Poker Mockumentary Wins (Best in) Film Festival Award

Again, WTF is up with all the new poker movies, videos, shorts, Poker Beat spinoffs, internet talk shows, reality gigs, and other multimedia poker storylines being put out by folks other than Poker PROductions, ESPN, 441, or PokerRoad?

A new movie — Hitting the Nuts — debuted a couple weeks ago at the Cincinnati Film Festival to overwhelmingly positive reviews and even won the 2010 Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The story is a tale of professional poker\’s \”farm system\” in Scott County, Indiana …it\’s supposedly a little Waiting for Guffman, a little Spinal Tap, and by my take even a little Greater Tuna. Not about the actual WSOP as much as it is getting to the WSOP … by way of a big annual legally questionable tournament.

Seems potentially funny-ish … but probably better than the Grand, poker\’s last mockumentary, which proved to be a box-office flop despite a star-studded cast with the likes of Ray Romano, David Cross, Cheryl Hines, and Woody Harrelson, who perhaps ironically made his name in Hollywood by playing a character from rural Indiana:

The producers come from LA and Las Vegas improv troupes (we have improv troupes in Vegas?) — and their actors are all no-names. Sure, Cincinnati\’s no Cannes, but still … there were only 13 total awards given in Cincy, and Hitting the Nuts was competing with nearly 100 other films … many with award-baiting titles like Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution, Sounds of Beirut, and Trailerpark.