MY HERO International Film Fest 2014

Kathy Eldon - Presents the Dan Eldon Activist Award Annually at the MY HERO International Film Festival

This year's Best of Fest winner is I'll Take It from Here... Because I'm a Girl, a short film by Raj Yagnik and Shoana Hamilton.  In less that 4 minutes, the clever, fast paced film points out some of the hopes and dreams of young girls contrasted with the harsh reality that one in three of them, worldwide, will be denied an education and face a life of poverty, discrimination and conflict.  More than 2,000 photos of children in a Malawian village show how education can help change this grim statistic. 

Waves for Water, a film by Aaron Flynn and Hurley International, is the winner of the Dan Eldon Activist Award.  The award is offered by Kathy Eldon, in honor of her son, a journalist and activist who was killed covering the conflict in Somalia in 1993. The short film introduces Jon Rose, a professional surfer and humanitarian who started the organization Waves for Water.  The organization has a global mission to help create access to clean water to those in need around the world.

Ron Kovic with Queen McElrath and Aniea Cody, High School students from Nashiville who directed and performed HANDS UP DON'T SHOOT

The Ron Kovic Peace Prize is offered to the film that best examines issues of peace.  Kovic, is a former US Marine who was paralyzed from the chest down in Vietnam.  Kovic has spent the past 40 years as an activist for peace.  This year, his award goes to Blessed is the Peacemaker, a film by Taqi Juba and Wide Angle Youth Media.  The short films honors Safe Streets, an organization in Baltimore in which former criminals help counsel young people in the community in order to reduce the area's high youth homicide rate.  Also on hand were student filmmakers from Nashville, whose music video Hands Up Don't Shoot was a finalist in the Kovic Peace Prize competition and winner of the Student Mentor Award. 

Sylvia Earle is a marine biologist, author and explorer.  The Sylvia Earle Ocean Conservation Award, which is presented by One World One Ocean.org went to the documentary Isla Coronado Ghost Net, the short chronicles the efforts of a team removing abandoned fishing nets that threaten sea life in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. 

The Relationships First Award is a special award given by The Foundation for the Contemporary Family, nonprofit organization dedicated to developing innovative approaches to the problems of contemporary families. This year's winner is Present Trauma, by Mark Manalo. This psychological thriller tells the story of a former Marine who struggles to cope with family life after a tour of overseas combat. 

The winners of the 2014 MY HERO International Film Festival

The festival is part of the award winning The MY HERO Project, a non-profit 501(c)3 program designed to celebrate the heroes of the world. To view all of the 2014 MY HERO International Film Festival winners visit: myhero.com/Winners.

Submissions of inspiring short films are now being accepted for the 2015 MY HERO International Film Festival. Professionals, students and enthusiasts are invited to submit short documentary, animated, narrative, experimental and music videos to this annual competition. For more information, go to: myhero.com/Submit

###