TAMPA, Fla. - Halfway through his thank-you speech, director Michael Mahonen had to choke back tears as he dedicated his award-winning film, “Sandstorm,” to the practitioners who lost their lives in the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

His film had won the Best Feature Film award at the 11th Tampa Independents’ Film Festival. The awards were presented on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 18.

The 76-minute film is about how a Chinese policeman involved in the persecution of Falun Gong has his conscience awakened as he is separated from his wife and daughter in the middle of a sandstorm. It has already garnered Best Feature Film awards at the Philafilm and deadCenter film festivals in Philadelphia and Oklahoma City respectively. It has also won two other awards, one at an international film festival in Moscow.

Sandstorm was one of the dozen or so movies that were shown during the Tampa Independents’ Film Festival. As best feature film, it was featured on the second day of the festival along with a student-directed movie, “The Poser.” All other films were shown on the first day of the festival.

The Tampa Independents’ Film Festival is by far the largest of the independent film festivals in Tampa. A lot of work went into the preparation for the festival. Jonathan Davenport, a first-time organizer of the festival and a film school graduate, said after the event, “We worked very hard for this festival, but we got to see and review a lot of films that people generally don’t get to see.”

One couple, after watching the movie, told The Epoch Times, “It was powerful … very powerful.” Another viewer, during a question-and-answer session, complimented Mr. Mahonen and called it a “fantastic” film.