BEST FILM

Resistance | France | 2020 | 08’              

Director: Maxime Chefdeville    

Writer: Maxime Chefdeville       

Producers: La French Corp , Buffalo Corp                              

Synopsis: The incredible story of a group of French resistance fighters unwillingly participating in the D-Day landings.

BEST DIRECTOR

PPMS | France | 2021 | 24’        

Director: HERENGER      

Writers: HERENGER, MARLEIX   

Producers: PAWLOWSKI, MINISINI                          

Synopsis: A group of elementary school teachers have to organize a “Specific Security Plan in the event of Attack or Intrusion” for the school – organize meaning devise a scenario, play it out, then evaluate the consequences. A sure way to get dramatic without even realizing!

BEST SCREENPLAY

The End of Originality | Denmark | 2021 | 10’

Writer: Laura Zayan       

Director: Laura Zayan    

Producers: Caroline Worning, Laura Zayan           

Cast: Hannah Gintberg-Dees      

Synopsis: Will there ever come a time when no new ideas are left to invent?

BEST LEADING ACTRESS

Henry | United States | 2021 | 16’

Acress: Sini Mattila

Director: Babette Siobhan           

Writers: Babette Siobhan, Shana Aguilar D.

Producers: Michelle Johnson, Tyler Lee Gibson  

Cast: Myles Olmsted, Sini Mattila             

Synopsis: Henry has suddenly found completeness in love at first sighting of Bridgette. But as real-world stress seeps into his idyllic relationship, he learns the tighter he holds on, the faster the grip on his self-control disappears.

BEST LEADING ACTOR

Say bye | Russian Federation | 2020 | 32’           

Actor: Pavel Egorov

Director: Toma Selivanova                                          

Cast: Pavel Egorov, Alena Gromova, Valus Tertelis, Polina Raikina, Lena Byshina , Kolya Neukoelln, Luchiya Nalchadjian               

Synopsis: Ivan is having a farewell party. In his pocket there is a ticket to Vancouver for the following day and the status of a political immigrant. He is in his 40’s and wants a fresh start in life.  He arrives at an apartment in a neo-Stalinist building in the central Moscow, with a rich family history. This is the home of his ex-wife Marina, who is the same age with him. She has a creative profession and has an adult daughter with a serious mental disability.  To his party, Ivan invites his friends that are otherwise unlikely to ever gather together again. Each one has their own reason for coming. Each one has their own reason for struggling to say bye.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

DYE RED | Italy | 2020 | 13’       

Cinematographer: Vittoria Campaner

Director: Vittoria Campaner       

Writers: Vittoria Campaner, Elenie Chung             

Producer: Reina Higashitani        

Cast: Ana Coto, Fabianne Therese Gstottenmayr

Synopsis: Italian/American Production:  Celeste and Aurora have lived together for some time. Dye-Red is a dark but graceful slice-of-life look at their relationship.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The End of Originality | Denmark | 2021 | 10’

Production Designers: Loes Priesman, Laura Zayan

Director: Laura Zayan    

Writer: Laura Zayan       

Producers: Caroline Worning, Laura Zayan           

Cast: Hannah Gintberg-Dees      

Synopsis: Will there ever come a time when no new ideas are left to invent?

BEST EDITING

Until We Meet Again | United States | 05’

Director: Nariman Hamed           

Writer: Nariman Hamed               

Producer: Nariman Hamed                         

Synopsis: An exploration of the current state of mind in the US through a series of picturesque shots of people. 

BEST COMEDY

Resistance | France | 2020 | 08’              

Director: Maxime Chefdeville    

Writer: Maxime Chefdeville       

Producers: La French Corp , Buffalo Corp                              

Synopsis: The incredible story of a group of French resistance fighters unwillingly participating in the D-Day landings.

BEST DRAMA

A Sound in Motion | Portugal | 2020 | 12’          

Director: Ricardo Teixeira

Writer: Ricardo Teixeira

Producer: Mafalda Leal Moura  

Cast: Inês Mendonça, Hugo Olim, Hugo Danin    

Synopsis: Rodrigo challenges Joana to dance again. The rhythm is the same but she hasn’t heard it in the same way since the accident. Rodrigo’s will, Joana’s anger and another way of listening to the world reveal new challenges. Will Joana be able to adapt to a new normal? Will Rodrigo have the strength to help Joana overcome this new condition?

