SHORT TO THE POINT – JUNE 2020 AWARDS
BEST FILM
The Saverini Widow | France | 2020 | 19’
Director: Loïc Gaillard
Writer: Loïc Gaillard, Wilfried Méance
Producer: Jonathan Hazan
Cast: Christiane Conil, Toussaint Martinetti, Cédric Appietto, Marie-Pierre Nouveau
Synopsis: Bonifacio 1883, extreme south of Corsica. The widow of the late Saverini lives in an isolated house near the cliffs, with her only son Antoine, and her dog. During the day, she assists women giving birth in town. One night her son is killed in a clash. The murderer flees to Sardinia. Her world falls to pieces…
BEST DIRECTOR
Father-time | Bulgaria | 2019 | 12’
Director: Martin Iliev
Writer: Martin Iliev
Producer: Angel Ivanov
Cast: Iosif Shamli, Martin Ivo Paunov
Synopsis: An ever absent father has only few minutes to teach his eleven-year-old son a life lesson before leaving him again.
BEST SCREENPLAY
The Saverini Widow | France | 2020 | 19’
Director: Loïc Gaillard
Writer: Loïc Gaillard, Wilfried Méance
Producer: Jonathan Hazan
Cast: Christiane Conil, Toussaint Martinetti, Cédric Appietto, Marie-Pierre Nouveau
Synopsis: Bonifacio 1883, extreme south of Corsica. The widow of the late Saverini lives in an isolated house near the cliffs, with her only son Antoine, and her dog. During the day, she assists women giving birth in town. One night her son is killed in a clash. The murderer flees to Sardinia. