WELCOME TO THE SANDY DENNIS FILM FESTIVAL

Sandy Dennis was an Academy award winning actress born in Hastings, Nebraska. Her acting style has been described as quirky and offbeat, yet she also possessed great emotional range. The Sandy Dennis Film Festival highlights independent films from around the world that feature strong and memorable female characters, just like those Sandy was so fond of playing.

Congratulations Film Contestants of 2020!

We want to say a special thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s festival. We know with the uncertainty currently enveloping the world, it is hard to find the time, energy, and passion to create anything, let alone something as complex as an independent film! While we wish we could bestow a Sandy’s Cat to each and every piece chosen for our festival this year, the following four films were selected by our panel of judges for this year’s awards:

• Just Me.* Produced by Darcy J Bahensky

  • Best Nebraska Film

  • Audience Choice

• Coming Home* Produced by Jack Hoppe

  • Best Narrative

• Missing Piece* Produced by Tim Guthrie

  • Best Documentary

• Lizzy Produced by Elijah Watson

  • Best Actress (Melinda Simonsen, for her role as “Lizzy”)

Again, we would like to thank the following film makers for their submissions. We hope you continue to join us in future years and share both your movies and your boundless creativity. Good luck to you all in your endeavors!

• The Ride - Nebraska’s Big Rodeo* - Jameon Rush (Documentary)

• The Stopped Clock - Mina Sadat Hosseini (Narrative)

• Feel Pretty* - Dale C. Brooks, Matt Brooks (Narrative)

• An Inconvenient Truth* - Hunter Smith (Narrative)

• Bones and Shadows* - Tom Lombard (Narrative)

• Chatter Box - Cornhusker Hero* - Donald Dodge (Documentary)

• Cloud Gazing - Dianne Diep (Narrative)

• Sidepiece - Teddy Tenenbaum (Narrative)

• Stood Up - Cjay Boisclair (Narrative)

• The Feline Mystique* - Bill Hedges (Narrative)

• Until Evening* - Mike Machian (Narrative)

• Bananas Girl - Shayna Connelly (Documentary)

• merMADE* - Darcy Lueking Bahensky (Narrative)

• To Love the Sea - Jared Jacobsen (Narrative)

• Great Monsters Walk These Halls* - Mike Machian (Documentary)

• Deep End of the Pool - Adrienne Dellwo (Narrative)

• In the House of Paper Flowers - Anita George (Narrative)

• The Empire’s Surgeon - Guillaume Main (Narrative)

• Burning Grief - Mike Donaghy (Narrative)

• Buzz vs Scooty* - Margaux Towne (Narrative)

• Dear Johnny Reb: An Argument for the Removal of Confederate Memorials - Philip H Scarborough Jr. (Documentary)

• Fragile Ghost - Kit Wilson (Narrative)

• Finish Line - Saeed Mayahy (Documentary)

• Adios, Nora - Gina Bryant-Nugen (Narrative)

• The Dweller - Tyler Horner (Narrative)

• Alzheimer’s - Peter Vietro-Hannum (Narrative)

• Ties - Miriam Harkenskov, Gina Al-Beik (Narrative)

• A Bloody Mess - Asis Sethi (Narrative)

• Dear Aunt Noa - Dana Aliya Levinson, Michael Armstrong Barr (Narrative)

• Quiet on Set - Jeanette Buck (Narrative)

• The Rise of Whore Betsy - Simon King (Narrative)

• In the Blood - Regina Banali (Narrative)

• Ukde - Ecem Çelik (Narrative)

• Clementine - Asali Echols (Narrative)

• The McGuffin - Avery Christmas (Narrative)

• Fantasy A’Hoy - Avery Christmas (Narrative)

• Gopher Dreaming - Joshua M. Thomas (Narrative)

• Kids Will Be Kids - Sarah R. Pagano (Documentary)

• Transparent Delusion - Haomin Peng (Narrative)

• Living Ghosts - Charli Einhorn (Narrative)

• Anchor - Paige Irene Bruns (Narrative)

• After They Are Gone - Wylhem Decaille (Narrative)

• Mine* - Kit Kocanda, Meg Dole (Narrative)

• Cerise - Raphaël Dirani (Narrative)

• Fade to Black - Tracy Medberry (Narrative)

• The Offer* - Ally Boyd (Narrative)

• Better With You - Allison Holt (Narrative)

• Ever Fallen* - M.G. White (Narrative)

*Submissions with asterisks denote Nebraska made films. This year the winner of Best Nebraska Film will receive a check for $500 provided by anonymous donors. Additional awards will be presented for Best Short Narrative film, Best Short Documentary film, Nebraskan Filmmaker Award , Best Actress, Best Supporting Player and Audience Choice Award: ACA will be determined by a numbered ranking of films by audience members after each block, paper ballots will be used and tallied at the end of the festival. Student films are not considered for competition.