LAKE WORTH, Fla., April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Epic Love, a short documentary film highlighting the Piper's Angels Foundation's 2018 Crossing For A Cure endurance paddle event, has been selected for top honors at the inaugural SUP Film Fest. The festival and awards ceremony will take place on March 30 in Santa Cruz, Calif., where Epic Love will be showcased as the winner in the Feature Film category for films longer than 26 minutes. Accepting the honor will be Piper's Angels Founder and Director Travis Suit, Piper's Angels Assistant Director Aiyana Sugerman, filmmaker Talia Schizzano and multi-year Crossing For A Cure paddler Josh Lanphear.
"This is a big win for us because it represents an accomplishment and showcases the efforts of our entire Crossing For A Cure community – the committee, paddlers, sponsors, volunteers, captains and crew," said Suit. "What makes our film different is that it shows the power of community and people rallying for a cause. This award gives our organization credibility and will help open up more conversations about who we are and what we're doing."
The SUP Film Fest is the primary fundraising event for Paddle4Good, a Northern California-based non-profit that empowers those with special needs through standup paddling and more. The film festival features three categories – Feature, Short and Audience Choice. The Audience Choice winner is determined by voting through an online campaign at the conclusion of the season. Winners for Feature Film and Short Film were selected based on originality, creativity, music, cinematography and pacing using a 1 to 10 rating scale and a "thumbs up, thumbs down" decision for award worthiness. Judges included semi-pro SUP racer, SUP ambassador and SUPIA Industry Founder Kristin Thomas; seven-sport professional athlete and stuntman Chuck Patterson; SUP athlete, APP commentator, writer and Standup Journal Publisher Evelyn O'Doherty; professional SUP paddler and world record holder Seychelle; award-winning paddle cinematographer Chris Aguilar; SUP photographer Sean Greeley; and SUP Film Fest and Paddle4Good Founder Max Montgomery.
"My goal with this film was for people to walk away understanding the power of nature, love and people," said Schizzano. "That's why I titled the film Epic Love – to convey how powerful love is. The 2018 film sends a message that the ocean heals, while folding in the event and Travis' inspiration – his daughter, Piper. The 2019 film will be more of a narrative about salt water, the ocean and the direct connection to people with cystic fibrosis. We want to educate, inspire and inform people."
Inspired by the Banff Mountain Film Festival, the SUP Film Fest spotlights inspiring people accomplishing amazing things in beautiful locations. This year, 31 films were entered, totaling more than eight hours of footage. Judges were looking for films that focused on natural beauty, exotic places and people doing things centered around conservation, the environment and empowerment.
"I saw Epic Love and was amazed," said SUP Film Fest Founder Max Montgomery. "Everyone was moved by it, and I was really impressed by what Piper's Angels is doing. Travis is an inspiring person and I love the passion he has for what he's doing. The film was powerful in so many ways, with a well-told and beautifully-documented cause. The quality was wonderful and I'm excited to share their message with more people in the area."
Piper's Angels Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on ocean-based activities due to the proven health benefits that salt water can provide for cystic fibrosis patients. Its Crossing For A Cure charity event is a 75-mile endurance paddle challenge from Bimini, Bahamas to Florida's Lake Worth Beach, which last year featured 100 paddlers and raised more than $280,000 for cystic fibrosis patients and their families. This year's event will take place on Saturday, June 15, with Piper's Angels striving for a $1 million fundraising goal between sponsorships and paddler fundraising.
Additional information about the 2019 Crossing For A Cure, including sponsorships, donations and volunteer details, can be found online at https://www.crossingforacure.com. Additional information about the SUP Film Fest can be found online at http://www.supfilmfest.com.
About Piper's Angels Foundation
Piper's Angels Foundation supports and improves the lives of families with cystic fibrosis by raising awareness, offering life-expanding activities, providing urgent financial support, and funding critical research. The organization aims to inspire action, make an impact and transform the lives of those affected by this disease. Additional information can be found online, at https://www.pipersangels.org.
SOURCE Piper’s Angels Foundation
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