Gen Art Goes Out with a Bang
Monday April 13, 2009 | Contributor: Jennifer Wright

The Gen Art Film Festival closed in style with festivities at BLVD after the premiere of Finding Bliss. Moby was on hand to present awards and mix it up with the crowd, along with Laura Breckenridge.

Who were they presenting those awards to? Well, Moby introduced the award for Best Music in a film, which went to Punching the Clown, starring Henry Phillips, Ellen Ratner and Audrey Siegal. Little wonder that it won the best soundtrack award - the film details the career of a “modern day troubadour” trying to make his mark in Los Angeles.

After that presentation, Laura Breckenridge announced the awards for Best Short film and Best Feature film. By way of credentials to present such important prizes, it was noted that, before appearing on Gossip Girl (the best show ever), Laura was in a Gen Art film called Southern Belle.

I was thrilled to see Adelaide win the $5,000 prize for Best Short. It not only received the critics’ pick, but also that of the audiences. The lovely Liliana Greenfield-Sanders excitedly accepted the award for her film which details the days of a woman who feigns illness (“like everyone, but carried to an extreme,” according to Greenfield-Sanders). The character’s life is turned upside down when she meets Brad, a handsome young pharmacist.

However, the greatest excitement was reserved for the award for Best Feature film, which went to My Suicide.  This film focuses on a young student obsessed with movies, who, for his video production thesis, announces that he is going to commit suicide on camera. A slew of concerned parents, teachers, and psychiatrists descend upon him. The film is a perfect fit for our reality television obsessed age, and a wonderful vehicle for the newcomer, Gabriel Sunday.

Meanwhile, there are many to thank for contributing to the evening’s festivities. Acura, the official sponsor of the event, provided pizza, which could be complemented with Three Olive Vodka cocktails (among them, a root beer flavored cocktail, which My Suicide star Gabriel Sunday loved). Acura also provided a raffle for the use of a car and a stay at the W Hotel in Chicago, for that town’s version of the Festival. If pizza wasn’t to your taste, you could sample the Awesome Bars provided (which were, if not awesome, certainly very nice). And then, if you felt in need of a bit of exercise after the delicious food, Crunch Gym provided pole dancing lessons for all assembled.

The evening – which went on late into the night - was a happy ending to a perfectly delightful Festival.