Laura Dunn receives Independent Spirit Award for “The Unforeseen” (Videos)
You can also see about Laura’s Press Room interview at Film Independent’s 2008 Spirit Awards Coverage page. Click the image below.
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Tales from the Indie Spirit Awards….
(Laura and fellow nominees Gary and John, photo from AJ Schnack’s blog)
So our award was, honestly, totally unexpected. Having rapped with one of the jurors - the venerable AJ Schnack - at the nominee reception a couple nights before, I was completely convinced that we hadn’t won. He positively raved about the film “Running Stumbled” as a powerful and most amazing film and deserving of the highest praise. In fact, I had heard rave reviews about both Helvetica and Running Stumbled and simply felt honored to be in their company. Even when the nominees were read it seemed clear from the audiences applause when both of their names were read that they had genuinely enthusiast fans while our film simply seemed unknown.
So my husband Jef and I approached the afternoon with a kind of carefree enjoy-the-spectacle attitude, sneaking by the hordes of press and photographers on the blue carpet and scoping out whatever non-alcoholic beverages we could find. Having a 2-year old at home, we don’t get out much and aren’t exactly the “socializing” types, but we loved running into several dear friends who have championed our film such as Christian Vesper and Laura Michalchyshyn from the Sundance Channel and our superhuman sales rep Josh Braun wearing an awesome orange shirt. So yes, the win was unexpected and I had nothing prepared to say — not sure how it all came off — but we are very grateful for the opportunity to further the film’s message about protecting the natural world in the face of unrelenting development, and to spotlight our beloved Austin and her treasures still at stake. Congrats to Gary and Brigid on their engagement — we thoroughly enjoyed meeting the lovely couple. And I can’t wait to see both Helvetica and Running Stumbled — how inspiring to meet a community of filmmakers doing what they love despite the challenges along the way.
Laura wins the Independent Spirit Award “Truer than Fiction”
Laura received the Independent Spirit ‘Truer than Fiction‘ award. This was beyond a shock to both of us. From advanced word we were under the impression that she didn’t win so Laura was completely surprised by this. It will hopefully help create more awareness for the forthcoming theatrical release…
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About The Unforeseen
The Unforeseen, executive produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Called "the best film at the festival, hands down" by Film Comment's Gavin Smith, the film documents the struggles between development and preservation of Austin Texas.