U.K., Japan and U.S. creatives win ‘Best of Show’ at U.S. festival

Productions from England, Japan and the United States took Best of Show “Grand Prix” honors at the 41st annual U.S. International Film And Video Festival.

Winning in the Corporate category was “KPMG Graduate Recruitment Film,” from Jack Morton Worldwide, London. Tops in Education was “Mathematica II: Squaring the Circle,” from NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.), Tokyo. The Documentary winner was a PBS production, “NATURE: Unforgettable Elephants,” from Thirteen/WNET, New York City.

The KPMG film demonstrates the global network of auditing, tax and advisory services of KPMG in a lively format designed to attract new college graduates to the firm. “Mathematica” uses animated and real world techniques – such as a comparison of a round cake and a square cake – to teach the pi formula. “Nature: Unforgettable Elephants” represents more than 15 years of work by photographer Martyn Colbeck, who documented the lives of African elephants in Kenya.

Other nominees for the Best of Festival in Corporate were:

“Gebrűder Heinemann Orchestra Film,” BM8 GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, which was made to demonstrate the strength of Gebrüder Heinemann in distribution of goods with respect to security sensitive environments;

“IBM Hermitage Film,” Jack Morton Worldwide, New York City, highlights the IBM project to put the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, online and explains how by promoting access to art helps build a bridge across cultures.

Nominated in Education was “Role of Platelet Production in ITP,” created by Shaw Science Partners, Atlanta. Ga., USA, to explain to hematologists a new drug from GlaxoSmithKlne that will be used to treat immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The other nominees for Documentary were “J.M.W. Turner,” a profile of the famous 18th century British artist from National Gallery of Art, Landover, Md., USA; and “The Pagan Christ,” created by David Brady Productions, Sandhurst, Ontario, Canada, based on the controversial book by Tom Harpur, “The Pagan Christ: Rediscovering the Lost Light.”

The winners and nominees also won First Place Gold Camera Awards in the competition, which had winners from 23 countries.