As the Greenwich International Film Festival (GIFF) comes to a close, the winner of the 2021 GIFF Best Social Impact film is Loira Limbal’s “Through The Night” which won the $10,000 cash prize. The film was announced on Saturday, February 20 at their virtual awards ceremony.
And the winners are:
Some honorable mentions include Mohammad Rasouloff’s There Is No Evil and Matthew Heineman’s The Boy From Medellin. The winners were selected by jurors Ann Bresnan Young, President of the Bill and Ann Bresnan Foundation, Ryan Harrington, VP of National Geographic Documentary Films, and filmmaker Eric Heimbold, Owner of Marabou Pictures, LLC and Eric Heimbold Studio. Through The Night is a documentary of three working New York mothers whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center, a mother working an overnight shift as an essential worker at a hospital, another holding down three jobs to support her family; and a woman for over three decades has cared for the children of parents with nowhere else to turn.
Filmmaker Loira Limbal explains:
“I’m truly grateful to GIFF, Ann Bresnan Young, and the jurors for creating this amazing award for films in the social justice space. As a filmmaker, I want to flood our popular culture with beautifully complex portrayals of the lives of working-class women of color so that we have new gazes and new ways of seeing ourselves. We have an opportunity to strengthen our communities by lifting up the stories of the women who do the work that makes all other work possible: the people who care for our children, our sick, and our elderly. I made “Through The Night” as a love letter to single mothers and caregivers and am so happy to see their stories resonating with others.” Limbal added, “We also started the Essential Care Fund on GoFundMe to provide financial gifts to home-based childcare facilities in New York. In our first round, we raised $70,000 that we gave to 13 childcare providers.” If you’re interested in donating, visit their website.
The GIFF team says:
“The GIFF team couldn’t be more pleased that our esteemed jury unanimously decided Director, Loira Limbal’s powerful film,“Through The Night” deserved to be awarded The Best Social Impact Film Prize for our 2021 season. Generously underwritten by Ann Bresnan Young, this award recognizes the film that most effectively inspires the audience to make the world a better place. We are so honored to have “Through The Night” in the program this year and wish Ms. Limbal and the team a very heartfelt congratulations,” said Collen deVeer, GIFF Co-Founder/Director of Programming.
More information on GIFF can be found on their website.