The HDFEST 2005 World Tour concluded this past weekend in Los Angeles after HD festival events this year in London, Helsinki, Hameenlinna, New York, and South Florida. This past weekend's festival took place at the ETC Digital Cinema Lab at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre and Dolby Laboratories Larry Umlang Presentation Theatre II in Burbank. HDFEST's Los Angeles Event was presented by Intel and included HD movie screenings, panels, seminars on HD filmmaking and digital technology, parties, and the HDFEST Deffie Awards Ceremony recognizing outstanding achievements in HD filmmaking this year. HDFEST is the world's only exclusively High Definition Film Festival as all movies in the festival are presented using HD projection and were also created using only HD technology.

Thousands attended HDFEST events this year making HDFEST not only the the sole global High Definition event, but also the largest exclusively High Definition event. This year's HDFEST 2005 World Tour included 14 days of events with 71 High Definition screenings and 13 panel discussions including over 70 industry experts serving as HDFEST panelists. The HDFEST Los Angeles event Presented by Intel concluded the tour and took place from December 1st-5th, 2005. The majority of the Los Angeles screenings and presentations were held at Dolby Laboratories' Larry Umlang Presentation Theatre II which as anticipated provided among the best overall presentation quality seen at HDFEST to date.

HDFEST Deffie Awards

HDFEST announced the winners of the HDFEST 2005 Deffie Awards on Sunday December 4th at 10:30pm at Dolby Laboratories. Over 30 judges this year deliberated to crown the winners of the Deffies. Top recognitions went to "Moving Malcolm" the winner of the The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Definition Feature Film presented by Intel. The Canadian feature comedy stars Benjamin Ratner, and Elizabeth Berkley. Director Benjamin Ratner stated in regards to his win, "Thank you HDFEST for helping the next generation of cinema reach a wider audience. It's a great honor to receive this award. Wish we could have been there for the party, but we're busy here in Vancouver hustling up the next HD project!" The Feature Documentary "Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party" also won top honors at the festival. The film won the award for "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Documentary Film Presented by Intel." The Feature Comedy "Bachelorman" won several top feature recognitions including "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in an HD Feature presented by Dolby" for Director John Putch, and "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in an HD Feature presented by Intel." Director John Putch stated, "I am delighted to be the recipient of the Best Director Award at this year's HDFEST. What a great honor, thank you. Shooting Bachelorman was one of most fun experiences I've had making films. I'm an HD fan and will be making more films in the future using the technology."

Director Michael Cory Davis' short film "Svetlana's Journey" took top honors in two categories, "The HDFEST Deffie for Best High-Definition Short presented by DALSA Digital Cinema" and "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Dramatic High-Def Short" presented by Production Update Magazine. The prize for Best High-Definition Short is usage of a DALSA Origin® camera package as well as Origin® camera training sessions. Michael Cory Davis was inspired to write and direct the film while in Bulgaria acting in a film. At that time, he was greatly impacted by a young Bulgarian girl’s story of being forced into prostitution. “I am truly honored to have won these awards as it will bring further attention to the plight of human trafficking victims around the world,” said Michael Cory Davis, director of Svetlana’s Journey.

"Untitled 003: Embryo," Directed by Mike Goedecke, won three Deffie Award recognitions including "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Cinematography in a High-Def Short presented by Film and Video Magazine," "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Directing in a High-Def Short presented by Goldcrest Post Production" and "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Special/Visual Effects in a Live Action HD Short." Director Mike Goedecke stated in response to his win, "HiDef is clearly the wave of the future and its been around for such a short amount of time. If we give it half of film's 100 year history, who knows where those 50 years will take us. Thanks must go to HDFEST for helping guide us to this ever approaching reality." In the HD animation category, the short film "Elephant's Egg" won "The HDFEST Deffie for Best Computer Generated Animation in an HD Film" and "The HDFEST Deffie for Best HD Student Film." The entire list of HDFEST 2005 Deffie Award Winners can be found at HDFEST's website http://www.hdfest.com/awards.htm.