NYC Drone Film Fest Nominees Announced

NEW YORK—Nominations have been announced for the 2nd Annual New York City Drone Film Festival, created specifically for works filmed using drones.

The nominees include Cirque du Soleil’s “Sparked,” National Geographic’s “Lava Chaser,” Corridor Digital’s “The Smallest Empire,” Jordan Rubin’s “The Drone” and the NBC News coverage of the Nepal Earthquake, included here.

Last year’s drone clip of a tower tech changing a lightbulb on a 1,500-foot TV tower in South Dakota also made the cut. (See “Dronecam Captures Tech Changing Bulb at 1,500 Feet,” Jan. 7, 2015, and “Drone Shooter Q&A: Todd Thorin of Prairie Aerial” Jan. 23, 2015.)

The complete list of nominees can be found below.

The 2nd Annual New York City Drone Film Festival will be held March 4-6, 2016 at the Directors Guild of America Theater with presenting sponsor GE.

Festival founder and director Randy Scott Slavin said organizers had 330 submissions from 45 countries.

“Drone filmmaking is a not merely a passing fad but a worldwide phenomenon that’s here to stay,” he said.

Architect Bjarke Ingels and Yahoo Tech founder David Pogue will be among those serving on the Festival Jury. Awards will be presented in 14 categories, including Best Narrative Film, Best News/Documentary Film, Best Extreme Sports Film and Best Dronie, a selfie taken with a drone.

2016 NYC Drone Film Festival Nominees
NARRATIVE
“E.T. Drone Home”
Taylor Chien (USA)

“The Smallest Empire”
Sam Gorski, Corridor Digital (USA)

“Call to the Wild”
George Bruce Wilson (USA)

“Nostalgia”
Tim Sessler, Michael Marantz and Drew English (USA)

X-FACTOR
“Dance Crazy”
Katee Laine and Drew Roberts (USA)

Satlapse
Jamie Brightmore (United Kingdom)

“Chromaticity”
Paul Trillo (USA)

“A Man with a Rake”
Jehan-Benjamin Tarain (France)

LANDSCAPE
“Into the West”
Mike Bishop (Canada)

“Ghent in 2 Minutes”
Michael Tiger and Michel Blanckaert (Belgium)

“Roadtrip: New Mexico”
Joe Pickard and Corey Eisenstein (USA)

“Wild Scotland”
John Duncan (United Kingdom)

EXTREME SPORTS
“Acrophobia: I’m Afraid of Heights”
Philippe Woodtli (Switzerland)

“The Wind”
Karim Iliya (USA)

“AfterGlow: Lightsuit Segment”
Nick Waggoner and Mike Brown (USA)

“Teahupo’o Du Ciel”
Eric Sterman, Brent Bielmann and Surfing Magazine (USA)

TECHNICAL
“Flying Through Dresden”
Stefan Mueller (Germany)

“All Away”
Colin Solal Cardo (France)

“Rise and Shine”
Robert McIntosh (USA)

“Hello World”
Asa Hammond and Tarik Abdel-Gawad (USA)

FREESTYLE/FPV
Dive Dive Dive
Steele Davis (USA)

Hawaiiballs
Chad Nowak (Australia)

Office Space
Jonathon Davis (USA)

Abandonado
Carlos Puertolas (USA)

ARCHITECTURE
“Desert Fortress”
Jeffrey Worthington (USA)

“Greystone Rising”
Jody Johnson (USA)

1500’ TV Tower
Todd Thorin (USA)

“Harness the Sun”
Jordan Overman (USA)

FEATURING DRONES
Zombie vs. Drone
Alrik Bursell (USA)

Sparked
Cirque du Soleil, ETH Zurich and Verity Studios (Switzerland)

Drone Blender
Damien Gallagher and Billy May (United Kingdom)

The Drone
Jordan Rubin (USA)

DRONIE
“Dronie Proposal”
Tarsicio Sañudo Suarez (Mexico)

“Dronie Marietas”
Tarsicio Sañudo Suarez (Mexico)

Drone in Barrel
Eric Sterman and Jamie Obrien (USA)

The Shark Dronie
Florian Fischer (Germany)

“A Man, a Rake and a Drone”
Jehan-Benjamin Tarain (France)

SHOWREEL
This Is Tilt
Tilt (Norway)

“Skynamic Pilot Reel”
Skynamic (USA)

“Close to the Mountain”
Yann Havis (France)

NEWS/DOCUMENTARY
“Expedition Alaska”
Brian J. Leitten (USA)

Nepal Earthquake
Abraham Villela/NBC News (USA)

“Lava Chaser”
Sam Cossman, Jeff Hertrick and National Geographic (USA)

STILL PHOTOGRAPHY
“Iceland From Above”
Stefan Forster (Iceland)

“Al Marmoum Camel Racing”
Shoayb Khattab (United Arab Emirates)

“Chicago Bean”
Dirk Dallas (USA)

“Sunrays in the Mist”
(Estonia)

“Mont Saint Michel”
Jérémie Eloy (France)