4th ANNUAL DADDYING FILM FESTIVAL & FORUM ANNOUNCES
2025 ATTICUS AWARD WINNERS
APRIL 14, 2025 – Chevy Chase, MD – The Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F), the first and only film festival focused exclusively on promoting the importance of positive dad involvement for kids and families, announced its 2025 Atticus Award winners today across nine student, Dad, and indie filmmaker categories. The D3F 2025 Atticus Awards went to:
Best High School Student Film: I Choose You by Dulcie Genevieve Ruth Harrison, USA – Colorado
Best College Student Film: Pop! by Ian Dugan, USA – NY, NY
Roy R. Neuberger Prize for Best Dad-created Film: RUN NIÑO RUN by Lance Revoir, USA – Springville, UT
D3F Men Caring Award for Best Dad-figure Film: RARE: A Rare Disease Revolution by John Bader and Lainey Moseley, USA – Scarborough, ME
Best Feature Film: Everything’s Kosher by Adam Fried, Germany/USA – Chicago, IL
Best Short Film: A Letter From the Fathers: Chapter II by Tristan Barrocks, Canada
Best Animated Film: Funky by Vivian Huang, USA – San Jose, CA
D3F Judges’ Prize for Best Documentary Feature Film: Death & Taxes by Justin Schein, USA – Brooklyn, NY
D3F Judges’ Prize for Best Documentary Short Film: Grown Up Dad by Joseph Gidjunis and Joshua Kagi, USA – Philadelphia, PA. Ahead of its national PBS premiere in June, the creators of Grown Up Dad will screen an episode of their PBS docuseries live at the Daddying Film Forum on Saturday, April 26, in Bryn Mawr, PA.
Since it began in 2022, D3F has received films from filmmakers in 28 countries. D3F 2025 presented 30+ short and feature Official Selections created by students, Dads/dad figures, and indie filmmakers from around the world during its 4th annual festival on Eventive, which ended Saturday, April 12. The virtual festival recorded 497 film screenings.
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The Atticus Awards & Daddying Film Forum
Atticus Award winners were chosen with help from public, online voting during the Festival. D3F student finalists earned a $250 award for use toward an activity or project to enjoy with their dad/dad figure, and student winners earned an additional $250. All D3F winners earn an “Atticus” statuette symbolizing Atticus Finch from the 1962 film based on Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird. Finch, an iconic single dad, represents several ideal daddying qualities.
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The Roy R. Neuberger Prize and Men Caring Award winners both earned $500 to use toward an activity or project with their child(ren).
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Select Atticus Award-winning and finalist films, past and present, will screen at the live Daddying Film Forum on April 26, at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Now in its third year, the Forum brings children/youth together with their dads/families to examine thoughts, feelings, and insights in response to D3F films. FREE Forum passes are available on the D3F Eventive site.
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The other D3F 2025 Atticus Award finalists were:
High School Student Film
Live Like Bella: A Story of Faith, Hope & Love by Sebastian Broche, USA – Miami, FL
College Student
Away by Nick Behson, USA – Nyack, New York
Amongst the Myrtle Trees by Yisel Tapia & Carson Stringer, USA – San Jose, CA
Funky by Vivian Huang, USA – San Jose, CA
Best Dad-created Film
That’s Okay. With You. By Tyler Joseph Pawlak, USA – Cincinnati, OH
Make A Splash by Matthew Krekeler, USA – Denver, CO
Unreal by Sean Smith, USA – Bowie, MD
Sleepless Nights by Brenden Guy, USA – Philadelphia/Havertown, PA
Best Feature Film
The Brainwashing of My Dad by Jen Senko, USA – NY, NY
Dealing With Dad by Tom Huang, USA – Los Angeles, CA
Death & Taxes by Justin Schein, USA – Brooklyn, NY
Best Short Film
Black Fatherhood: The Other Hood by David Goodman, USA – Camden, NJ
At the Threshold by April Guscott, USA – Brooklyn, NY
D is for Dad by Jill Garrett, USA – Jacksonville, FL
Te Amo Papá by Dave Brown and Jake Zieman, USA – Walnut Creek, CA
Best Animated Film
A Knock on My Door by David Chai, USA – San Jose, CA
Amongst the Myrtle Trees by Yisel Tapia & Carson Stringer, USA – San Jose, CA
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ABOUT D3F
The Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F), is not your ordinary film fest. It is the first and only film festival worldwide focused exclusively on promoting the importance of positive dad involvement for kids and families. All student submissions are screened by students who are trained in how to rate and review films. D3F was created by the DADvocacy Consulting Group’s Daddy Appleseed Fund (DAF) to offer children and youth a stage to express through film/video how they feel about the relationship they have or wish they had with their dads. D3F also encourages dad filmmakers to submit their own films for consideration and includes a stand-alone, live Daddying Film Forum to more directly improve the daddying experience for children and dads alike.
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For more information or to request an interview with D3F founder Allan Shedlin, please contact: Scott Beller, D3F Director of Communications at scott [at] daddyingfilmfest [dot] com
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