The 15th Annual Fort Myers Film Festival closed Sunday night with an awards ceremony. Winners were announced in eight film and three individual categories.
“Curveballs,” directed by John Biffar, was named Best Feature Film. It tells the story of America’s only amputee baseball team, the Louisville Slugger Warriors.
Best Documentary Honors went to “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” directed by David Borenstein. “Mr. Nobody” tells the story of a Russian school’s transformation into a war recruitment center during the Ukrainian invasion.
“Journey Back to Alcedo” received honors as the festival’s Best Environmental film. Directed by Gianna Haro Vallazza, this documentary chronicled the return of two 70-year-old female friends to the Galapagos to underscore the need for more women in science.
Best Short was the six-minute film “Attempt 101” by Erika Miyamoto and Best Short Short was Ben Wolf’s four-minute film “In and Amongst (on Pell St.).
Nya Chambless snagged honors for Best Student Film for “My Guardian Angel,” in which a bullied schoolgirl discovers friendship, mystery and resilience in a classmate.
The Edison Innovation Award went to “The Journey,” directed by Jahna Perricone. A visual music film for fulldome and VR, “The Journey” was screened in the Calusa Nature Center Planetarium, the newest of the Fort Myers Film Festival’s six 2025 venues.
The Audience Favorite was Laura Jane DeBruce’s documentary “On Sanibel: The Hurricane Diaries.” Told from the perspective of a Sanibel resident, “The Hurricane Diaries” focused on the islanders’ efforts to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the record-setting storm surge that inundated Sanibel and Captiva Islands during Hurricane Ian.
Melissa Davey was named Best Director for her film, “Climbing Into Life.”
Art Hindle was selected Best Actor for his role in “The Performance,” directed by Stephen Wallis, and Laurel Marsden was chosen as Best Actress for “All There Is,” directed by Kit Williamson.
MORE INFORMATION:
For an in-depth look at the making of “Curveballs” and filmmaker John Biffar, listen/read: “Filmmaker knew right away he wanted to make ‘Curveballs’”.
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” was shot by videographer Pavel "Pasha" Talankin at Karabash Primary School No. 1 over a two-year period. after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, after the Russian government began requiring schools to hold regular "patriotic displays" and use a state-written curriculum to justify the invasion to students. The film reveals the ethical dilemmas educators face in Russia amid propaganda and militarization.
Said Toronto Star film critic Peter Howell, “His principled resistance by filming, joking and refusing to teach lies makes for a riveting, courageous portrait of dissent in a place where truth can land you in jail -- or a cemetery.”
While female scientists are leading ground-breaking research across the world, the UNESCO Institute of Statistics indicates that less than 30% of the world’s scientific researchers are women. That reality served as the springboard for “Journey Back to Alcedo,” which tells a story of unconditional love between two audacious 70-year-old best friends on their last ascent together to the place where it all started, the Galapagos Islands.
The short film “Attempt 101” tells the story of Martyn, who replays his first date with his dream girl in virtual reality as he discovers that being who you are is all you need. Filmmaker Erika Miyamoto is a student at University of Central Florida's Nicholson School of Communication and Media, where she is studying film and mass media. She produced the short film in Professor Tim Ritter’s narrative BFA class.
The Short Short film “In & Amongst (on Pell St) explores the relationship between a person and their neighborhood as time passes and changes unfold. Ben Wolf is a cinematographer, director, and owner of Brooklyn-based film production company Topiary Productions, Inc. A graduate of Yale (BA, Philosophy) and Columbia (MFA, Film Directing), he works worldwide in all genres. In recent years, Ben has focused primarily on documentary and commercial work, with an emphasis on using new technology to bring cinematic production values to modestly sized projects. Among his recent film credits are “Stuck in Park,” “Booked: First Day In,” “Darla in Space” and “Eno.”
“My Guardian Angel” premiered in April at the Sarasota Film Festival. The film tells the story of filmmaker Nya Chambless’ childhood friendship with a girl named Teeja, who was her best friend in Pre-K and died of cancer on New Year’s Day in 2015. Chambless was moved to make a short (25-minute) feature film about Teeja not just as a tribute to her friend, but to raise awareness about pediatric cancer and the scourge of bullying. Teeja, then 6, had lost her hair and wore colorful scarves to conceal her baldness. She, and by derivation, Nya, attracted name-calling and derisive remarks.
Nya’s father, Jerry Chambless, is listed as a producer on “My Guardian Angel.” He is also a filmmaker, with nine films to his credit including “Surviving Lunch,” which coincidentally shines a light on bullying and school violence. “Surviving Lunch” was screened in 2019 at the ninth annual Fort Myers Film Festival.
Jahna Perricone’s “The Journey” is a 360-degree immersive experience designed to inspire and enchant audiences with beautiful, sublime music and visuals as viewers travel through fantastical worlds. The show uses the transformative power of ancient Tibetan singing bowls, ethereal vocals, gorgeous fulldome visuals and inspiring poetic narrative to evoke positive emotions and contemplative states of consciousness. “The Journey” follows the metaphoric experience of life from formlessness into form and then back into formlessness once again.
