On Monday May 26th Maikaru won the award for Best Documentary Short at the Seattle International Film Festival. SIFF is one of the top film festivals in the world and by winning one of their juried awards Maikaru is now eligible to be screened by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences for the Best Short Documentary Oscar. There are only a couple of ways to qualify as a short film for consideration for an Oscar and we won an award at one of only 34 film festivals that will get you a slot to be screened for the Academy.

This award came completely out of the blue and the crew and I were lucky that Writer/Director Amanda Harryman had decided on a whim to attend the ceremony. I am even OK that she woke me up to deliver the good news!

Here is what the SIFF jury said:

An honest, vulnerable and authentic piece that exposes an invisible issue that is happening in Seattle and worldwide. The character’s story of healing leaves the audience with a sense of hope. The use of artistic footage illustrates the character’s transformative journey.

I look forward to talking about the continued success of Maikaru in the near future!