BEST HORROR

Jack’s Last Cigarette | Mexico | 2020 | 05’          

Director: Ismael Capistrán           

Writer: Ismael Capistrán, Pablo Martínez, Carlos Isaías Pérez

Producer: Carlos Isaías Pérez     

Cast: Kevin Bertram       

Synopsis: While driving alone at night, Jack tries to lit up a cigarette. He doesn’t realize he is not as alone as he thinks, or that this could be his last cigarette.

BEST ROMANCE

Black Coffee | United States | 2020 | 14’             

Director: Vito Lyles         

Writer: Deanna Alisa Ableser     

Producer: Deanna Alisa Ableser

Cast: Charlotte Williams, Tony DeCarlo  

Synopsis: A woman and a man sitting in a coffee shop toy around with the idea of a simple kiss between strangers.

BEST DANCE/MUSICAL

ПUZZLE | Russian Federation | 20’

Director: Anastasiya Sovashchenko                

Producer: Anastasiya Sovashchenko                              

Synopsis: This film is about the moment when a person creates something unique and creative. We will consider what the process consists of, what hinders it and what helps. It’s like traveling from room to room, where dance parts that symbolize details of puzzle that called “Creativity”

BEST STUDENT

Trees Under Water | Germany | 2021 | 25’        

Director: Julian Simon Pache      

Writers: Julian Simon Pache, Mattias Engling       

Producers: Julian Simon Pache, Lukas Soboll                        

Synopsis: When the young photographer Simon sets out to photograph a motif that has has been on his mind for a long time, he is hit by the tour-bus of an overtired punk band. Concise scenes from his life appear before his inner eye: Memories of things past, habitual actions and schemes of the present, narratives and fictions.

BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR

Struck by Lightning | Estonia | 18’          

Director: Romet Esko, Raul Esko

Writer: Romet Esko        

Producer: Romet Esko   

Cast: Brandon Enrico Lebbin, Romet Esko, Raul Esko        

Synopsis: Raul and Romet are two film school students who one day wish to become world-famous film directors. However, this is not the purpose of this film. They had a really unique friend Brandon – he was a wild card. Suddenly Brandon committed suicide. Now the brothers attempt to understand the mysterious end of their best friend, by making a movie for him.

BEST CHILDREN SHORT

Ramón | Mexico | 2020 | 08’    

Director: Natalia Bernal                

Producers: Natalia Bernal, Giselle Geney, Alejandro Coronado, Andrés Montaña

Cast: José Ramón García Nava   

Synopsis: Ramón, an 8-year old Mexican kid, week after week practices kickboxing with care and passion. After much training, Ramón is finally participating in his first national championship. At the end of the fight and for the first time in his life, Ramón will learn the meaning of winning and losing.

BEST ANIMATION

Portrait of a woman | Poland | 2020 | 05’          

Director: Natalia Durszewicz      

Writer: Natalia Durszewicz          

Producer: Agata Golańska           

Cast: Milena Lisiecka      

Synopsis: This eponymous “female portrait” is made of social expectations, stereotypes and cultural constructs. The protagonist must continuously reject the roles imposed on her and adjust to the views of others. Finally, the woman decides to liberate herself from the surrounding limitations. Will she manage to escape? This animated interpretation of a poem by Wisława Szymborska, a Nobel Prize Laureate, was painted using the palette of red shades, such as the colour of her lipstick, rose petals or blood drops. The feelings and emotions of the character are complemented by the depictions of nature, while deep colours and intensifying music create the atmosphere of tension and unease.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Joel | Australia | 2020  |  10’     

Director: Leigh Mackenzie           

Writer: Leigh Mackenzie              

Producer: Leigh Mackenzie         

Cast: Joel Kelly  

Synopsis: A cinematic glimpse into the world of an artist with a difference

BEST EXPERIMENTAL

The End of Originality | Denmark | 2021 | 10’

Director: Laura Zayan    

Writer: Laura Zayan       

Producers: Caroline Worning, Laura Zayan           

Cast: Hannah Gintberg-Dees      

Synopsis: Will there ever come a time when no new ideas are left to invent?

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

Is This What You Dreamed, Then? – Robert Leslie | Canada | 2021 | 05’

Directors: Michelle Beaudoin, Marc-Antoine Jodoin        

Writers: Michelle beaudoin, Marc-Antoine Jodoin            

Producer: Marc-Antoine Jodoin

Cast: Samuel Rouillard, Kate Dessureault              

Synopsis: The journey of a fleeing teenager as he decides to walk his way back home.

