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Alone Together wins Nashville Film Festival's Young Filmmaker's Competition

April 23, 2012: The Nashville Film Festival has given the Watkins Young Filmmaker Award to Alone Together. The award, announced at the film's American Première in Nashville on Friday, is the festival's top honor for 18-and-under filmmakers.

This marks 16-year-old Ben's second time in competition for the award and first win. Two years ago, his film Sparks in the Night competed.

The Nashville Film Festival, founded in 1969, is one of the longest-running American festivals, and is one of the most acclaimed movie events in the South. This year the Academy Award qualifying festival received 2027 short films submissions (in all categories) and accepted 120.

Alone Together  Première Weekend: April 20, 21, 22

April 13, 2012: Alone Together will World Première on April 20 at View Finders: International Film Festival for Youth/Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Canada. This youth festival runs for seven days in mid April.

One day later, on April 21, the film gets its American Première at the Nashville Film Festival. Alone Together is one of seven films in the Young (18-and-under) Filmmaker Competition.

One day later, on April 22, the film gets its West Coast Première at the  at the Riverside International Film Festival.

One week after that, Alone Together will have its Washington première at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY). This is 16-year-old Ben's sixth year and seventh film in NFFTY. Two years ago Sparks in the Night was selected for the "Best of NFFTY" screening & DVD. In 2009, Murder at the Pharaoh's Grave, made when Ben was 12, won NFFTY's HBO-sponsored trip to Hollywood.

In May, Ben is honored to be showing the film in the Student Block of the Seattle True Independent Film Festival.

The Scene Magazine Names Ben One of the Eastside's Top Young Artists

March 2, 2012: "Some of the most talented artists on the Eastside aren’t old enough to vote or legally drink. And yet, they are already making serious tremors in the arts and entertainment community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Here’s a run-down of some of the most artistic Eastsiders age 21 and under." ... More >

Secret Club Nominated for Best Cinematography

February 12, 2012: SECRET CLUB has been nominated for Best Cinematography by the Derek Freese High School Film Festival. Quoting Matt Lawrance, teacher at Ballard High: "This prestigious festival draws competition from high school filmmakers across the country[...] The festival is held in memory of Derek Freese, a gifted Temple University film student."

NFFTY Photos

The Washington State Premiere of Alone Together was at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (details). The NFFTY Future of Film Expo also included a 15-minute demo by Ben breaking down of the Cinema 4D effects in Alone Together & Molly and the Masked Storm (Details). Here are family photos.

The Other Press: "These kids are all right"

(from the independent student newspaper of Douglas College in British Columbia)

By Sharon Miki, Assistant Editor

"...Kadie created an incredibly realistic, Titanic-esque shipwreck sequence. Paired with a script and directorial eye far more mature than one would expect from a high school [junior], Kadie’s film epitomized the experimentation and advancement of young filmmakers at the festival.... More ›"

Alone Together wins Scholastic National Silver Medal

March 15, 2012: The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers today awarded a National Scholastic Silver Medal to ALONE TOGETHER. This is 16-year-old Ben’s fifth film and fourth consecutive year to win national recognition. Two additional films have won regional recognition. Two years ago, Ben’s Gold Medal film Sparks in the Night toured the country as one of 100 pieces in the Alliance’s ART.WRITE.NOW museum exhibition.

The Silver Medal is the Alliance's second highest national award. The Alliance has given awards since 1923 to teens such as Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, and Robert Redford. This year, student artists submitted 200,000 works with 1600 earning national recognition. The NY Observer wrote "Invasion of the Teenage Geniuses" about the 2010 national award ceremony in NYC.

The Spirit Quest Film Fest awards Alone Together "Best Student Short"

March 30, 2012: This is the film's second pre-première award. The film will now screen in eight festivals in April & May, including three screenings at three festivals on three consecutive days.

The Spirit Quest Film Fest of Edinboro University, PA, focuses on the on the human experience, from day to day relationships to matters of life and death, war and peace, science and spirituality.

25 Hour Day Blog: "Young Filmmaker's Talents Are Anything But Shipwrecked"

February 2012: "...Meet Ben Kadie, a 16-year-old award-winning director [...] Ben’s latest film, Alone Together, takes a somewhat different direction than his mysteries, abandoning the green screens of the past for real scenery and placing a deeper emphasis on the emotions and developments of the characters, Brendan and Eloise"... More ›"

Late Spring & Summer Screenings & Awards (updated 5/5/2012)

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Alone Together Finished & Production Photos

Jan 7, 2012: The film is complete and submitted to several festivals with the hope of premièring in Spring! Meanwhile, here are production photos from August 7, the first day of shooting, on location at the tugboat Arthur Foss and Seattle Country Day School.
 

Old news: Year-by-Year Archive ...
 

About

 
Ben Kadie is a 16-year-old junior attending Interlake High School in Bellevue, Washington.

Ben started making films while a third grader at Seattle Country Day School. By eighth grade, four of his films had screened as far away as Nepal and won two dozen awards including a trip to LA and "Best Youth Film" at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Between 8th grade and high school, Ben filmed MOLLY AND THE MASKED STORM (2010) which the LA International Horror/SciFi Film Festival (Shriekfest) named “Best Under 18 Film”. The next summer, Ben filmed MACK (2011), a film inspired by Macbeth that teachers have used in English and arts classes. The Rainier Independent Film Fest also named it “Best (College or High School) Student Film“. As a sophomore, Ben created  SECRET CLUB (2011) which Ben says "captures both my love and my frustration with high school clubs”. It has earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from Couch Fest and more than a dozen screenings including screenings in Guam, Iceland, and Warsaw.

Last summer, Ben filmed ALONE TOGETHER, a story of shipwrecks and love. Via open auditions, Ben found great local actors including leads Asher Jordan and Bria Lynn Massie. By raising about $1500 on the Internet, Ben was able to license professional music and to shoot two days on location near Deception Pass State Park. The film World, US, & West Coast premièred at three festivals the weekend of April 20, 2012 and won the top youth prize at the acclaimed Nashville Film Festival.

When not working on films, Ben is in the International Baccalaureate program at his high school, very active in drama, and co-president of the school improv club. Outside of his school, Ben speaks about the importance of art education at other schools, school board meetings, and film events. After high school, he plans to pursue a university film degree.

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