGrind was founded by filmmaker, promoter and social media specialist Chad Clinton Freeman. The event celebrates individuality, diversity, creativity and empowerment.
The event gives a slew of awards that are quite different than most festivals. Those include The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind, Best Use of Nudity/Sexuality, Best Use of Violence/Gore, Most Outrageous, and Most Creative. There is also a Bad Girl Award and an Ultimate Badass Award.
Started in 2010,[1] PollyGrind's first year was a five-night event "with over a dozen features, plus tons of short films, trailers and music videos; the quality ranged from borderline incompetent to undiscovered genius, virtually all within the confines of horror and sci-fi."[2] Arrowinthehead.com declared the event a "B-movie jamboree of awesomeness" that "only Vegas has the balls to host." [3]
The second installment of the festival included more than 100 films over a span of 10 days.[4] Programming ranged from campy horror B-movies to extreme, underground and avant-garde films [5] and according to Robin Leach featured "every night creature from hookers to zombies." [6]
DreadCentral.com noted that "PollyGrind has quickly made a name for itself as one of the up-and-coming premiere genre fests out there due to the success of each year of programming." [7] Filmmaker Adam Rehmeier, whose film The Bunny Game was banned by the British Board of Film Classification right after playing the event,[8] called the festival a display of cinema's "bastards and red-headed step children."[7]
Award Winners
2011
- The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind — The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier)
- Best Horror Film — The Super (Evan Makrogiannis / Brian Weaver)
- Best Exploitation Film — Dear God No! (James Bickert)
- Best Experimental Film — Zooey & Adam (Sean Garrity)
- Best Action Film — 25K (Billy Chase Goforth)
- Best Crime Film — Ratline (Eric Stanze)
- Best Dark Comedy — The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol (Aramis Sartorio)
- Best Documentary — Run Run It's Him (Matthew Pollack)
- Best of Zombiepalooza — Ashes (Elias Matar)
- Best Sound Design — The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier)
- Best Director — The Super (Evan Makrogiannis / Brian Weaver)
- Best Screenplay — Butterfly (Edward E. Romero)
- Best Cinematography — The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier)
- Best Editing — The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier)
- Best Overall Individual Performance in a Film — Rodleen Getsic as Bunny in The Bunny Game
- Best Overall Cast — Demetri Kallas as George Rossi, Lynn Lowry as Maureen Rossi, Ron Braunstein as Det. Sardusky, Manoush as Olga, Ruby Larocca as Karen, Edgar Moye as Andre, Brandon Slagle as Franny the Tranny, with David Francis Calderazzo, Bill McLaughlin, Raine Brown and Kathryn Zawiski in The Super
- Best Actor — Aramis Sartorio as Tommy Pistol in The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol
- Best Actress — Mandi Kreisher as Laney Darrow, Butterfly
- Best Supporting Actor — Brett Hundley as Tommy Spioch in Frankie in Blunderland
- Best Supporting Actress — Manoush as Olga in The Super
- Best Cameo Appearance — Evan Stone as The Butterfly in Frankie in Blunderland
- Best Use of Nudity/Sexuality — Planet of the Vampire Women (Darin Wood)
- Best Use of Violence/Gore — Sella Turcica (Fred Vogel)
- Best Use of Music — Ratline (Eric Stanze)
- Most Outrageous — The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol (Aramis Sartorio)
- Most Creative — Mondo Sexxxx: The Terry Kobrah Story (Logan Myers)
- Most Innovative — The Earl Sessions (Ginnetta Correli)
- Most Heart — The Girl Who Wasn't Missing (Shane Ryan)
- Most Cool — El Monstro Del Mar (Stuart Simpson)
- Audience's Favorite Feature — Dear God No! (James Bickert)
- Bad Girl Award — Beverly Lynne as Janis Drake in The Atonement of Janis Drake
- Ultimate Badass Award — Ezra Buzzington as Hate, Breath of Hate
2010
- The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind — Slime City Massacre (Greg Lamberson)
- Audience's Favorite Feature — Dead Hooker in a Trunk (The Soska Sisters - Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska)
- Best Actor — Kealan Patrick Burke as Cory (Slime City Massacre)
- Best Actress — Beth Winslet as The Femme Fatale (Stiletto)
- Best Director — Calvin Lee Reeder (The Rambler and The Snake Mountain Colada)
- Best Screenplay — Dead Hooker in a Trunk (Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska)
- Bad Girl Award — Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk)
- Ultimate Badass Award — Luke Goss (The Dead Undead)
World Premieres
2011
- Mondo Sexxxx: The Terry Kobrah Story
- The Las Vegas Abductions
- The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol
- The Girl Who Wasn't Missing
- Finger Bang
- The Los Angeles Ripper
- The Atonement of Janis Drake
2010
- Vaginal Holocaust
- Caged Lesbos A-Go-Go
- Orgy of Blood
- The Dead Undead
- Scars of Youth
References
- ^ By thehorrorchick April 20th, 2010 (2010-04-20). "Las Vegas Gearing up for The PollyGrind 2010 | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central". Dreadcentral.com. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37074/las-vegas-gearing-the-pollygrind-2010. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ "Kink n’ grind". Las Vegas Weekly. http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/may/19/kink-n-grind/. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ Gilbert, Ammon (2010-04-15). "Pollygrind hits Vegas this May with films, shorts, and trailers that will blow your mind - Horror Movie News | Arrow in the Head". Joblo.com. http://www.joblo.com/arrow/index.php?id=21660. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ "Film events celebrate horror, sci-fi - Entertainment / Neon - ReviewJournal.com". Lvrj.com. http://www.lvrj.com/neon/film-events-celebrate-horror-sci-fi-131204829.html. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ "From sadism to kitsch: PollyGrind film fest wrap-up, Part 1". Las Vegas Weekly. http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2011/oct/13/sadism-kitsch-pollygrind-film-fest-wrap--part-1/. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/06/tropic-beauty-pageant-vs-blood-nudity-and-scares-p/
- ^ a b By thehorrorchick October 26th, 2011 (2011-10-26). "Exclusive: Second Annual PollyGrind Film Festival Announces Winners | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central". Dreadcentral.com. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/48306/exclusive-second-annual-pollygrind-film-festival-announces-winners. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ "The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rejected the DVD THE BUNNY GAME « British Board of Film Classification". BBFC. 2011-10-12. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/newsreleases/2011/10/the-british-board-of-film-classification-bbfc-has-rejected-the-dvd-the-bunny-game/. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
External links