2018 Films for the Forest Winners
Shorts Winner (tie)
A Living Legacy
Directed by: Taira Malaney (India)
Shorts Winner (tie)
Person of the Forest
Directed by: Melissa Lesh (USA)
Shorts Shorts Winner
Big Booom
Directed by: Marat Narimanov (Russia)
Youth Winner
A Better Place
Directed by: Heather Garcia (USA)
2018 Films for the Forest Judges

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

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.

Bill Imada
Bill Imada is founder, chairman and chief connectivity officer of IW Group, a minority-owned and operated advertising, marketing and communications agency focusing on the growing multicultural markets. For more than 20 years, Bill has worked with some of the top companies in the U.S., including American Airlines, City of Hope, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Lexus, McDonald’s, MGM Resorts International, and many others. His areas of expertise include advertising, branding, multicultural communications, marketing, crises management, and public relations.
Bill is active in civic and community affairs, and serves on more than a dozen major boards and advisory councils, including PBS. Bill was appointed to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under President Obama, and his term was extended by President Trump. In 2016, Bill co-founded the National Millennial Community, a group of millennial leaders from 35 states and the District of Columbia, who foster civil dialogue on the most critical issues impacting our country.