The Jackson Hole Film Festival
JUNE 7-11, 2006

The Jackson Hole Film Festival is proud to announce its 2006 Cowboy Award winners. The Jackson Hole Film Festival, a program of the Jackson Hole Film Institute, was held June 7-11, 2006 in beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The festival, now in its third year, was home to more than 80 independent film screenings, six US Premieres and eight World Premieres shown throughout Jackson at the Mainstage, Teton and Twin Theaters.

The 2006 Cowboy Awards were held at the Mainstage Theater with Jackson Hole Mayor Mark Barron serving as the Master of Ceremonies. The festival judges in attendance included Alicia Witt (Actress), JoAnn Perritano (Producer) and legendary film critic Leonard Maltin, who took the stage to deliver an inspirational message to the emerging filmmakers in the audience. Other judges who participated in the committee to select the winners included Cuba Gooding Jr. (Actor), Nadine Velazquez (Actress) and Frank Coraci (Director).

The judges selected an award winner in each of 13 competitive categories including the coveted Rosemount Diamond Award. Sponsored by Rosemount Estate, the Rosemount Diamond Award, which includes a $10,000 US cash prize, is presented to an emerging international filmmaker. Five finalists were chosen from over 300 film submissions and brought to Jackson Hole to showcase their work. The 2006 Rosemount Diamond Award was presented to Director Robert Collector (United States) for his film “Believe in Me” on Friday, June 9th at an elegant dinner at the famous Amangani Resort.

The complete list of winners of the 2006 Jackson Hole Film Festival Cowboy Awards is:

ROSEMOUNT DIAMOND AWARD – “Believe in Me” by Director Robert Collector
Sponsored by Rosemount Estate

BEST FEATURE FILM – “Believe in Me” by Director Robert Collector
Sponsored by Spring Creek Ranch

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM – “THIN” by Director Lauren Greenfield
Sponsored by Aquafina

BEST WORLD PROGRAM: SPOTLIGHT UK – “The West Wittering Affair” by Director David Scheinmann
Sponsored by Aspen Travel

BEST GLOBAL INSIGHT FILM – “Disarm” by Directors Brian Liu & mary Wareham
Sponsored by The Wyoming Film Council

BEST STUDENT VOICES FILM – “The Trojan Cow” by Director Barbara Stepansky
Sponsored by Entertainment Partners

BEST SHORT FILM – “Vagabond Shoes” by Director Jackie Oudney
Sponsored by Snake River Sporting Club

BEST SPORTS ACTION FILM – “Sofia” by Director Peter Goetz
Sponsored by Cloudveil

BEST EDITOR – “Rag Tale” by Editor Danny Tull
Sponsored by Avid

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER – “End of Town” by Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw
Sponsored by Panavision

BEST SCORE – “Believe in Me” by Composer David Torn
Sponsored by Chrysalis Music Group USA

BEST DIRECTOR – “Stephanie Daley” by Director Hilary Brougher
Sponsored by Amangani

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD – “Aurora Borealis” by Director James Burke
Sponsored by Wexler

The Jackson Hole Film Festival was also pleased to host two very special screenings including the sold out US Premiere of Bart Freundlich’s “Trust the Man” starring Billy Crudup, David Duchovny, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Eva Mendes and James LeGros. On Sunday, June 11th the festival also welcomed famed independent producer Lee Daniels (Monster’s Ball) who held a screening and Q&A session for his film “Shadowboxer” starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and Helen Mirren.

Best Director winner Hilary Brougher and producer Samara Koffler welcomed Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart to the screening of their film “Stephanie Daley” on Sunday, June 11th. The couple attended the screening in support of Koffler who was Ford’s personal assistant for many years. The festival was also pleased to welcome actress Thora Birch as a guest of festival. Birch took in films and enjoyed the natural beauty of Jackson on a whitewater rafting trip.

Over the five days the festival hosted sold out parties, in addition to the screenings and festival forums, including a Sports Action Party sponsored by Cloudveil at the beautiful Spring Creek Ranch which featured live performances from La Rocca and American Minor brought by Chrysalis Music Group USA, an opening night celebration honoring the World Program themed “London Underground” which featured English inspired food, cocktails and a rousing performance by the famed Beatles cover band American English.