Marlin Darrah in his Portland studio.

Filmmaker Marlin

Darrah Wins

‘Burtie’

Veteran travel film shooter Marlin Darrah has won the Burton Holmes Award for the best of show at the TRACS annual Showcase in Chicago.

Darrah, head of the widely respected International Film and Video Co. of Portland, took the Burtie for his travel doc, The Silk Road, that traces the timeless route traders and warriors once took from Istanbul through Samarkand, Xi’an, Bushkara to Bishkek and Khiva.

Darrah’s films have appeared on PBS, CNN, CBS, Fox, ABC, the Discovery, History and Travel channels. His travels to 130 countries have produced more than 70 travel docs.

Marlin Darrah in the Tribal Zone between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with bodyguard.

Darrah’s new two-hour documentary on Egypt was recently premiered in Cairo before an audience of 3,000, including President Mubarak and his wife.

A newcomer to TRACS, this was Darrah’s first Showcase. He  is represented by Windoes Travelogues.

Only those film artists who presented their Showcases in person in Chicago were eligible to enter the contest.

The Burtie award, given annually by Travel Adventure Cinema magazine, was named for Burton Holmes, founder of the travel film art form more than a century ago. He actually coined the word “travelogue.” Holmes, early in his career, had shown one of his travel programs at the Contemporary Museum of Art, the  same venue where the Travel Adventure Cinema Society Showcase was staged Sept. 19.

Only those Artists who showed their films in person were eligible to compete for the Burtie.

The balloting for the Burtie was held after the Showcase ended because the paper ballots never arrived in time. Ralph Franklin, publisher of TAC, conducted the voting by e-mail and phone after attendees returned home.

Had Burton Holmes attended the Chicago Showcase he would have been amazed at the quality and diversity of the films. Said Robin D. Wlliams, the master of ceremonies:

“The Showcase was a display of gorgeous scenery and vibrant culture, including dynamic dancing, and singing groups that took your breath away…Never in the history of our film genre have we been feted to so much high quality film entertainment…None of us wanted this magic to come to an end.”

Film Artists Chairman Stan Walsh was in overall charge of the Showcase.

The following artists and their Showcase films:

Marlin Darrah— Silk Road; Italy; Indonesia.

Steve Gonser— St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

Steve McCurdy—No Matter How Dark the Present; The World Is Round; My Private Italy.

Sandy Mortimer—The Heart of San Francisco.

Sid & Mary Noland—Cruising the Eastern Mediterranean.

Fran Reidelberger—The Best of Bavaria.

Stan Walsh—Italian Lakes Adventure.

Robin Williams—Mayday—Pacific.

John Wilson—Inside the Tuscan Hills.

The following previews were produced by filmmakers who did not attend the Chicago Showcase:

Clint Denn—Portugual & Cruising the Douro.

Regina Fraser—Uruguay’s City of the Drums.

Dennis Burkhart—Southwest Travelogue.

Monty Brown—Wales: Land of Song.

Rudi Thurau—My California Adventure.

Don Van Polen—Sea to Sea in a Model T.

John Holod—The Great Rocky Mountain RV Adventure: New Mexico to Montana.

Mitch Anderson—China’s Amazing Rise.

Rus Muntz—Story Book Ireland.