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The Vermont Symphony Orchestra awarded Jesse Kreitzer's 1900s coal mining folktale Black Canaries the inaugural "VSO Award for Best Integration of Music Into Film" at the 2nd Annual New Middlebury Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) in Middlebury, Vermont last weekend.
As part of the award, the VSO will provide the original score for Kreitzer’s debut feature film CAREGIVERS, a documentary-narrative hybrid about hospice workers and midwives in the mountains of rural Vermont. The VSO will also accompany the film with live performance at select screenings.
Kreitzer, a native of Marlboro, Vermont, returned to his home state in fall 2015 to produce the project. “Jesse Kreitzer was exactly the right filmmaker to get this award, because it’s going to mean a lot to him,” said Jay Craven, Artistic Director of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. “In fact, it will help him develop support for his next movie, which he already has in motion, so it will do more than simply provide a musical score – it will actually help the movie get made. It’s interesting that he got the award – he was chosen despite the fact that the jury did not know that he was a Vermont filmmaker. This fact will make this collaboration especially appropriate and effective as a first effort for this new collaboration between MNFF and the VSO.”
"It took me twelve years to get back to my home state to produce CAREGIVERS. I’m so deeply humbled and excited to be collaborating with such an accomplished organization on the project,” said filmmaker Jesse Kreitzer, who attended the festival. "To receive this inaugural award is an honor beyond words."
Kreitzer's Black Canaries, inspired by his own coal-mining heritage, was produced as part of his MFA thesis film at the University of Iowa. The film's original score was provided by composer Jose Parody in collaboration with the CINE/Berklee Film Scoring Department, which gives student filmmakers access to Berklee's composers and sound designers to score and mix their films. Berklee's Austin DeVries served as sound supervisor and Filipe Antunes served as a sound designer on the film. Click here to learn more about their collaboration.
This is the fifth festival award for Black Canaries which received the Grand Jury Awards for "Best Film" and "Best Cinematography" at the 12th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival, Jury Award for "Best New England Short Film" at the 18th Annual Provincetown International Film Festival and the Director's Award for "Best Cinematography" at the 22nd Annual Woods Hole Film Festival.
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Jesse Kreitzer, Producer/Director of Black Canaries, accepts the inaugural "VSO Award for Best Integration of Music Into Film" at the 2nd Annual New Middlebury Filmmakers Festival in Middlebury, Vermont. Photo courtesy of MNFF.
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About the Vermont Symphony Orchestra
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Jaime Laredo performs with the Made in Vermont Music Festival Statewide Tour orchestra. Photo courtesy of VSO.
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 “The Vermont Symphony Orchestra has been a key player in this state’s arts community for nearly 80 years, bringing music not only to performance halls, but school gymnasiums, armories and even hillsides – anywhere Vermonters would gather to enjoy and share all forms of music. I appreciate the VSO’s commitment to our local communities, our schools and our vibrant arts scene. This is truly our Vermont Symphony Orchestra!”
-- Governor Peter Shumlin, 2013
With around 40 annual performances statewide in concert halls, beautiful natural settings, and historic and community buildings, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra has proven its value and sustainability, not only as the nation's oldest state-assisted orchestra, but as one of the finest of its size. In addition to concert programming, SymphonyKids presentations annually reach, on average, half of Vermont's elementary and middle school students. The VSO serves year round with outreach programs, children's concerts, and composer residencies, as well as choral and chamber music concerts.
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Oldenburg Film Festival
Oldenburg, Germany • Sept 14 - 18 • Screening TBA
Labelled ‘the German Sundance’ by Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and Screen International, Oldenburg has preserved its intimate atmosphere and founding purpose: to celebrate and support the diverse voices and visions of independent filmmakers, to honor the creativity of the artists upon which the Festival depends, and to create a unique experience and inspiring meeting place for filmmakers, audiences, and media professionals. Official Website
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Vermont International Film Festival
Burlington, VT • Black Box Theatre • Oct 21 & 22
The Vermont International Film Festival serves to provide a platform for the appreciation of film as an art form in its own right, to foster an appreciation of theatrical exhibition as a way for the community to gather, enjoy, and exchange ideas and to enhance respect for a sophisticated understanding of world cultures and concerns. Official Website
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 Want to put Black Canaries on the big screen? Sponsor a film festival submission and if the film is accepted, you'll get two tickets to the screening, an advance digital download of the film and a BluRay/DVD of short films.
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