Productions from Qatar, Austria, Japan and China have taken top honors in the 2020 US International Film & Video Festival. 

Best of Festival (Grand Prix) awards went to the following:   

"The Landing," from The Film House, Doha, Qatar, won in Corporate. The production uses a fictitious Viking arrival on the shores of Qatar and dialogue to tell the story of a long bond between Qatar and Norway. It was done for QAFCO (Qatar Fertilizer Company).

Winning in Documentary is "Okavango - River of Dreams - Episode 1: Paradise," from Terra Mater Factual Studios, Vienna. The film, part of a series on this river, features the struggle of a wounded lioness as she works to survive and care for her cubs.

Selected as Best of Festival in Entertainment is "A Stranger in Shanghai," from NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), Tokyo. The production presents Shanghai in 1921 as part of telling the history of that tumultuous period and offering a look behind the power of China today. 

“The Travelling Cinema,” a work from China Global Television Network (CGTN), Beijing, received the IQ One World Award. This film follows a father-son team of public service projectionists in their efforts to take entertainment to areas that had little access to electricity after the 2008 earthquake. The government project was to bring comfort to residents. The International Quorum of Motion Pictures Producers sponsors and selects this award to recognize a work of innovative storytelling with universal themes of humanity. IQ judges had this to say about the China production:

“Although people often say that time heals everything, we would like to remind people that the scars in their hearts may be hard to be cured, but even so, they should be brave to embrace life. The film shows people who live with scars but try their best to make themselves and the people around them live with more happiness and desire. Their positive and optimistic spirit represents one of the essence of why human can survival and development. The way this film describes disaster and pain is very restrained, and it creates a light and orderly narrative rhythm with unpretentious and lyrical storyline. It is a film with warm and sparkling humanity.”

IQ members also select the Best of Festival winners from a field of nominees by festival judges. US International Film & Video Festival has been in operation more than 50 years. Visit www.filmfestawards.com for more details. Visit IQ at https://internationalquorum.com.