SHORT TO THE POINT JULY 2021 AWARDS
BEST FILM
Feeling Through | United States | 2020 | 19’
Director: Doug Roland
Writer: Doug Roland
Producers: Doug Roland, Phil Newsom, Susan Ruzenski, Luis Augusto Figueroa
Cast: Steven Prescod, Robert Tarango
Synopsis: Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, is a coming of age story that follows Tereek, a teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.
BEST DIRECTOR
Feeling Through | United States | 2020 | 19’
Director: Doug Roland
Writer: Doug Roland
Producers: Doug Roland, Phil Newsom, Susan Ruzenski, Luis Augusto Figueroa
Cast: Steven Prescod, Robert Tarango
Synopsis: Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, is a coming of age story that follows Tereek, a teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Quarantine | Russian Federation | 2020 | 15’
Writers: Vlad Malakhov, Aleksandr Khant
Director: Aleksandr Khant
Producers: Irina Bondarovich, Igor Kuznetsov
Cast: Irina Pegova, Roman Fomin
Synopsis: Irina works as an accountant. In the middle of a coronavirus pandemic she decides to go to the office to transfer salaries to the company’s employees. However, her plan falls apart when she meets Boris, the paranoid security guard who protects the office not only from robbers but also from the virus itself.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
The School Bus | Turkey | 2019 | 15’
Actress: Ezgi Ay
Director: Ramazan Kılıç
Writer: Ramazan Kılıç
Producer: Ramazan Kılıç
Cast: Ezgi Ay, Muttalip Müjdeci, Hüseyin Yıkılmaz
Synopsis: Nebahat, a teacher in her 20s, has just been appointed to a rural village school in Anatolia. She realizes that her students are struggling to arrive at school, hitchhiking tractors, using whatever means they can find. She asks the Ministry of Education for a shuttle, but without a driver, the vehicle is useless. So, she decides to be the bus driver for her students but she does not know how to drive!
BEST LEADING ACTOR
Feeling Through | United States | 2020 | 19’
Actor: Steven Prescod
Director: Doug Roland
Writer: Doug Roland
Producers: Doug Roland, Phil Newsom, Susan Ruzenski, Luis Augusto Figueroa
Cast: Steven Prescod, Robert Tarango
Synopsis: Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, is a coming of age story that follows Tereek, a teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
V=(4/3) πr^3 | China | 2020 | 20’
Cinematographer: Zhang Chaoyi
Director: Ruiqi LU
Writer: Ruiqi LU
Synopsis: In the winter, a ballerina tripped over two glass beads whilst dancing and then gave birth to a baby whose eyes are marbles. When the baby grows up, two children took her eyes by mistake.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
New Year’s Eve | United States | 2021 | 13’
Production Designer: Zhiqiang Gao
Director: Zeyingtai Steven Lyu
Writer: Zeyingtai Steven Lyu
Prodcers: Zeyingtai Steven Lyu, Lu Huang, Chen Lv
Cast: Tingqi Han, Chengxuan An, Ming Zhang, Shuo Xu, Hanxu Zhang, Zeyingtai Lyu
Synopsis: In the morning of New Year’s Eve, the old man is writing Chinese calligraphy when he oversees a man in the suit talking to his son and daughter-in-law about selling the old courtyard house. As the dark falls, the family gathered in the dining room for dumplings. The old man’s last attempt to persuade his family that he prefers to live in the old house instead of migrating to America fails. Reveling in the nostalgic memory of lighting firecrackers with his departed wife and juvenile son, he decides to take his grandson to shoot off some forbidden fireworks as a commemoration for the lost time. Their secret plan is exposed when his son comes to call them for dinner. After a long moment on his own, he decides to proceed with his unlawful action and makes fireworks blooming in the sky once again. The sound of fireworks is soon blended with the police siren at far.
BEST EDITING
Yoshi Funabashi | Italy | 2021 | 04’
Editor: Gigi Giallini
Director: Mattia Ramberti
Writer: Mattia Ramberti
Synopsis: A stylised portrait surrounding Yoshi Funabashi, founder of Studio Ypsilon: a luxury atelier designing Italian classics with a Japanese touch. By mixing his sophisticated heritage with a fascination for Italian music, Yoshi’s character becomes the embodiment of the “Opera Connoisseur”.