Jahna Perricone has led mindfulness workshops through collaborations with Fife (33rd International Environmental Film Festival in Paris, France), MARC/UCLA, Hammer, Pacific Asia and Fowler Museums and Loyola Marymount University, as well as in her private expression and voice studio where she guides people to find their true voices through vocal technique, sound and mindfulness. She is an accomplished singer with performances at Walt Disney Hall, Kennedy Center, and Ford Theatre, as well as being featured in several movies and on the internet.
Her music has charted No. 1 on iTunes and her albums are "In The Balance," "Toning," "Into The Mindful Wild" and "Spring Into Mindfulness: A Beginners Guide To Mindfulness."
Michael Perricone is a Master Ancient Tibetan Singing Bowl Artist and musician who has performed at the Getty, Hammer, MOCA Pacific Asia and Fowler museums as well as having his music featured in several movies and on internet sites."He is the recording artist and producer of several albums, ‘Bowls of Mindfulness," "Savasana Bowls Live," "Journey of Seven Bowls," "Sacred Bowls" and Diana Winstons’s Mindfulness Meditation CD series, to name a few. Starting as a teenager, he’s performed guitar and bass live and on records for such notables as Harry Nilsson. He brings this musical wisdom to the ancient instruments he uses for meditations and workshops around the globe.
“Sanibel: The Hurricane Diaries” filmmaker Laura DeBruce, who lives on Sanibel, started filming scenes for the documentary after she fractured her wrist upon her initial return to the island following the hurricane, when she was distracted by an alligator hiding out in some debris at the end of her driveway.
One of the film’s main characters is Sanibel Vice Mayor Holly Smith, who attended the film’s initial screening at the Alliance for the Arts.
DeBruce owns and operates Starfish Lane Productions, a small, independent company that focuses on documentary films. Her previous work in creating films was with her friend and then-neighbor, Laura Hambleton, through their mutually owned company, Hunt Avenue Productions. Hunt Avenue Productions films include: “Speed Skate,” a story about young speedskaters in the Washington, DC area with dreams of competing at the Olympics (co-produced with Sarah Patton of Stone Lantern Film); “Pink State Politics: A New Virginia,” a film that explores the women in the state of Virginia prior to the 2008 presidential election; and “The Pantheon de la Guerre” for the National World War I Museum.
DeBruce’s “Hurricane Diaries” documentary was so popular that the festival had to add a second screening. “Sanibel: The Hurricane Diaries” will be the subject of a separate segment on WGCU.
Melissa Davey’s documentary, “Climbing Into Life,” follows Dierdre Wolownick, the oldest woman to ascend El Capitan in Yosemite. Never an athlete, she excelled in languages, art, music and other intellectual pursuits. In her 60s she began running and climbing out of curiosity. Her son, Alex Honnold of the film “Free Solo,” was her mentor. Wolownick proves that we are never too old to try something new.
Melissa Davey is a documentary filmmaker who lives in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She is a wife, a mother and a grandmother to three young boys. She is a world traveler and curious about everything unknown. She retired at age 65 from her corporate career of more than two decades with GENEX Services Inc., where she was recruited to build and operate the company's Social Security representation division. GENEX is the largest Managed Care case management organization in the United States.
Prior to GENEX, Davey had almost 20 years of diversified experience in the field of disability. She held senior leadership and management positions throughout her career.
Davey's second act is fueled by a lifelong passion for film and storytelling. In April 2021, Davey released her first documentary, “Beyond Sixty,” celebrating the resilience and relevance of women over 60.
2025 Fort Myers Film Festival Best Actor Art Hindle is a Canadian movie and television actor and director. His filmography dates back to 1971. He starred in “The Proud Rider” and appeared in “MacGyver,” “Porky’s,” “Full Out” and “21 Jump Street.” He appeared in “The Performance,” directed by Stephen Wallis. The film depicts an aging actor who revisits the run-down theater that launched his career, preparing for a final, poignant performance while grappling with lifelong regrets and a desire to leave a lasting legacy.
2025 Fort Myers Film Festival Best Actress Lauren Marsden appeared in “All There Is” with Jason Priestly and Mena Suvari. “All There Is” centers on a troubled teenager whose world is upended when a tragedy involving her best friend is blamed on her movie-star father’s controversial new sci-fi film. The film is a dramatic examination of parent-child relationships and how the media shapes our society. “All There Is” made its world premiere at the 2025 Beverly Hills Film Festival on April 1 at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.
Laurel Marsden is best known for her role as Zoe Zimmer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries “Ms. Marvel.” She began performing in theater as a child and also developed her craft studying improv at The Second City throughout high school.
In 2020, Marsden appeared in two episodes of the Quibi series, “Survive.” She was cast in 2022 in the horror film “All Fun and Games” and in the exorcism horror “The Pope's Exorcist” starring Russell Crowe. She will next star in “The Fisherwoman” with Emma Thompson.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.