Congratulations to our Film Fellow Drew Christie, winner of a coveted Genius Award from The Stranger! At the ceremony Saturday night, Oct. 18, Drew was named as winner of the Film category for his impressive body of work, including more “op-docs” for the New York Times than any other artist.
The nominations were announced in June, just after Drew had completed his work on “The Beast Inside,” the animated short film he co-directed with Amy Enser (produced by Lindy Boustedt). That film is the main reason we were rooting for him.
In the nomination write-up, Charles Mudede of The Stranger wrote:
“Christie’s filmmaking reputation has been built not from work screened in movie theaters, but posted on the web. In this sense, Christie is very much a filmmaker of our time—an artist leading a whole genre into the future.”
“The Beast Inside” is a standout example of this new genre. The four-minute short tells the story of Tilawn, an inspiring young rapper from Snohomish County who has been battling homelessness most of his life. “The Beast Inside” premiered at SIFF in May.
We can’t rave enough about this powerful film. Watch it and download the discussion guide at the “American Refugees“ Web site, where you can find all four films produced by the Seattle University Film & Family Homelessness Project.
What Our Students Said About The Film
Our project assistants loved this film and had a great time at the SIFF premiere. See what you missed at the premiere in this recap by Haley Jo Lewis, who also created the illustration of Drew above. And read why “The Beast Inside” was Krista Kent’s favorite of the four films.
projectonfamilyhomelessness.org 