THE MANDALA MAKER

The Mandala Maker began its festival run by garnering six nominations - by far the most of any film - and one major win at the 2009 SINY Film Festival from June 4-7 in Staten Island, New York.

Among the nominations for Mandala were, Best Dramatic Short (Producer Sam Borowski), Best Short Screenplay (Sam Borowski and Gregory Nissen), Best Director (Sam Borowski), Best Cinematography (Bill Schweikart) and Best Actress (Courtney Hogan).

When all was said and done, The Mandala Maker won the award for BEST SHORT SCREENPLAY, for which co-writers Borowski and Nissen happily accepted.

"You can make a bad movie from a great screenplay," Borowski joked, "but you can't make a great movie from a bad screenplay. It always starts with the script. So, from that standpoint, this is a great honor."

Because of its late completion date, voting was based on the submitted rough-cut of the film, although it screened in a finished, polished version. After playing to two nearly sold-out screenings in New York, the film has already been accepted into the Central Florida Film Festival, which begins on September 4, and has been entered in no fewer than seven Academy-Award eligible festivals for the late summer and early Fall.

Cited by the Staten Island Advance as, "a major contender," for the Oscar for best live action short in 2010 - and don't forget that Yadacity recognized this film's merits, pointing out that it is indeed on the fast track for the 2010 Oscars several months back - the awards for this film have only just begun.