"Our Very Own," the movie which was shot in Shelbyville and held its local premiere last month, won the grand prize for Best Feature Film at the Bluegrass Independent Film Festival in Louisville, Ky., this past weekend.

The top prize for the category was $1,000.

Shelbyville native Cameron Watson, who wrote and directed the picture, said the festival "was wonderful."

"It was the first year they had ever done it and it was a real thrill to be the grand prize winner of the inaugural year. They had over 70 films from around the country competing."

Watson called the response from the audience "amazing."

"They laughed at all the right places and cried at the end. Just what I wanted! It was a true validation that the film really plays to the folks in middle America."

The director described the audience as people who had "no attachment to me or the film, and were just there to see a movie."

"It was a real testament to the general appeal and universality of this story. They 'got' it. And they voted us the winner of the entire festival!"

According to Janice Cole, who attended the festival, the film was "very well received." Cole, who was Shelbyville liaison for the movie, was also accompanied by Deborah Obenchain and Elizabeth Cole, both of whom had small roles in the film, and Jim Brown and Rick Simmons, who also helped with the local aspects of the production last year.

Judges for the film were 60 percent audience members and 40 percent professional judges, according to Cole. She said one person in the audience thanked writer/director/producer Watson for "making a film about real people," and one that he could take his family to.

Watson added that the distribution search is moving along as hoped and they are entertaining numerous offers at this time, "and are in the process of bringing new interested parties to the table."

"This, like everything in Hollywood, just takes time." Watson said. "You don't want to rush into a deal until you are ready, especially after so much time and care has gone into getting the product ready."

The film festival was held by the Oldham County Arts Association as homage to D. W. Griffith's innovative film-making techniques developed with his first feature film, Birth of a Nation, released exactly 90 years ago.

The semi-autobiographical movie is set in 1978 and stars Allison Janney, Keith Carradine and Cheryl Hines, along with rising stars Jason Ritter, Autumn Reeser and Hilarie Burton.

In the film, five local teens are excited about the return of another Bedford County native, Sondra Locke, who starred with her then-partner Clint Eastwood in several films of the era, including "Any Which Way But Loose."

The teenagers hope to follow the movie star out of Shelbyville, but at the same time, one of the group is facing a personal family crisis.