Films About Billy Preston, Kenny Loggins, Ann Wilson, Eraserheads, Billy Joel (and Others) Take Top Honors at Second Annual LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival

The second annual LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival concluded on Sunday, September 27, with an award ceremony at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook Village. Filmmakers from across the United States and other countries gathered at the hall at 97 Main Street for the three-day event. The festival screened over 40 feature-length and short music documentaries from 15 countries. Live music performances included a sold-out Hip-Hop-themed concert and film screening on Saturday night, according to the supplied announcement from the festival organizers.

Beyond the music, what really stood out were the stories, said Tom Needham, Executive Director of the LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival. These films reminded us that music can change lives. It brings people together. It builds community. It gives artists a way to express themselves in a way that words can’t. That’s a theme we heard over and over again in these documentaries. It really makes a difference, and that’s what this festival is all about, Needham said in the announcement.

LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival Director Tom Needham and Artistic Director Wendy Feinberg presented 14 awards that captured the spirit of the festival and showed how powerful a great music documentary could be. Paris Barclay, director of Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It, which won for both Best US Feature Film and the Feature Audience Award, was not able to attend in person but sent a written thank-you note. Thank you @LIMEHOF Documentary Film Festival for honoring our film. We started this project knowing Billy Preston’s music and came out feeling like we knew the man – and loving him. It means a lot to see audiences loving Billy as well and keeping his incredible spirit alive, Barclay wrote. Oh Yeah! won the award for Best US Short. The film was directed by Nick Canfield, who was also unable to attend but provided a written statement. Thank you LIMEHOF, Tom and Wendy for this award. I’m really honored to win and have Oh Yeah! included with so many truly excellent music documentaries. Congrats on your second year, and I look forward to attending in future years. Sorry I can’t be there in person; unfortunately, a back injury has prevented me from traveling. I hope you are all having a grand time and not letting the storm stop you from celebrating, Canfield wrote. Dori Berinstein won as Best US Director for Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart, which was also the opening night feature. This is a tremendous honor. This is such a special festival. It means so much for me to be here, Berinstein said. I loved meeting the filmmakers here. They’re so talented, and what this film festival does in giving filmmakers the opportunity to come together and really have a community and get to know each other is just tremendous.

Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine, directors of Peter Asher: Everywhere Man, won the Musical Crossroads Award. We consider it an honor in and of itself to screen at the festival. For the movie to receive the Musical Crossroads Award comes as a wonderful surprise for which the two of us want to express even more gratitude. One regret, though: We had hoped to come from our home base in San Francisco to attend the festival, but our prior commitments prevented us from doing so. We hope to be back for a future festival as moviegoers and watch a new crop of music films – feet tapping all the time, they wrote in a statement. Director Mischa Richter won the Spirit of Independent Filmmaking Award for Summer Tour. Thank you so much, LIMEHOF, for supporting my film and for this award. I regret not being able to be there in person to receive it but I’m there in spirit and I hope you all have a beautiful evening, Richter wrote. Director Barbara Jean Hall won the Authentic Voice Award for Ann Wilson: In My Voice. Thank you so much. A huge thank you to Tom and Wendy for all that you do to acknowledge filmmakers like myself who try to tell stories of our heroes, the men and women who make the music that become the soundtrack of our life. We are so grateful for this acknowledgement and honored, and again, just a big shoutout to the festival for encouraging this kind of work. We really appreciate it, Hall said. Central Islip resident and director Archie Snowden won the Long Island Filmmaker Award for The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop. To win this award in my backyard in Suffolk County is absolutely outstanding, Snowden said. LIMEHOF has done a very good job with this film festival and it’s hard to believe that it’s only the second one ever. I am looking forward to another one, and another one, and another one.

Fifteen-year-old Ward Melville High School student Marlow Jean Pinnicia, from Setauket, won the Short Film Audience Award for The Art of Being Different, which explores how music helps her in managing autism and dealing with the pressures of school life. Thank you, I’m just so grateful, said Pinnicia. I appreciate this so much. This means so much to me.

