Arpa International Film Festival Q&A with the Best Short Film Award Nominee THE CRITIC (USA) Filmmakers: Stella Velon (Film Director, Writer, and Lead Actress) and Alan Smyth (Lead Actor) Moderator: Nicholas Talarico (Festival Programmer).
The 23rd edition of the festival will stream live on Seed & Spark November 12-22, 2020. Get your tickets here.
The 15th Annual w3 Awards were announced by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts on October 6, 2020. Receiving over 3,000 entries from across the globe, the w3 Awards honors outstanding Websites, Marketing, Video, Mobile, Social, and Podcasts created by some of the best digital content creators across the industry. View the Gold Winners gallery here.
Read MoreStella Velon and Jean Gabriel Kauss (of The Punk Floyd Company) spoke with The Webby Awards about the making of ‘The Critic’. The film earned Stella a 2020 Webby nomination for Best Individual Performance and has won over 20 festival awards to this day. Read the interview here.
Read More“If you’ve seen the short (that is streaming for Amazon Prime subscribers!), then you know how good this film is. Five star reviews are great, but a fan-voted award to put on the shelf is even better. Voting for The Critic tells The Punk Floyd Company how much you adored the short.
If you’ve been convinced to go vote for Stella Velon’s performance in The Critic, go now!” — Film Daily
All Webby nominees compete for two awards in their respective categories, the Webby Award selected by the Academy, and the Webby People’s Voice Award voted for by internet fans worldwide.
Webby Awards distinguish newcomers and well-knowns like Leonardo DiCaprio, National Geographic, and Ellen DeGeneres for their excellence.
Read More“Los Angeles-based actress and filmmaker Stella Velon has been nominated for Best Individual Performance in the Video: Performance & Craft Category In the 24th Annual Webby Awards for ‘The Critic’.” Read more on newstrail.com.
Read MoreOn April 28th, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 24th Annual Webby Awards with Stella picking up a nomination for Best Individual Performance for THE CRITIC.
Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” the Webby Awards are the leading international award rewarding excellence across the internet and in online film & video. As a nominee, Stella is among the top 10% of 13,000 entries worldwide and has been singled out as one of the five best in the world in that category!
The other nominees in the same category are singer-actress Fka Twigs, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ actress Emily Hampshire, Leslie Grace (Latin GRAMMY® nominee), and writer-comedian Gastor Almonte.
Read More“Written, directed by, and starring Stella Velon, “The Critic” is an indie short that, painted in vibrant colors and rife with symbolism and underlying meaning, is an emotional ride that is immediate and powerful.”
Read MoreStella talks to Keely Gelineau during the 2019 Catalyst Content Festival (in Duluth, MN) about the genesis of the short and what’s next for the feature version of the film. Velon took home the Best Breakout Performance Award there. Watch the interview here(videolightbox).
Read MoreCompeting at Amazon Studios' first annual All Voices Film Festival (amazon.com/allvoices) for U.S. filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, Stella Velon’s multi-award winning and critically-acclaimed directorial debut ‘The Critic’ (also written by and starring Velon opposite Alan Smyth) was announced as one of the five winners of the festival by a jury that included top executives at Amazon Studios & IMDb. Watch the short on Amazon Prime Video.
Read More‘The Critic’ among the top two winning films at the 2019 Annual Queen Palm International Film Festival taking home the Grand Jury Prize ‘Couronne d’Or’ together with the feature documentary ‘Crime + Punishment’. In addition, Stella Velon won the Best of Fest ‘Queen Supreme’ award for Best Short First-Time Filmmaker.
Read MoreAs a two-time Gold Award winner and a Royal Gem Festival Standout at the December 2018 Edition of the Queen Palm International Film Festival, Stella Velon’s ‘The Critic’ will compete for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film (First-time filmmaker) and Best Actress (Short Film) at the 2019 Annual Award Event held at the Mary Pickford Theatre in Palm Springs, CA. Tickets and more info here: queenpalmfilmfest.org/2019-screening-lineup
Read MoreNominated for Best Short Film and Best Actress in the company of screen legends such as Martin Sheen (for ‘Princess of the Row’) as well as Ethan Hawke (for ‘Stockholm’, also starring Noomi Rapace and Mark Strong), ‘The Critic’ took home the Best Short Film award at the 2019 Method Fest (celebrating outstanding performances in independent film) at an awards ceremony at the historic Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills on March 28th, 2019.
Read More“Of all the films of 2018, we had some unique entries and never-seen-before shorts, but, perhaps, the best of it all had to be ‘The Critic’, for its sheer content and consistency with regards to performance and execution from all quarters. Stella Velon’s ‘The Critic’, a poignant, insightful look into the soul of an actress, with the measured performance of Velon is a 14:55 minutes long film that gently peels off the veneer of glamour.” — Indie Shorts Mag
Read MoreThe 2018 UK Film Review Awards - the Winners
Best Animated Film - Brexicuted
Best Short Film - Cotton Wool Film
Best Indie Film - Pledge
Best LGBTQ Film - Iridescence
Best Documentary - Dominion: Documentary
Best World Cinema - ROMACuaron
Best Superhero Movie - Avengers: Infinity War
Best Film - A Star is Born
Best Director - Stella Velon (The Critic)
Best Performance - Friederike Hammer (Sternenkind)
