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Albert & Trudy Kallis presented with YMF Humanitarian Award
The Kallis Foundation is a major supporter of the Young Musicians Foundation (YMF) which promotes the classical music tradition by nurturing the personal, academic, and artistic development of youth ages 8 – 25. For almost six decades ago, YMF has been offering opportunities for youth of all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds to develop their abilities and passions for music.
MATTHEW KALLIS ’86 heard Oprah before he saw her. He’d been asked to attend the Sundance Film Festival for the announcement that OWN, Oprah Winfrey’s TV network, had chosen his documentary film, Most Valuable Players, as a charter member of her new documentary club —the film counterpart to the famous Oprah’s Book Club.
There is a shy teen who blossoms on stage as the star of the high school musical. There's the soccer jock who finds a greater bliss belting out numbers from Bye Bye Birdie than kicking goals into the net. Then there's the archetypal drama coach, inspiring her students to unleash their innermost thespians.
"The First Grader," "Wish Me Away" and "Most Valuable Players" walked away with the two major audience awards, the latter two tying, when the winners were announced tonight at the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) presented by Nissan closing night party at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville. Director Justin Chadwick's "The First Grader," the inspiring based-on-a-true story of an 84-year-old man who went back to primary school in Kenya, snagged the Southwest Airlines Audience Award for best narrative feature. "Wish Me Away," the coming-out documentary of country singer Chely Wright by directors Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf, tied with "Most Valuable Players," director Matthew D. Kallis' film about high school theatre troupes vying for the Freddy Awards, for the Documentary Channel Audience Award for best documentary. A new addition this year, the Graveyard Shift Audience Award went to "The Troll Hunter" by director André Øvredal.
"Film Week on AirTalk 89.3 KPCC Reviews the Theatrical Release of Most Valuable Players."
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announces TV Premiere date for Most Valuable Players Thursday September 8th -9PM ET/PT