The goal of the Humanitarian Award is to honor filmmakers who are bringing awareness to issues of Ecological, Political, Social Justice, Health and Wellness, Animals, Wildlife, Conservation and Spiritual importance.  Each year IndieFEST bestows a Humanitarian Award to a deserving filmmaker who is committed to making a difference in the world.

2013 Humanitarian Award

Take Back Your Power: With compelling insight from whistleblowers, government agents, lawyers, environmentalists & doctors, the award-winning Take Back Your Power takes us on a journey to expose corruption and erosion of rights in the name of “smart” and “green.” What you’ll discover will surprise, enlighten and empower you.  (more)

2012 Humanitarian Award

Child 31: From Director Charles Kinnane and Grassroots Films comes documentary Child 31, a film that celebrates Mary’s Meals’ life-changing work. The powerful documentary dramatically underscores world hunger’s deadly numbers, poignantly revealing the names and faces behind the statistics (18,000 children die of hunger-related diseases every day). Produced and Scripted by Michael Campo with Joseph Campo as Executive Producer and Clifford Azize sharing producing credits, Child 31 is one of today’s must-see films.  (more)

2011 Humanitarian Award

Land Gold Women: A feature film that revolves around a small British-Asian family caught between their traditional past and the tumultuous, faction-driven present. They are trapped between Eastern tradition, Western culture and political turbulence. At the core is the relationship between father and daughter, and how the dynamics evolve when the daughter decides to take her life into her own hands. This Anglo-Indian collaboration aims to highlight the problems of forced marriage and an honor crime; something that affects thousands of women across the world.  (more)

2010 Humanitarian Award

Modern Day Slaves: Producer and director Ted Unarce addresses the exploitation of overseas foreign workers by focusing on four Filipino workers in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Says Unarace “ I learned many of them use human labor as their number one export. It is a  white collar crime where many people in third world countries leave their countries to work elsewhere.” (more)

2009 Humanitarian Award

Food Fight: Do you know what you are eating? Food Fight is a fascinating 84-minute look at how American agricultural policy and food culture developed in the 20th century; and how the California food movement has created a counter-revolution against big agri-business. Say’s film’s director Taylor, “Most people do not know where their food comes from, and when they see what industrial farming does to the food supply, they invariably head right to their nearest farmer’s market. The amazing thing about this is that by doing the right thing, for the farmer, for the land, for our families, we also get to have a great dinner. (more)