DADDYING FILM FORUM MAKES WORLD PREMIERE IN NEW MEXICO
JUNE 24-25
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Monday, May 22, 2023 – The Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F) is working with the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Film Offices as well as the National Dance Institute of New Mexico to host its first live Daddying Film Forum events June 24th at The Hiland Theater in ABQ (4800 Central Ave. SE) and June 25th at The Dance Barns in Santa Fe (1140 Alto St).
The Daddying Film Forum brings children/youth together with their dads/father figures to examine thoughts, feelings, and insights in response to D3F-screened films selected from entries sent in from 21 countries worldwide. Forum attendees will express those responses through discussion and other creative means. To register for FREE tickets for either Forum event, the FREE virtual D3F (6/4 – 6/11), and D3F’s Awards Ceremony (livestreaming 6/11), please visit:
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https://bit.ly/GetD3F2023TicketsFREE
Both NM Forum events will run from 1-6 p.m. MDT and be highlighted by the Southwest premiere of D3F 2023 Best Feature Film finalist, Dancing DADS by Oliver Oertel, with a special video introduction by Oliver and his daughter Emmie. The events also will feature:
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Expected welcome remarks from Marc Comstock, Dad, Governor's Council on Film and Media Industries member, and President of SAG-AFTRA New Mexico.
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“Dads We All Construct in Media,” a presentation by UCLA's Jessica Huerta, M.A., of her PhD research highlights
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Screenings of D3F 2023 Atticus Award-winning and select finalist short films
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First 25 kids to register for FREE Forum tickets receive free D3F indoor frisbee
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Dads/dad figures eligible to apply for Daddy Wishes Fund grants up to $250.
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FREE “Commitment portraits” of dads (granddads/father figures) and their children will be available.
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Local organizations invited to exhibit information about programs they offer for children/youth and their families.
D3F selected New Mexico as the Forum’s premiere site for several reasons:
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To spotlight the state’s vibrant and growing film industry
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A desire to help bolster New Mexico’s future film workforce through student internships and by recruiting student filmmakers and festival judges
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D3F Director Allan Shedlin’s long history of work with dads and youth in New Mexico, including being the driving force that brought one of the Obama White House’s nine “Fatherhood Forums” to the state in 2010, establishing the New Mexico Alliance for Fathers & Families, and co-founding Santa Fe-based REEL Fathers in 2007, a nonprofit for which he still serves as president emeritus; and
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Shedlin’s oldest daughter and her husband recently retired after 25 years as teachers in the Albuquerque Public Schools.
D3F Submissions and Awards
The D3F received submissions this year from student, dad/dad figure, and independent filmmakers in 21 countries worldwide. Officially selected dad- and indie filmmaker-created films along with student finalist films will screen during the virtual D3F from June 4-11. All award finalists will be selected by D3F's panel of VIP judges after submissions have been narrowed by a trained preliminary jury of students, adults, and D3F staff.
All D3F student finalists earn a $250 award for use toward an activity or project to enjoy with their dad/dad figure. All D3F winners, including non-student, dad, and other indie filmmakers, earn an “Atticus,” a statuette symbolizing Atticus Finch from the 1962 film based on Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird. Finch, an iconic single dad, represents several ideal daddying qualities. Student Atticus winners also earn an additional scholarship to advance their studies or create a project encouraging positive dad involvement. The Best Dad-created Film earns a special Atticus, the Roy R. Neuberger Prize, and $500 to use toward an activity or project with their child(ren).
Atticus Award winners will be chosen by public, online voting during the Festival. Voting will be open from midnight, Sunday, June 4, through Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 11:59 pm EDT. Awards will be presented to student and indie winners in an online ceremony, Sunday, June 11.
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ABOUT D3F
The Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F), is not your ordinary film fest. It is the world's first and only film festival focused exclusively on promoting the importance of positive dad involvement for kids and families. D3F was created by the DADvocacy Consulting Group’s Daddy Appleseed Fund (DAF) to offer children and youth a stage to express through film/video how they feel about the relationship they have or wish they had with their dads. D3F also encourages dad filmmakers to submit their own films for consideration and includes a stand-alone, live Daddying Film Forum to more directly improve the daddying experience for children and dads alike.
FOR MORE INFORMATION or to request an interview with Daddying Film Forum’s New Mexico-based Co-Director Reinhard Lorenz and/or D3F Founder Allan Shedlin, CONTACT:
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Scott Beller
D3F Director of Communications
by email: scott [at] daddywishesfund [dot] com
