Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.
Jury: Themba Bhebhe (European Film Market), Michael Lerman (Overlook Film Festival), Farida Zahran (Director)
Dummy (Lithuania), Directed by Laurynas Bareisa
When a detained suspect walks investigators through the scene of his loathsome crimes, his law-enforcement escort makes an unnerving display of fellowship.
Jury statement: “We unanimously felt that this film is an extremely subtle, nuanced and unapologetic indictment of misogyny under the most extreme circumstances.”
Special Mention:
The Midsummer’s Voice (China/USA), Directed by Yudi Zhang
During a summer vacation, Lei, a young Chinese opera student, beings to experience changes in his voice.
Jury statement: “A beautifully orchestrated and quietly moving portrait of adolescents finding their own sense of self-worth.”
Student Short Awards:
Best Student Animated Short – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.
Jury: Cara Cusumano (Tribeca Film Festival), Angie Driscoll (Festival Programmer), Kate Erbland (Indiewire)
Daughter (Czech Republic), Directed by Daria Kashcheeva
Should you hide your pain? Close yourself inside your inner world, full of longing for your father’s love and its displays? Or should you understand and forgive before it is too late?
Jury statement: “Elegant and deadly silent in its emotional power, the jury was moved by this impressively crafted look at a father-daughter dynamic marked by missed connections, mistakes and emotional misunderstandings. With painterly attention to detail that renders movement (especially eye movement) deeply cinematic, this universal story is a welcome reminder to take time for loved ones before it’s too late, and also that it’s never too late.”
Special Mention:
SH_T Happens (Czech Republic/Slovakia/France), Directed by Michaela Mihalyi and David Stumpf
The caretaker exhausted by everything, his frustrated wife and one totally depressed deer. Their mutual despair leads them to absurd events, because… shit happens all the time.
Jury statement: “With a candy-sweet color palette and not a single spoken word, this film took us on an endlessly unexpected and entertaining journey, bringing us 13 minutes of dark comic absurdity that manage to capture the whole emotional spectrum of human (and deer?) relationships. An utterly unique film that gleefully leans into its title.”
Best Student Documentary Short – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.
Jury: Cara Cusumano (Tribeca Film Festival), Angie Driscoll (Festival Programmer), Kate Erbland (Indiewire)
For Your Sake (Germany), Directed by Ronja Hemm
Nepal is facing a generational change. Two daughters of a Tamang family are preparing to study abroad. Their hopes for a better life are high, but the price is immeasurable. They have to leave behind what is the Tamang people’s greatest good: their family.
Jury statement: “The jury would like to honor a timely film that shows how essential education and family support is to female empowerment and emancipation. Told through the perspective of three generations of Tamang women in Nepal, For Your Sake, observes its subjects with refreshing joy and optimism, and uses a conversational style to demonstrate how opportunities for women to study, travel and marry based on personal choice can co-exist with tradition and still lead to radical cultural change.”
Special Mention:
All Cats Are Grey in the Dark (Switzerland), Directed by Lasse Linder
Christian lives with his two cats Marmelade and Katjuscha. As he is yearning to become a father, he decides to fertilize his beloved cat Marmelade by an exquisite tomcat from abroad.
Jury statement: “An endearingly human exploration of what it means to care for another creature, quirks and all, All Cats Are Grey in the Dark introduces its audience to a loving — if unexpected — familial unit and tracks them through a major impending change. An observational outing that never judges its principal subject, the documentary instead trusts its viewers to draw its own conclusions and view it through their own emotional lens.”
Best Student International Short – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.
Jury: Sarah-Tai Black (The Royal Cinema), Malin Kan (American Film Institute), Andrew Stephen Lee (Writer/Director)
Still Working (Switzerland), Directed by Julietta Korbel
In an abandoned factory destined to be demolished, the routine of Pavel, the caretaker, is disturbed by the arrival of a young engineer who discovers an unusual electric activity, a running turbine. Pavel will be faced with the imminent disappearance of the factory and the end of his universe…
Jury statement: “For the poetic ways in which this film uses formal precision to evoke the memory of place, a man left behind, isolated in a moment in time.”
Special Mention:
22:47 Linie 34 (Switzerland), Directed by Michael Karrer
It’s 10:47pm on a bus somewhere in a city. A few teenagers are listening to music and talking loudly. The other passengers look languidly out the window or at their cell phones. A drunk man gets in and joins the teenagers; the mood starts to shift…
Best Student U.S. Short – Winner received a $1,000 cash prize.
Jury: Shali Dore (Variety), Victoria Rivera (Writer/Director), Landon Zakheim (Sundance Film Festival)
Heading South (China/USA), Directed by Yuan Yuan
8-year-old Chasuna travels from her home in the grassland to visit her father who lives in the big city. However, during her father’s birthday party, she finds out he has remarried to a Chinese woman. Chasuna has to learn how to accept her as part of the family.
Jury statement: “For its elegant use of visual language to deftly convey emotion in every frame, paired with subtle performances and superb direction.”
Special Mention:
Tape (USA/Canada/Finland), Directed by Jojo Erholtz
A 16-year-old hockey player tries to repair her relationship with her teammate while preparing for the team’s pre-qualifying match.
Special Jury Awards:
Best International Short – Winner receiveda $1,000 cash prize.
Jury: Felipe Montoya Giraldo (Bogotá Short Film Festival), Nadia Neophytou (Journalist), Marie-Elaine Riou (REGARD-Saguenay International Short Film Festival)
The Tongues (Norway), Directed by Marja Bål Nango and Ingir Bål
During a blizzard on the tundra, a Sami woman is herding her reindeer when she is attacked by a man. Her sister senses that something is wrong and starts looking for her. Wrapped in fear and confusion, both women will unite in their fight for revenge.
Jury statement: “Crafted by two Sami sisters, who write, direct and act in the short film, The Tongues gives us an opportunity to learn about a part of Norwegian culture that’s perhaps not as widely known and denounces violence against women while empowering them. It’s a unique story but a universal issue, experienced through the tension built on powerful editing and cinematography.”
Special Mention:
Funfair (Iran/Canada), Directed by Kaveh Mazaheri
Majid, a young financially struggling man comes up with a ploy in order to better the life of his wife Sarah.
