#EOFF2025 Director’s Awards • Eastern Oregon Film Festival

Each year, the Eastern Oregon Film Festival presents a series of custom awards honoring standout filmmakers and exceptional works. For 2025, Festival Director Christopher Jennings has selected two special recognitions: the Rural Appreciation Award and the Spirit of EOFF Award.

The Rural Appreciation Award celebrates filmmakers who bring rural stories to life—offering vital context for our regions and spotlighting voices often overlooked beyond major population centers. The Spirit of EOFF Award honors a filmmaker’s talent, tenacity, and commitment to adventure—those who journey from afar to share their work, engage deeply with our community, and embody the creative spirit that defines EOFF.

This year’s special accolades honor two remarkable works that embody the heart of the Eastern Oregon Film Festival.

🏞️ Rural Appreciation Award — Burrowing Owls: A Love Story, directed by Alan Lacy

This film draws us into a landscape we all know, yet rarely see in such intimate detail. Set against the backdrop of Eastern Oregon, it follows the efforts to rehabilitate the region’s burrowing owl population — a story both poignant and eye-opening. Beautifully photographed and deeply rooted in place, Burrowing Owls: A Love Story highlights the wonder of our region and the dedicated people working to preserve its fragile ecosystems.

🎬 Spirit of EOFF Award — It’s Only Love, directed by Georgie Gentile

Filmmaker Georgie Gentile traveled across the country to share her deeply personal, experimental work with our community. It’s Only Love (2025) explores grief through a posthumous collaboration between Gentile and her late father, recontextualizing decades of home videos to examine time, memory, and loss. Blending formats, aspect ratios, and media, the film creates an intimate space where humor, honesty, and sorrow coexist. Gentile’s inventive use of hand-scratched animation, layered voiceover, and bold visual experimentation exemplifies the creative curiosity and courage celebrated by the Spirit of EOFF Award.