THE prizewinners for the Veterans’ Film Festival were named on the weekend by director Tom Papas as the event drew to a close at Capitol Cinemas in Manuka.

Papas told those present for the screening of the feature, “Anna’s War”, that Red Poppy awards for “Best Feature Film” had gone to “TransMilitary”, from the USA and for “Best Short Film” to “Irish Goodbye from the USA/Sierra Leone”.

Before the opening night screening of the World War I film, “Journeys’ End”, the inaugural BeyondBlue prize for hope, recovery and resilience, a “Blue Poppy” trophy, crafted by Canberra glass artist Annette Blair, was presented by the project manager within the suicide prevention and support services team at BeyondBlue. David Peterson presented the award to “An Unbeaten Path” (UK), a short film dealing with the descent into an subsequent recover from PTSD in a former marine captain assigned to the Falklands War.

Other awards announced by Papas were as follows:

• Best Animation went to “Sgt Stubby: An Unlikely Hero”, USA.
• Best Female Actor went to Marta Kozlova for “Anna’s War”, Russia.
• Best Male Actor went to Sam Claflin for “An Unbeaten”, UK.
• Best Music/Sound went to Atsuo Matsumoto & Vladimir Komarov for “Anna’s War”, Russia.

The next Veterans Film Festival will open in Canberra on November 1, 2019. Information at veteransfilmfestival.com