Adam Ripp, director of 1971: Billy Joel’s Lost Interview, won the Innovation of Filmmaking Award. The film uses AI to recreate Billy Joel, Irwin Mazur, his manager at the time, and Ed Mann, radio host, as they appeared in December 1971 using real audio from Billy Joel’s very first radio interview after the release of his Cold Spring Harbor album. This is a tremendous evening, Ripp said. I feel great. It’s amazing to have the recognition, the appreciation, the celebration. Thank you to LIMEHOF. Thank you to the team and go strong, Island!

Director Robert Gordon and producer Joe Lauro won the Social Impact Award for Newport & the Great Folk Dream, which was the closing night film. Thank you for the Social Impact Award, Lauro said. Director Robert Gordon and I strongly believe that music has unifying power and that there are lessons to learn from its history. On behalf of our production team, thank you for including us in your wonderful festival. The Museum is a treasure for all of Long Island and beyond. Director Juan Mandelbaum won the Roots and Rhythm Award for Paquito D’Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall. Having traveled from Boston to attend the festival, Mandelbaum announced that the film will be broadcast nationally on PBS on October 12. Thank you very much for this award and the invitation to show at LIMEHOF. It’s really special to have a film festival dedicated to music when we did a film on a musician, so we appreciate that very much, Mandelbaum said.

Director Louis-Philippe Eno won Best International Feature for The Extraordinary Life of Robert Charlebois. Eno is from Canada and this marks the second year in a row when a Canadian filmmaker has won this award. It was amazing. I wish I had been here for the three days to enjoy the whole thing, but I was in France yesterday and I’m here tonight. There’s a real sense of community here and people are trying to do something different and it’s really refreshing, Eno said. A native of Paris, France, director Hélène Sevaux’s Four Hands won for Best International Short. I had a great time, Sevaux said. The person who did the Q&A with me was really amazing and there was a good audience, so it was really amazing. Maria Diane Ventura won Best International Director for Eraserheads: Combo on the Run, and traveled for over 20 hours from Dubai to participate in the festival. Eraserheads primary songwriter Ely Buendia, who was featured in the film, also flew in from the Philippines to attend the festival and be part of the Q&A. I’m feeling incredibly grateful for this recognition from LIMEHOF, said Ventura. I’m so grateful to Wendy and Tom for inviting us over. It’s really an honor to be here in Stony Brook, Long Island to be celebrating amazing music documentaries. So to be part of it is already such an honor, so to have won as well is so meaningful to not only me and Ely, but to the rest of the Filipinos. We’re grateful to you for having us. Buendia also offered his praise: I’m so happy for Diane and I’m just very grateful for this experience. I really had a great time. I wish I saw all the movies, but maybe next time I can catch them, so I may have to come back next year.

This year’s festival included 42 short and feature-length music documentary films, live performances, and Q&A panel discussions that were held in two theaters. Featured artists in the films included Ann Wilson, Kenny Loggins, Billy Preston, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Biz Markie, Beastie Boys, James Taylor, Foo Fighters, Paquito D’Rivera, John Popper, Billy Joel, James, The Rose, Peter, Paul & Mary, Iggy Pop, Nash the Slash, Eraserheads, Yello, Robert Charlebois, Alceu Valença, Madalitso Band, Sugar, Leiva, Mark Fry, and JVC Force, among others. Sixteen of the films premiered on Long Island, with three of them being world premieres. In addition to the United States, the festival featured films with ties to 14 other countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Japan, the Philippines, Malawi, Brazil, Iran, Malta, and Australia, the announcement stated.

We were truly over the moon that so many filmmakers, performers, and subjects joined us in person, despite the Nor’easter raging outside, said Wendy Feinberg, Artistic Director of the LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival. We were especially thrilled to welcome Eraserheads lead singer Ely Buendia, who flew in from Manila, and director Maria Diane Ventura, who traveled from Dubai, for the Sunday screening of Eraserheads: Combo on the Run. We are incredibly grateful to all of our pass holders, ticket buyers, and walk-ins who made our second annual festival a tremendous success, and we look forward to welcoming all to our third annual Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame Music Documentary Film Festival in 2027!