Five Minnesota independent feature films and six short subjects were nominated today for the Minnesota Film Board's annual "D.L. Mabery Award." The award recognizes innovative Minnesota film/video projects which received a public screening or television airing during calendar 2000.

The 11 nominees were chosen from among 48 independent projects which received nominations from 479 members of the state's film/video community - the largest tally ever for this award. The D.L. Mabery Award is presented during the "Hollywood 2001" Academy Awards benefit for the Minnesota AIDS Project to be held on Sunday, March 25 at the Historic State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. The award is named in honor of a longtime friend of the arts, writer and Skyway News editor D.L Mabery, who passed away in 1994.

The D.L. Mabery nominees for 2000 are:

For the first time this year, the winning short and feature will be screened as a special program at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, April 6-21.

The Minnesota Film Board is a non-profit professional service organization dedicated to making Minnesota one of the nation's top five film/video production markets. To foster creative independent filmmaking in the state, the Film Board has also created the Minnesota Independent Film Fund, the SNOWBATE 5% rebate, and the Jerome Screenwriters Mentorship - all three are unique programs in the U.S.

for more information contact:
Randy Adamsick
612.332.6493