The documentary "White Boy," the story about the unjust 29-year incarceration of convicted drug trafficker Richard Wershe Jr, aka "White Boy Rick," has won the Freep Film Festival's Audience Choice Award. Wershe was arrested at age 17 and is now 47.
"We're honored to have been chosen as Freep Film Festival's audience award winner," the film's director Shawn Rech tells the Detroit Free Press via e-mail. "I believe this is a sign that moviegoers continue to be fascinated by flaws in our justice system. Many audience members approached me after screenings asking what they can do to help Richard Wershe Jr.
"Michigan wanted to see this film, but the rest of the world needs to see this film. I believe documentaries can serve as another, unofficial part of our system of checks and balances. For centuries, humans have been encouraged to question everything. This is exactly that on a larger scale."
The Audience Choice Award is selected by the filmgoers who rated films from one to five. The award comes with a $250 prize. The festival played last weekend at different venues in Metro Detroit.
The film, "The 24 Hour War" was chosen by a Freep Film Festival jury as the winner of the Spirit of Michigan Award. The awrd honors the movie that best exemplifies Michigan's spirit of ingenuity and creativity — both in filmmaking quality and topic, the Freep reported.
This film, co-directed by Nate Adams and podcaster-comedian-auto enthusiast Adam Carolla, tracks one of the most famous battles in auto-racing history: the Ford-Ferrari rivalry at Le Mans. Henry Ford II pushed Ford Motor to dethrone Ferrari in the legendary endurance race where Ferrari had reigned supreme for decades, the paper writes.
The Spirit of Michigan Award comes with a $500 prize.
