CNN Press Release - For his short film “13th Amendment,” Mike Dennis of Philadelphia, Pa., followed his 90-year-old great-great-grandmother on her trek to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. The film, depicting the lifelong voter’s first opportunity to cast a vote on behalf of a black man for U.S. president, took the Grand Jury Award at the iReport Film Festival, CNN’s first user-generated short film competition.

In comments about “13th Amendment,” film reviewer Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said: “In less than five minutes, Mike Dennis tells a complete story with an inspirational message. I was impressed by all the entries, and I'm sure I'll see many of these names on feature-length films and documentaries in the years to come.”

Following the theme “Campaign 2008,” the iReport Film Festival provided a platform for filmmakers to document this year’s presidential campaign from their personal vantage point, whether they were volunteering for a campaign or had compelling stories about this election they wanted to document creatively. This short film can be found at http://www.iReport.com/docs/DOC-90261.