The Minnesota Film & TV Board is seeking nominations for the D. L. Mabery Award, an annual event honoring the best Minnesota Independent Feature and Short film of 2001.

Dubbed the "Minnesota Oscar", this award is named for a journalist and longtime friend of the arts who devoted his energies to covering the Minnesota arts scene at Skyway News and many other local and national publications.

Nominations will be accepted from the Minnesota production community through Friday, February 8. Finalists will be announced Tuesday, February 12, right after the Academy Award nominees are announced. The five projects with the most nominations in each category will be screened by a panel of judges — past panels have included film critics from City Pages, the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press — and winners will be announced at a special dinner on Oscar night, March 24th.

Download a ballot here*.

The award is open to any Minnesota independent project that premiered in 2001. Ballots can be obtained at the Minnesota Film & TV Board website and everyone is encouraged to participate.

The Minnesota Film and TV Board's mission is to build and promote the commerce and art of the moving image industry in the State of Minnesota. The Minnesota Film and TV Board is a unique public/private partnership and the only non-profit state film commission in the United States.