A Nor'easter was raging outside, and inside the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook Village nobody seemed to mind. The second annual LIMEHOF Music Documentary Film Festival ran September 25 to 27 with 42 films from 15 countries, two theaters, Q&A panels and a sold-out hip-hop night, and it closed Sunday with 14 awards. The top honors went to films about Billy Preston, Kenny Loggins, Ann Wilson and the Filipino rock band Eraserheads.

The big winners

Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It, directed by Paris Barclay, won twice: Best US Feature and the Feature Audience Award. Dori Berinstein took Best US Director for Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart, the festival's opening-night film. Berinstein, a six-time Tony-winning Broadway producer, said what struck her most was the community the festival builds among filmmakers.

The international categories pulled people from a long way off. Maria Diane Ventura won Best International Director for Eraserheads: Combo on the Run after flying more than 20 hours from Dubai, and the band's main songwriter, Ely Buendia, came from Manila for the Q&A. Canada's Louis-Philippe Eno won Best International Feature for The Extraordinary Life of Robert Charlebois, the second straight year a Canadian took that prize, and Paris-born Hélène Sevaux won Best International Short for Four Hands.

Long Island on the honor roll

Two of the most moving wins stayed close to home. Central Islip's Archie Snowden won the Long Island Filmmaker Award for The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop, which we wrote about here. And 15-year-old Marlow Jean Pinnicia, a Ward Melville High School student from Setauket, won the Short Film Audience Award for The Art of Being Different, her film about how music helps her manage autism and the pressures of school.

Adam Ripp won the Innovation in Filmmaking Award for 1971: Billy Joel's Lost Interview, which uses AI to recreate Joel's first radio interview after Cold Spring Harbor came out. Here is our story on that film.

The full list

  • Best US Feature: Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It, Paris Barclay
  • Best US Director: Dori Berinstein, Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart
  • Best US Short: Oh Yeah!, Nick Canfield
  • Best International Feature: The Extraordinary Life of Robert Charlebois, Louis-Philippe Eno
  • Best International Director: Maria Diane Ventura, Eraserheads: Combo on the Run
  • Best International Short: Four Hands, Hélène Sevaux
  • Spirit of Independent Filmmaking: Summer Tour, Mischa Richter
  • Authentic Voice: Ann Wilson: In My Voice, Barbara Jean Hall
  • Innovation in Filmmaking: 1971: Billy Joel's Lost Interview, Adam Ripp
  • Musical Crossroads: Peter Asher: Everywhere Man, Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine
  • Social Impact: Newport & the Great Folk Dream, directed by Robert Gordon, produced by Joe Lauro
  • Long Island Filmmaker: Archie Snowden, The Long Island Underground Legends of Hip-Hop
  • Roots and Rhythm: Paquito D'Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall, Juan Mandelbaum
  • Short Film Audience Award: The Art of Being Different, Marlow Jean Pinnicia
  • Feature Audience Award: Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It, Paris Barclay

Where to see them

The Roots and Rhythm winner reaches the widest audience soonest: Paquito D'Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall airs nationally on PBS on October 12. The full awards ceremony is on YouTube. Sixteen of this year's films were Long Island premieres and three were world premieres, and the hall says the third festival is coming in 2027.

Photo: Festival executive director Tom Needham and artistic director Wendy Feinberg with Best US Director Dori Berinstein. Rob Tellerman, courtesy of LIMEHOF.