Thought I’d congratulate Brady Hall who won the Best Feature at the Northwest Film Forum’s Local Sightings festival last week for his feature June and July. I was a judge along with John Vanco of the IFC Center, Charlie Humphrey of Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Lane Kneedler of the AFI Festival.

The film is a somewhat unclassifiable drama about a pair of fraternal twins living in the Pacific Northwest as it mixes science fiction elements with what might otherwise be a small-scale indie relationship movie. Here’s the NWFF’s catalog on the film:

Written and directed by Seattle filmmaker Brady Hall (POLERCHRIST, JERKBEAST), JUNE & JULY turns the 20-something indie film formula on its ear. Lifelong residents of a depressed small town, fraternal twins June (Bernadette Culvo) and July Shauer (Nathan Williams) are inseparable. Sprung into action by the death of their mother, June hatches a plan to leave her brother and the dull rural life, in search of adventure and excitement in the big city. July, unaware of June’s plans, continues to enjoy the simplicity his quaint town has to offer. Before announcing her departure, a house party fight exposes June?s mysterious supernatural physiology. While searching for the link between her powers and her past, June discovers an old photograph that leads the pair on a road trip that unravels the secrets of their family and its genetic history. Injecting drama with humor and even a bit of science fiction, JUNE & JULY is a bittersweet portrait of an unusual pair of siblings and the story of their divergent paths. Great music supports this beautifully lensed exploration of an enigmatic family history, in what can only be called a unique vision from our region.

We also gave the short film prize to What’s in the Barn,, by Mike Corrigan, Travis Hibbner, Derrick King and Gary McLeod for their striking and deliberate gothic tale.

At the event the NWFF also announced its next “Start to Finish” grant, a prize of production support that last went to Rob Devor’s Police Beat. This year the prize is going to David Russo for his #2, which the NWFF plans to go into production in the Spring. The whole event, which focuses on films local to the Pacific Northwest, was sponsored by Altoids.