BEST NARRATIVE
Buona Notte | France | 2021 | 10’
Directors: Victor Bindefeld, Grégoire Bensimon
Writers: Victor Bindefeld, Grégoire Bensimon
Producer: Alexandre Dahan
Synopsis: On Halloween night, three thugs are on their way to a burglary, they’re about to break into an old house. They get caught by an armed owner, holding a shotgun. One of their phones starts to ring. It’s showtime…
BEST DRAMA
The Gambling City | Sri Lanka | 2020 | 16’
Director: Prageeth Maniyangama
Writer: Mola Senevirathne
Producer: Nuwan Alwis
Cast: Daya Wayaman, Chamara Priyasad, Kumari Dissanayake
Synopsis: “The Gambling City” short movie unveils the unflinching reality behind a funeral taking place within a highly underprivileged lumpen working class community, settled in the shanty shelters of the coastal belt in the city of Colombo. They live in the ghettoized outskirts of a futuristic dreamscape, with just a walking distance to the largest economic urban project of South Asia; ‘The Port City’ and to which the gigantic shadows of all the noble ministers’, judges’ and president’s fall, whereas these humans are born even without the right for fulfilling the basic exigencies of their lives, except their innate right for voting for their rulers. An old man in the community suddenly passes away and a petty bourgeois merchant in the coffin selling business, along with his helping hand grabs the opportunity of organizing his funeral on behalf of his family members. Eventually, the funeral turns out to be a ‘great gambling feast’ of the ‘merchant-vultures’ and the wily gamblers of the area. The corpse of a dead man claims a great capitalistic value in the gambling city. On the other hand, life leaves no choice for the living, other than bidding even the last thousand notes left in their pockets for the mega gamble in order to survive till tomorrow. As the police seize the place, the gamblers flee away while at last the inert corpse of the dotard gets arrested as the accused for the illegal gambling business. Thereupon, the old man’s wife and the son engage in a relentless struggle with the symbolic law of the police institution for granting the bail for their beloved’s body before it rots inside the jail, delineating the tragedy of such disadvantaged social outcasts who are victimized within the contemporary socio-legal structures in the country.
BEST COMEDY
Quarantine | Russian Federation | 2020 | 15’
Director: Aleksandr Khant
Writers: Vlad Malakhov, Aleksandr Khant
Producers: Irina Bondarovich, Igor Kuznetsov
Cast: Irina Pegova, Roman Fomin
Synopsis: Irina works as an accountant. In the middle of a coronavirus pandemic she decides to go to the office to transfer salaries to the company’s employees. However, her plan falls apart when she meets Boris, the paranoid security guard who protects the office not only from robbers but also from the virus itself.
BEST ADVENTURE/ACTION
Thinking of a Masterplan | Canada | 2021 | 18’
Director: Nin Meyboom
Writer: Nin Meyboom
Producers: Nin Meyboom, Ethan Fetterly
Cast: Michael Scott, Jessica Myrie, Michael Perotti, Harris Bailey, Mazz Amini
Synopsis: A robbery takes a turn for the worse.
BEST HORROR
Drip | Australia | 2021 | 09’
Director: Sidney Fenton
Writer: Sidney Fenton
Producer: Sidney Fenton
Cast: Elle Harris, Yuliya Napier
Synopsis: Logline: All she wanted was a quiet night at home. The home had other ideas. Brief synopsis: When the strange sounds in her new home prevent Elle from enjoying a relaxing night alone, she begins to suspect an evil presence. As she discovers the true intentions of her tormentor, her night becomes a fight to survive.
BEST THRILLER/MYSTERY
99 PROBLEMS | United States | 2021 | 17’
Director: Michael G Kehoe
Writer: Michael G Kehoe
Producers: Michael G Kehoe, Tori London, Richard Joel, Rob Harper
Cast: Richard Leacock, Tori London, Michelle Allaire, Will Dixon, Sala Baker, Yan Birch, Dennis Keiffer, Teva Dresbach-Barnea
Synopsis: A stranger offers people an opportunity to change their immediate future, an offer that could save them from danger.
BEST DANCE/MUSICAL
Cascades | France | 2021 | 15’
Director: Dorian Migliore
Writers: Dorian Migliore, Simon Lemonnier
Producers: Dorian Migliore, Simon Lemonnier
Cast: Yann Miettaux, Simon Lemonnier, Lucie Langlois, Lucas Nicolella
Synopsis: Trapped in his daily life, an individual embarks on a symbolic journey to encounter his deepest fears.
BEST STUDENT
Mother’s Day | Poland | 2021 | 11’
Director: Patryk Kaflowski
Writer: Patryk Kaflowski
Producer: Krystyna Doktorowicz
Cast: Alina Szczegielniak, Wiesław Kupczak
Synopsis: A short story about mothers in oppressions. The fox travels through the forest in search of food. When she reaches the edge of the forest, she comes across a lonely farm where she witnesses the stormy events involving a young woman expecting a baby.
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Maks | Slovenia | 2021 | 18’
Director: Martin Draksler
Writer: Martin Draksler
Producer: Jožica Blatnik
Cast: Maj Kralj, Nina Rakovec, Gregor Zorc
Synopsis: In the absence of his mother, seven years old Maks decides to find company at the basketball court. Lack of warmth and attention forces him to take matters into his own hands.
BEST CHILDREN
Colourful feathers | Mexico | 2021 | 04’
Director: Maribel Suárez
Writer: Maribel Suárez
Producer: Esteban Azuela
Synopsis: A group of white chickens cackle in a pastureland with their chicks, when they see a blue chicken arrive. They show their discontent and refuse to share their shelter. But when a fox prowl near the place, the white chicken finally accept the blue chicken in the group.
