2017 Films for the Forest Winners
Shorts 1st Place
Bright Spots
Directed by: Jilli Ross
Shorts 2nd Place
Owner’s of the Forest
Directed by: Paul Redman
Shorts 3rd Place (tie)
Metamorphosis
Directed by: Adrian Arce
Shorts 3rd Place (tie)
Tigers in the Backyard
Directed by: Sugandhi Gadadhar
Short Shorts 1st Place
Our Wonderful Nature
Directed by: Markus Klatsch
Short Shorts 2nd Place
Lost Pines
Directed by: Sullivan Rauzi
Short Shorts 3rd Place
Armour
Directed by: Sanyog Mohite
Youth 1st Place
Difference Maker
Directed by: Heather Garcia
2017 Films for the Forest Judges

Michael Cain
Producer
A native of Dallas, Michael received a Master in Fine Arts | Producing from the American Film Institute (AFI). While in Los Angeles, Michael produced and executive produced over 20 feature-length films for HBO and SHOWTIME. Michael formed Deep Ellum Pictures in 1999. From 2006 to 2011 he served in multiple roles as the Co-Founder, Founding Artistic Director, CEO, Chairman of the Board and President of The Dallas Film Society which hosts the Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF). He served as an Executive Producer on the Steve Jobs bio-pic starring Ashton Kutcher and is an Executive Producer on the Stanley Marcus documentary. He recently teamed up with Trammell S. Crow and the worlds largest Earth Day Exhibition/Conference “Earth Day Texas” to launch an environmental impact film festival in April of 2017.

Richard Linklater
Detour Filmproduction, Austin Film Society
Oscar-nominated Linklater is a respected writer-director and Artistic Director of the Austin Film Society, which he founded in 1985

Alonso Mayo
Director
Mayo is a US-Peruvian director and screenwriter. His AFI thesis film won the Student Academy Award and his first feature “The Story of Luke” was released in 2013 and won over 20 top festival prizes. He directed the documentary “Viva La Causa” about Cesar Chavez’ farmworker movement as well as the unscripted webseries “Untitled Fiction Project”. He is currently finishing his second feature, the comedy “Fixed”.