Nominated for a 2016 Imagen Award
After a year of touring 22 Years on the film festival circuit and garnering several awards, producer Dawn Noel received notice that her micro-budget short film had been nominated for a 2016 Imagen Award. 22 Years competes with Guiltless (Ajuua Entertaiment), The Two Rickies (Juan Diego Ramirez), and Vamonos (Film Independent/Project Involve) in the Best Short Film or Student Film category. The 31st Annual Imagen Awards will be held on Friday, September 9, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
“I’m grateful to the Imagen Foundation for this nomination,” said Dawn Noel. “As a female filmmaker, my active emotions always seem to come into play. I admittedly strive for my audience to walk away feeling something that resonates within them.”
For Dawn Noel it was important for her to not only act in 22 Years, but also to produce, and to bring a diverse cast to the production, “As a filmmaker, I’m able to express myself without any filters,” she explained. “As a producer, I’m proud to employ actors of all ethnicities and in turn, I provide them with a platform to share their craft with the audience.”
Dawn Noel as “Avi” in her poignant “22 Years” short film
Award-winning Director/Playwright/Actor Fred Thomas Jr. (No Rainbow, 24 Hour Love, 12’x9′) took a simple script and turned it into a 15-minute complex and touching film. He was able to interpret Dawn Noel’s vision and successfully tell it through the female protagonist, Avi Moreno’s point of view.
“This nomination reinforces how proud I am to be a member of this hard working talented cast and crew,” proclaimed Thomas Jr.
When asked about how challenging it was for him to tell a story through a woman’s point of view, he said that it was imperative to ask Dawn questions going into every scene about her character… “and for both of us to talk and draw from her personal experiences to make sure that I was capturing the female point of view.”
As 22 Years unfolds, Avi is introduced as a child living in what seems to be a great family dynamic. Her mom is strict, while her doting papi, spoils her. She is a daddy’s girl. Then, on the day of her 6th birthday celebration, without forewarning, her beloved papi disappears. Fast forward to Avi having just being accepted into law school, while juggling a waitress job and still grieving from the death of her mother. One day, out of the blue, her father contacts her after two decades. She’s on the cusp of becoming an attorney, when he wants back in to her life. The whirlwind of emotions hit Avi hard-as if she didn’t have a full and challenging life already.
Stirring performances from Kearran Giovanni (Major Crimes), Imagen Award nominees Roberto Sanchez (Lake Los Angeles, 2 Fast & 2 Furious) and Luis Jose Lopez (Modern Family, Major Crimes), and Jack Lucarelli, a veteran actor and producer best known for Django Unchained round out the cast in this Imagen Award nominated film, 22 Years.
Film Details: 22 Years 15Min Short Story by Dawn Noel Directed by: Fred Thomas Jr. Produced by: Dawn Noel Executive Producer: Meegan Spector Rubin Co-Producers: Arlonda Washington, Renee McClellan, Trynell Williams Associate Producers: Akil LuQman, April Magen First Assistant Director: Marisa Thilman Director of Photography: Sean McDaniel Editor: J. Santos Cast: Dawn Noel, Kearran Giovanni, Luis Jose Lopez, Roberto Sanchez, Jyllina Skye Rodriguez, Stephanie Arcila, Bashir Gavriel, Jack Lucarelli, Mike Rose, Akil LuQman, Valeria Soto
Follow 22 Years and Dawn Noel on Social Media: Facebook: 22 Years Twitter link: https://twitter.com/22yearsfilm IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4332778/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Dawn Noel website: http://www.dawn-noel.com
For more info on film director Fred Thomas Jr., check out his website HERE
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