Domestic Animals Wins the Evelyn Hibbs Domestic Violence Awareness Award at the 27th Bare Bones International Film Festival
- Alex Mendez Giner
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
There are recognitions that feel different. Not just because of what they say about the work, but because of who gives them and why. The Evelyn Hibbs Domestic Violence Awareness Award, presented at the 27th Bare Bones International Film Festival in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is one of those.
Sandy Siquier and I are deeply honored that Domestic Animals received this award. Named after Evelyn Hibbs herself, Founder and Director of the Women in Safe Home (WISH) Foundation, this recognition carries real weight. Evelyn has spent years on the frontlines of domestic violence awareness and support, and to have her see our film as a meaningful tool for conversation and education around this issue means everything. Thank you, Evelyn. Truly.
The festival, now in its 27th year, is one of the most genuinely warm and filmmaker-centered experiences I've had. That's no accident. It's the direct result of the vision and heart of ShIronbutterfly Ray, the festival's director, whose kindness and commitment to independent cinema and social impact create an environment where this kind of work can find its audience and its purpose. ShIronbutterfly, thank you for building something so rare, and for making Sandy and me feel so welcome.
On the afternoon of March 27th, Sandy and I had the privilege of presenting our panel "Lessons from the Set: Directing and Visualizing Domestic Violence" at the historic Three Rivers Museum. It was a real conversation, not a polished presentation, but the kind of honest exchange that only happens when the room is full of people who care. We talked about the full arc of making Domestic Animals: the script analysis, the construction of a visual language, the responsibility that comes with portraying violence in a way that refuses to exploit and refuses to look away. We talked about what the camera can do, and what it must not do, when the subject is this serious.
Evelyn Hibbs joined us at the panel, and her perspective grounded everything. She spoke from experience, not cinematic experience, but the experience of walking alongside survivors, of knowing what it actually costs to leave, to stay, to survive. That exchange between the filmmaking side and the advocacy side is exactly what we were hoping for when we built this panel. It delivered.
That evening, Domestic Animals screened as part of the festival's Domestic Violence Awareness Shorts program at the Historic Roxy Theater, followed by a Q&A with the community. Those post-screening conversations are what the film was made for.
I also want to take a moment to celebrate all the filmmakers who participated in the 27th Bare Bones festival. Walking those venues, watching films, talking to directors, writers, actors, and cinematographers from around the world, that's what independent cinema is. Bare Bones screens over 150 films and brings together more than 200 artists. That energy is contagious, and it's a reminder of why we do this work.
Domestic Animals continues to travel. Each festival, each screening, each conversation after the lights come up, this is the film doing what we hoped it would do when we made it. Sandy and I are grateful for every room that has been willing to sit with it.
More soon.
