The festival’s most prestigious award, the Golden Palm, was awarded to The Gerson Miracle, a documentary, directed by Stephan Kroschel, which chronicles the true epic story of Dr. Max Gerson, a German-Jewish cancer researcher who, in 1928, stumbled upon a therapy that has since then cured tens of thousands of people worldwide.

“Winning the Golden Palm fulfills a lifetime of my father’s body of work,” said 82 year old daughter and ambassador to her father’s work, Charlotte Gerson. “The organizers of the Beverly Hills Film Festival have given us this exciting opportunity to finally communicate a truth that could save thousands of more lives for generations to come, while recognizing high achievements in independent filmmaking.”

The award for best directing, as voted on by the fest’s jurors, went to Peter J. Eaton and his remarkable work on the feature film, Gravity. Gravity tells a story of a man who finds himself in an emotionally charged dilemma resulting in a struggle between good and evil. “I am so honored just to have been accepted into the Beverly Hills Film Festival, and to win the best directing award leaves me speechless,” said Peter J. Eaton, director for Gravity. “There really were no losers; the selection of films was some of the best filmmaking I have ever seen as a writer/director.”

This year’s festival remained loyal on its crusade to screen only the works of filmmakers whose work has not previously been widely seen, and to its dedication in offering filmmakers a vehicle to network themselves with the industries most recognized studio executives and representatives. “This year’s festival screened the most creative and diverse selection of films our festival has ever showcased,” said Nino Simone, president of the Beverly Hills Film Festival.” “Even our outstanding jury ensemble was amazed at the tough decisions they made during the voting process.

My personal hats off to all 1,500 submissions we viewed this year, the twenty-nine films that cleared for competition and to our talented jury and staff for their dedication and hard work.”

In keeping with the festival’s traditions, a total of six special and noteworthy awards were handed out by the audiences and jury. The following audience choice awards were rewarded to: Public Domain, audience choice for feature film, directed by Kris Lefcoe; Further Than The Eye Can See, audience choice for documentary, directed by Mike Brown; and Monsieur Renaud, audience choice for short film, directed by Ensunie Kahng.

The following three films were embraced by the festivals jury: The jury award for best feature was given to Peoples, directed by Joseph Andery; Jury award for best short was given to Headache, directed by Eric Devlin Taylor; and jury award for best documentary went to Juvies, directed by Leslie Neale.

“It was tough not to award every film we voted on this year,” said Steven Paul, jury chairman and founder and president of Crystal Sky Productions. “The films were remarkable, and I’m betting that the Hollywood community will have its watchful eye this new and exciting batch of emerging filmmakers.”

Sitcom star Ashley Williams was given the award for best actress for her work in The List, a short drama directed by Patricia K. Meyer. The award for best actor was received by Sean Thompson for his comedic lead role in West From North Goes South. The films ensemble cast included the likes of Tina Louise, Morris Day and legendary actress Phyllis Diller. The film also took home the prize for best producer.

The Beverly Hills Film Festival wishes to thank its Festival Sponsors, Sanctorum Pictures and Michelob Light, and its Presenting Sponsors: Hollywood Life Magazine, Angeleno Magazine, Film Maker Magazine, FrancePress, Inc.,, Juan Juan Salon, Joya Beverly Hills, The Mosaic Hotel, The Crescent Hotel, and Wantickets.com. The Festival would also like to thank the Mayor and City of Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Beverly Hills Police and Fire Departments.