![Roza and Ryan Maille worked with Director Jacob Trombetta on the winning film, 'Turning Heads in Tiretown.' [KABIR BHATIA / WKSU]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fc7d7b7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3264x2296+0+0/resize/840x590!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2019%2F12%2F786250892_2096297618.jpg)
A film about a German New Wave artist -- and his visit to Akron -- took the top prize at the Highland Square Film Festival.
"Turning Heads in Tiretown" is a recreation of Klaus Nomi's stop here in 1980, when the David Bowie collaborator was in town to play a solo show.
Co-writers Roza and Ryan Maille accepted the award, saying they were inspired to make the film after reading about Nomi’s visit in a back issue of the Beacon Journal.
"There’s plenty of stuff that’s out there that’s probably just hidden away in a weird newspaper article that is definitely worthy of a film," Ryan Maille said. Added Roza, "Akron has an awesome Rust Belt history and I’m sure you could dig up something that would make an awesome movie."
The film fest hosted 17 films on Saturday, all under 5 minutes. Second place went to the animated “ Calls For Archie,” and the Audience Choice Award went to a humorous look at Akron's potholes.
Proceeds from the event benefited the Highland Square Neighborhood Association, which also hosts the annual summer PorchRokr music festival.
The winning films are available at the film fest's Facebook page.
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