As I mentioned last week, we — meaning, the DC Shorts Film Festival — were nominated for the Washington, DC Mayor’s Art Awards. The awards were presented last night at the Kennedy Center… and we did not win.
I was comfortably ensconced in San Jose watching YouTube videos for no good reason while a gaggle of DC Shorts folks haunted the Concert Hall. There was universal disappointment from all as the winner was announced. The description of the winner — working with limited resources, innovative, etc. — led those assembled to expect that we’d won, but no… it went to the Washington Opera. Limited resources? They have Placido Domingo. An audience services department. Kennedy Center performance space.
When I got the call after the awards ceremony, my first reaction was irritation. I mean, in a battle between the Washington Opera and DC Shorts, who does more with less? Who works with more limited resources and yet touches more diverse audiences? Seriously.
But in the light of the morning, I realized one important thing: when Jon and I started this film festival, shoehorned into an arts space with a video projector and rented screen, who would have thought we’d ever be nominated for an award in the same category as an internationally acclaimed opera headed by Placido Domingo?