BEST ANIMATION
Save Ralph | United States | 2021 | 04’
Director: Spencer Susser
Writer: Spencer Susser
Producers: Jeff Vespa, Lisa Arianna, Spencer Susser
Cast: Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff, Tricia Helfer, Liv Tennet
Synopsis: Save Ralph is a stop-motion animated documentary-style short film written and directed by Spencer Susser and produced by Jeff Vespa in partnership with Humane Society International (HSI) and the Arch Model studio of puppet maker supreme Andy Gent. The film features HSI’s campaign spokesbunny Ralph, voiced by Taika Waititi, as he goes through his daily routine as a “tester” in a lab. In addition to Taika Waititi as Ralph, the film stars Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff and Tricia Helfer, with additional versions in Spanish, French, Portuguese and Vietnamese with Rodrigo Santoro, Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, George Lopez and others voicing the characters in those languages.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Queen for a Day | Germany | 2020 | 19’
Director: Inna Knaus
Writer: Inna Knaus
Synopsis: Going towards her final exam Inna, a film student, realizes, that she has a creative block and doesn’t have a film to present to her professors Wim Wenders and Pepe Danquart. She reflects on her life and her studying years and comes up with a plan to somehow pass the exam.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
V=(4/3) πr^3 | China | 2020 | 20’
Director: Ruiqi LU
Writer: Ruiqi LU
Synopsis: In the winter, a ballerina tripped over two glass beads whilst dancing and then gave birth to a baby whose eyes are marbles. When the baby grows up, two children took her eyes by mistake.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
TOST | Russian Federation | 04’
Director: Mikhail Gasimov
Writer: Mikhail Gasimov
Producer: Tasha Deeva
BEST MINI SHORT
{Be Authentic_ | United Kingdom | 2021 | 02’
Director: Michael Coppola
Writer: Michael Coppola
Producer: Nicci Brighten
Cast: Nicci Brighten
Synopsis: {Be Authentic_ is a 90-second micro-short film combining retro visuals and enchanting sound design with a modern diary-entry voiceover. We follow curious and free-spirited Bea on a solo day trip along the coast of North-East Italy as she escapes the pressures of urban living to reconnect with her authenticity and creativity. The snapshot story unfolds in the form of a sensory journey that inspires us to contemplate and appreciate the simple wonders of life. After all, it is these experiences and memories that make us who we really are. When getting away from it all and slowing down becomes a movement beyond Covid-19 lockdown and quarantine, it reminds us of the restorative benefits of much needed alone time as a pathway to true happiness and a way to collect material for those all-important memory banks. But is everything as it seems? And can we really believe our senses, or is our mind’s eye simply deceiving us?
BEST LOW/NO BUDGET
Bogdan and Rose | Poland | 2017 | 15’
Director: Milena Edyta Dutkowska
Writer: Milena Edyta Dutkowska
Producer: Milena Edyta Dutkowska
Cast: Maria Ciunelis, Jerzy Rogalski
Synopsis: Borden and Rose are an old marriage. They have been living together in one room, working at the same schools canteen, but they don’t speak to each other. Their live is filled with silence and daily reciprocal malice.
BEST AMATEUR
Seule | Canada | 2021 | 05’
Director: Abigail Whitney
Writer: Abigail Whitney
Producer: Abigail Whitney
Cast: Jasmine Ward
Synopsis: Seule is a fashion film about a young woman arriving in Toronto for the first time. But the city’s on lockdown-there’s no one to be found anywhere, she’s now left on her own in the empty streets of Toronto.
BEST FASHION SHORT
Nostalgia | Portugal | 2021 | 05’
Director: Anastasia Raykova
Writers: Anastasia Raykova, Angela Franklyn
Producers: Anastasia Raykova, David Royzengurt
Cast: Rina Grishina, Elizaveta Moryak, Alina Nizova
Synopsis: ‘Nostalgia’ is a short study of female friendship. After many years away, Adele returns to her hometown and meets her childhood friend, Nina. Growing up together they shared all their most joyful, happy and crazy moments. But the meeting turns out to be just a figment of Adele’s imagination as she passes by the familiar house filled with happy memories.
BEST COMMERCIAL/AD/TVC
JUST BREAK AWAY | Canada | 2021 | 05’
Director: Sean Kalra
Writer: Sean Kalra
Producers: Yael Carnet, Laura Carnet
Cast: Denzel Onaba, Mansa Aki Gibbs, Benjamin Ayesu
Synopsis: A young boy finds the inner strength to prevail over his surroundings by walking in his late father’s footsteps.
BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE
A Flower and Two Chicks | France | 2021 | 05’
Director: Alice Thibault
Writer: Alice Thibault, Pierre Delort
Synopsis: In an egg box, two birds and a flower live together. But sharing the place is not easy for everyone…