Winner of Best Documentary at Julien Dubuque International Film Festival 2023

I am so excited to announce Labeled: The Missing, Murdered and Forgotten (@labeleddoc) won Best Documentary at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival.   

Firstly, thank you to everyone at @julienfilmfest for this incredible honour. I wasn’t kidding when I said this was the best festival I’ve ever been to in my life. Thanks to everyone who attended the screenings, engaged in the Q&A, and shared their kind words about the film.

A big thanks to my brilliant, hardworking cast and crew. And to Juanita, April Eve, Cara and Kathy King, and the rest of our brave speakers, thank you for opening my eyes to this tragedy and being the voice of a much needed change.  

There’s a reason why Julien Dubuque International Film Festival was called one of the Coolest Film Festivals in the World. Because it is. Simple as that. I have been thinking about what to say and I don’t think words can actually express how special this festival is.

Having the opportunity to see films from all around the world and engage with the filmmakers that made them is truly inspiring. I feel like I came out of the festival with a new outlook on the craft and I learned so much in the five days I was there. I am so grateful for the new friendships I made; I am so excited to see what everyone does next. And, I look forward to working with a lot of these new friends in the future as well.

On the last day, as we were all heading to the airport, the common saying was “this is not a goodbye but this is a see you later”. It was extremely difficult leaving everyone; not going to lie, it was pretty emotional. We became a family, we hung out every day, and it sucked having to go our separate ways. But, I know this is not the last time I will see this film festival family; this is only the beginning. Cheers to everyone I met, I love you all!

 Thank you to Susan Gorrell, all the volunteers, the city of Dubuque and every single person that had a hand in making this the very best film festival experience I ever had!