BEST LOW/NO BUDGET

Family Salad | France | 2020 | 04’          

Director: Adélaïde Nicvert           

Writer: Léo Bossavit                       

Cast: Fabian Godineau-Le Roy   

Synopsis: It’s often difficult to tell people you care about, that you loved them. But today, Max has decided and this time he will succeed. Today is gonna be the day where he finally gonna told them.

BEST DEBUT

Home of my memories | Mexico | 2020 | 07’    

Director: Javier Méndez Lafón

Writer: Javier Méndez Lafón      

Producers: Ignacio Martinez Casares, Javier Méndez Lafón, Anita & Ian Mardis, Marc Goldner, Rachel Korsen, Robert Gross                   

Synopsis: This 7 years in the making shortfilm will bring back all the memories of those who teached us something invaluable.   “A kid find his passion through the experience of his grandfather, all of those teachings come alive in a truly wonderful way.”

BEST AMATEUR

Traditional Drag 變裝 | Taiwan | 2020 | 04’     

Director: Sean Tien         

Writers: Sean Tien, Guo Shang-Sing        

Producer: Sean Tien       

Cast: Joe Black Chou      

Synopsis: Juxtaposing the imagery of a Traditional female character played by a male actor who secretly wants to perform as a Drag-Queen as well but is struggling internally from the pressures of Conservative Taiwanese society to “come out of the closet”.  Background: Up until the 90s, traditional Chinese opera only allowed male actors, and thus female parts were acted out by men.  These actors were regarded as talented artists by the older/conservative generation, yet in modern times, Drag-Queens are regarded by the same group with confusion and disgust.

BEST SERIES

Metta da fein – Pilot | Switzerland | 2020 | 21’

Directors: Carlo Beer, Urs Berlinger         

Writers: Carlo Beer, Urs Berlinger, Alexander Seibt          

Producers: Nadine Lüchinger, Flavio Gerber, Flavio Deflorin         

Cast: René Schnoz, Tina Bundi, Roman Weishaupt, Curdin Caviezel, Ursin Derungs, David Flepp, Marietta Jemmi 

Synopsis: Wonderfully monotonous peace reigns in the most beautiful village in the world until farm animals with severed legs are frequently discovered. The small community is thrown into turmoil. While some villagers believe in an old cruel legend, the village policeman Aldo tries to solve the mysterious case. The brutal murders increase – and with them the distrust of the villagers. The series of murders comes to a bitter end when disaster strikes at the village festivities.

BEST FASHION SHORT

ELIZABETH | United Kingdom | 2020 | 07’           

Director: Celia Arias, Manuel Mollá         

Writer: Celia Arias           

Producer: Dagmar Bennett         

Cast: Elizabeth Gibson  

Synopsis: An echoing question rises: does the world end in fire, or with a single song?    Elizabeth Gibson stars in ‘Elizabeth’, directed by visual artists Manuel Mollá and Celia Arias in their debut collaboration.    Gibson hauntingly weaves an otherworldly narrative of a lonely woman, participating in the daily rituals of a life lived alone. A fragmented pastiche of her lived experiences reverberates around the setting, seeping in and blending with the subject’s otherwise mundane reality.    Whilst there are grander themes at play here on the fragility of life, the central character in front of Mollá’s lens subverts that to focus on the individual, asking not who we are, but rather who we were and how we can become fixated on this idealisation of ourselves.   Ultimately, ‘Elizabeth’may be read as a reflective interrogation into aging, isolation and memory. Released at a poignant time when the world’s population is self isolating to protect itself from a dystopian threat, the film serves as a temporal response to the collective anxiety, loneliness & repetition of daily tasks currently being experienced by people of all ages around the globe. The strange beauty that permeates through Mollá & Arias’ film nods towards the optimistic glimmer that, through art, we may connect and thrive through these times and find comfort in our memories.

BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE

Re-Animal | Spain | 2021 | 14’ 

Director: Rubén Garcerá              

Writer: Rubén Garcerá  

Producer: Rubén Garcerá                            

Synopsis: A series of crimes is devastating the city and there is only one person who is capable of finding the culprit: Toni Clues. When Mr. and Ms. Mendoza are murdered, their family decides to hire him. But time is against him as new victims begin to appear and the police are nowhere to be see. He will have to use all his track-hunting skills to try to solve the mystery: who is behind such gory deaths?