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Crossroads Film Society has chosen Jackson artist and filmmaker Azod Abedikichi to create its 2016 Ruma Award. The coveted Ruma Award for Most Promising Mississippi Filmmaker is presented each year to a Mississippi filmmaker competing in the annual film festival. The award is named in honor of former Crossroads vice-president Ruma Haque, who passed away in 2002.
Each year the Ruma Award is an original piece of art created by a Mississippi artist and is one of 15 juried awards given at the annual event to exceptional filmmakers from Mississippi and around the world. Abedikichi has also been commissioned to create the 30-second commercial for the 2016 Crossroads Film Festival, and the 2016 Ruma art will be a framed film cell from that commercial, a stop-motion animated short using multiple media and textures. “The Crossroads commercial is inspired by the theatre experience; from the smell of popcorn, sodas fizzling, the hushed crowd noise in a dark room full of strangers, and even the emotion shared in the space – all create such a unique synergy,” says Abedikichi.
Azod Abedikichi has spent most of his life pursuing the art of storytelling. Upon graduating from the New York Film Academy, Abedikichi worked on numerous projects as a cinematographer, editor, producer, writer, and director. In the last year Abedikichi has added a new skill to his repertoire, creating over 100 claymation figures in 2015. “Azxd’s SportsClaymation” has attracted national attention, including ESPN and Rolling Stone. In a recent article, DeadSpin claimed his Instagram (@azxd) was “the only perfect Instagram in existence.”
Started in 2000, Crossroads Film Festival celebrates the art of filmmaking with film screenings and competitions from a wide variety of genres including features, shorts, documentaries, animation, music videos, and others.
The 17th annual Crossroads Film Festival will be March 31 – April 3, 2016, with a full day of screenings on Saturday, April 2 at Malco Grandview Theatre in Madison, Mississippi. Special receptions and screenings will take place in other venues in the metro area, to be announced. For more information about tickets, schedules and locations, go to www.crossroadsfilmfestival.com, call 601.345.5674 601-345-567 or e-mail info@crossroadsfilmfestival.com.