Universe Multicultural Film Festival 2024 has come to a successful conclusion. On June 14-16, UMFF screened over 50 films from around the world. It was a great display of international filmmaking talent. 

International filmmakers flew in to attend the festival from all over the world. Award winning filmmaker Dawei Yin came from China to attend the screening of his musical film “The Legend of the White Snake”. First time director Wayne Diu visited from Canada to see the screening of his thriller “The Dental Plan”. 

A highlight of the festival was the multiple industry led panels. The panelists, including filmmaker Brian Connors (“Senior Entourage”) and producer Richard Joel (“Tainted Dreams”), led spirited discussions on screenwriting, film production, and the state of the industry. It was incredibly informative for upcoming filmmakers to learn from their experiences. 

Saturday evening’s Filmmaker Reception featured the annual Maeya Cultural Ambassador beauty pageant. The beautiful ladies displayed their cultures through fashion. Following this, the acting group Voices on Paper put on a live reading of “Brothers Blood”, one of UMFF’s featured screenplays. 

On Sunday the festival moved to North Hollywood for the red carpet and award ceremony. Everyone looked their best on this star-studded night. 

There were multiple live performances. Singer and dancer Ruxanda Calistru vibrantly performed her own original music. The phenomenal Elena C Castaneda serenaded the award ceremony audience with mariachi ballads. 

The highlight, of course, was the winning projects. Documentaries “Muito Amor – Jews and Judaism in Amazonia” and “I am Kanaka” won the Grand Jury Prizes for Best Feature and Best Short, respectively. Armenian director Vruir Tadevosian was honored to accept the Make a Difference award for his anti-war film “The Tales of the Blue Sky”. 

Georgia Pettit-Miguel and Jie Wang were crowned Maeya National and Heritage Ambassador as Best Original Song winner “Zen Nandu” played. Israeli director Dani Menkin (“39 Pounds of Love”) was also honored with the Trailblazer Award for his many years of innovation and independent vision in filmmaking. Dawna Lee Heising received the Living Legend Award for her acting work in over 250 feature films.

Universe Multicultural Film Festival was an incredible three-day celebration of music, fashion, and most of all, film. It was a time for filmmakers and audiences to come together in celebration of this incredible artform.