Cinema Professor’s Film Wins Best Documentary Award
The Arlington International Film Festival has awarded “Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace” its Best Documentary Short Award at this year’s festival. The film is directed by Paul Awad (Cinema professor, Annandale) and Kathryn O’Sullivan (retired Theatre professor, Manassas).
“Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace” is about Japan’s gift of 53 priceless bonsai trees to the United States in celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. The documentary chronicles the historic gift, includes rare interviews and archival footage, and reveals how people can rediscover their shared humanity and establish a path toward healing and world peace after war.
The film has also won the Utopian Vision Award at the 2021 Utopia Film Festival. The award is given for “the best work in any category which reflects the value of cinema to help create a better world.” It was a selection at the Dunedin International Film Festival and the Loudoun Arts Film Festival.
O’Sullivan received NOVA’s President’s Sabbatical Award in 2017 to work on the film. “I’m gratified to see that the film is resonating with audiences,” O’Sullivan said. “It feels even more relevant now than when we first started working on the project.”
“The film was a labor of love. We’re thrilled people are responding so positively to it and its message,” said Awad.
The film will screen on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at the Arlington International Film Festival in Arlington, Massachusetts. The screening will be followed by an audience Q&A with Awad and O’Sullivan.
The Arlington Film Festival’s mission is to offer “a unique opportunity for cross-cultural education by promoting understanding of the many cultures represented in our town and beyond” and is “dedicated to developing, promoting, and increasing multicultural awareness and understanding.” For more information about the festival visit.
For more information about the bonsai trees and the United States National Arboretum’s National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.
Submitted by:
Paul Awad, AN-Communication & Humanities, PAwad@nvcc.edu