From March 31 to April 2, after three full days of film screening, industries panels, galas, living shows, the Universe Multicultural Film Festival (UMFF) complete its 2017 edition in a star dusting extra long red carpet. Hundreds of Hollywood stars and the film delegations from 13 countries create a beautiful image as rainbow in the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
This edition, the UMFF showed 100+ films and screenplays, 3 galas, 4 industries panels, living show of screenplay showcases and cultural fashion contest. There are more than 10 film projects reach cooperation agreement, and many more distributions deals are in discussion. It is a successful event.
At the award ceremony, hosted by Tracy Reiner, UMFF honored 3 Hollywood celebrity, Aki Aleong (Lifetime Achievement Award ); Mel Novak (Living Legend Award); Laurene Landon ( Trailblazer Award). The grand Jury Prize winner, Best Feature is “Blossoming Into a Family” (Japan); Culture Heritage Film Award is “ Kurdistan-Kurdistan) ( Turkey). The completed award winner list is here
| Award | Winner | |
| Grand Jury Prize - Best Feature | Blossoming Into A Family (Japan) | |
| Grand Jury Prize - Best Short | Reuben (USA) | |
| Living Legend Award | Mel Novak | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Aki Aleong | |
| Tailbalzer Award | Laurene Landon | |
| Achievement in Producing | Shumei Wang | |
| Culture Heritage Film Award | Kurdistan-Kurdistan (Turkey) | |
| Best Animated Film | True Love Under Sheets of Rain (USA) | |
| Best Student Feature Film | The Legend in My Heart (USA) | |
| Best Student Short Film | The Best and the Loneliest Days (USA) | |
| Best Documentary - Feature | Hmong Memory at the Crossroads (USA) | |
| Best Documentary - Short | The story of Clothes (India) | |
| Best Children's Feature Film | Big Lotus Little Lotus (China) | |
| Best Children's Short Film | The Little Horse Whisperer (China) | |
| Rising Star Award | Rushi Qiu, Xincheng Liao, Mingxuan Li, Lixuan Han | |
| Best Drama Feature Film | Thank for Destiny (China) | |
| Best Drama Short Film | The Dancer Girl (USA) | |
| Best Romance Film | BlinDate (USA) | |
| Best Musical Film | The Lottery (USA) | |
| Best Music Video | Peaceful Life (France) | |
| Best Cinematography | #OneSkyAbove (USA) | |
| Best New Director | Zha Luo | |
| Screenplay Contest - Best Feature Screenplay | Taking Down The Met (USA) | |
| "Screenplay Contest - Best Screenplay in A Foreign Language" | The Cupids (China) | |
| Best Culture Fashion Artist | Mary Liu; Li Wang;Siqing Burrow; Mingxuan LI; Lixuan Han; Shumei Wang; Tong Li |
