And the FUTURESTATES Audience Award Goes to…..

In May, ITVS launched the first ever FUTURESTATES Audience Award. Voting has now closed. Thousands of you watched; hundreds of you voted. And now we have a winner.

But first: we're very happy to announce that ITVS has partnered with Telegraph 21 and The Big Screen Project to provide a very special Grand Prize to the winner. In August, the winning film will be shown on the big screen, in the bustling heart of the Big Apple. Located four blocks from the Empire State Building, on the Chelsea/Midtown border, The Big Screen Project at the Eventi Hotel has become a magnet for New Yorkers seeking fine cuisine and food for thought. Learn more about the project here. And so without further ado, we are pleased to announce the winner. Drum roll, please…

The winner of the 2011 FUTURESTATES Audience Award is That Which Once Was by Kimi Takesue. Set in 2032, the film follows an 8-year-old Caribbean boy who — after being displaced by global warming — fends for himself as an environmental refugee in a hostile Northern metropolis and forms an unexpected friendship with an Inuk ice carver.

Congratulations to all the films and filmmakers — it was a very close race — and thanks to everyone who watched and voted. Stay tuned to Futurestates.tv and the Futurestates Fan Page and Twitter feed for more updates on the original online series over the summer. 

Watch this web-savvy interview with filmmaker Kimi Takesue, courtesy of Max Pearlstein’s A Well-Lighted Place.