LEWISTON — “Bluebird,” a movie about how a slight action can have enormous consequences, took the Best in Festival award Saturday night during Emerge Film Festival’s awards ceremony at the Franco Center.

According to the festival’s webpage, “Bluebird,” directed by Lance Edmands, is a movie set in northern Maine. In the film, a schoolbus driver named Lesley (Amy Morton) becomes distracted during her end-of-day inspection and fails to notice a sleeping boy in the back of the bus. “What happens next shatters the tranquility of her small logging town,” according to the description of the film.

Other stars in the film are Emily Meade, Louisa Krase and John Slattery.

The movie has won high praise from a number of national reviews, including Roger Ebert, Huffington Post and Playlist. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote “this gentle, soulfully acted drama has its own distinct identify, bringing a potent sense of place to its wintry Maine locations and a penetrating gaze to blue-collar characters in a depressed mill town.”

For more on the film, go to www.bluebird-movie.com.

Other films winning top awards were:

Best student filmmaker: Zach Nicholson, “How to Catch a Monster.”

Best emerging filmmaker: David Coyle, “Enfilade.”

Best actor: Ted Levine in “Child of Grace.”

Best actress: Maggie Elizabeth Jones in “Child of Grace.”

Best director: Lance Edmands, “Bluebird.”

Best Maine film: “Arabel.”

Best short film: “Universal Language.”

Best documentary: “Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine”

Best feature: “Love Is Now”

People’s Choice: “Child of Grace”

‘Honor Flight’ caps off festival

LEWISTON — The festival concludes Sunday with a special presentation of “Honor Flight,” a heartwarming documentary about four living World War II veterans and a Midwest community coming together to give them the trip of a lifetime to see the war memorial built in Washington, D.C.

“Honor Flight” will be shown from 2-5 p.m. at the Franco Center. A question and answer session with be held following the film with director Dan Hayes. WWII veterans will be attending. Among those invited is Irving Grant, who has taken the Honor Flight.

Veterans and active duty service members will be given free admission Sunday.

Emerge Film Festival is in it’s second year. It was formed to promote the motion picture arts to local audiences, offering networking and attract visitors to Lewiston-Auburn and Maine.

Festival director Katie Greenlaw said Saturday night this year’s festival “has been fantastic. We were honored to have so many top quality films as part of the lineup. We’re delighted that so many of our filmmakers were able to join us to present their work and discuss it with us.”

Those attending have been enthusiastic about what they’ve seen, Greenlaw said. “We’re certainly looking forward to closing out the festival with one more wonderful film.”

The festival’s board of directors are a group of film enthusiasts and business leaders from Lewiston-Auburn. For more information, go to http://emergefilmfestival.org/festival.

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