'Recollection' brings home Best Northwest Feature awards

A filmmaking family shot for the moon and has found themselves among the stars.

Paradox Studios, founded and owned by Caden Butera of Coeur d'Alene, won the Golden SpIFFy top award for Best Northwest Feature at the Spokane International Film Festival, as well as the audience choice award for Best Northwest Feature. The film, "Recollection," premiered March 7 at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center on the Gonzaga University campus.

"We managed to have a full house of 700 people," Butera said March 19. "We actually sold past sold out; they had to turn people away at the door.

"It was really exciting to see how many people came to support a local film and support us," he said. "We had people dressing up and looking all fancy, our lead cast and our lead crew showed up, dressed up in suits and fancy dresses."

The 119-minute "Recollection" was filmed entirely in the Inland Northwest utilizing local talent as well as a few Hollywood heavy hitters, including Eric Roberts, Falk Hentschel and Cesar Garcia. The lead was played by actress Rosslyn Luke.

"We got a really awesome reception afterwards, an awesome standing ovation, which I did not expect," Butera said.

"It was really exciting," said Caden's younger brother, Rylan, who composed the music for the film.

"It had been three years of us working on this movie," he said. "To get any type of viewership was awesome, the recognition for the hard work we put into it was awesome. I'm glad people actually watched the movie."

"Recollection" was directed by Caden and co-written by the brothers, both graduates of Coeur d'Alene High School. Their mom and dad, Jackie and Mark, have also been involved in the multi-year process, making "Recollection" an undertaking for the whole Butera family.

A Q&A was held after the film played, during which Caden and Rylan took the stage with four of the main talents to talk with audience members.

"The coolest thing for me was seeing some of the cast members we hadn't seen for like two years since we filmed the movie," Caden said. "When you are filming a movie, you have blood, sweat and tears together, and so much love for 28 days and then you don’t see them for a really long time."

Jackie, who works as the producer for Paradox Studios, said her favorite part of the evening was listening during the Q&A as her sons and their colleagues discussed the stories of friendship that unfolded throughout the filming.

"At the end, they all gave a big group hug," she said. "It was really, to me, the touching part of the night where all of this hard work came together."

This was not the first time Paradox Studios garnered recognition. A 2023 short film, "John Thick," won Best Film at the 2025 Spokane Comedy Festival, Best Comedy at PopCon 2024 and Audience Choice at the 2024 NO ID Film Festival. Another 2023 short, "Dead Men Ride Again," which also starred Falk Hentschel along with Aubrey Shimek Davis, won Best Heroes at PopCon 2024, Best Director and Best Actress at NO ID Film Festival 2024 and nominations for directing, cinematography, editing production design and more. Paradox was recognized for a few earlier projects, as well.

"Recollection" will now be entered into the Desertscape International Film Festival in St. George, Utah, and the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in Iowa. The team is also working on film distribution.

Caden and Rylan said they were not expecting to win when the Golden SpIFFy announcement came the day after the "Recollection" premiere. 

"The real reward for us was having a full auditorium of people watching our movie," Caden said. "The cherry on top was the award. We could have walked away with nothing other than being able to entertain people for the run time. Being able to walk away with an award was extra special."

    Coeur d'Alene High School graduates-turned-filmmakers Rylan Butera, left, and big brother Caden Butera show off their official lanyards at the Spokane International Film Festival earlier this month, where their film, "Recollection," won the top award for Best Northwest Feature.
  

    The minds and talents behind "Recollection" answer questions following the award-winning film's March 7 premiere at the Spokane International Film Festival. From left: Music composer Rylan Butera, Director Caden Butera and actors Stephen Morton, Cesar Garcia, Falk Hentschel and Rosslyn Luke.