Clay Riley Hassler’s “Homeless” wins at Dances With Films Fest

PanARMENIAN.Net - Director Clay Riley Hassler’s “Homeless” won the Grand Jury Award at this year’s Dances With Films, festival organizers announced at Sunday, June 7 closing night gala, TheWrap reports.

The film follows an 18-year-old boy who navigates his way through life in a shelter after the passing of his grandmother.

The Los Angeles-based festival, founded in 1998, bestowed the Audience Award on director Benjamin Meyer’s “Fools,” about the complexity of modern relationships.

“‘Fools’ captivated audiences from the first frame, so it’s no surprise that audiences made their voices heard by presenting it the audience award,” said Festival Founder, Michael Trent.

This years Dances With Films included 62 world premieres and 12 North American premieres.

“This year’s slate continued our mission of bringing compelling cinema to industry and non-industry audiences a like,” Leslee Scallon, the Festival’s Co-Founder said in statement.

Competition films were selected from more than 2,000 film submissions, and programmed from blind submissions.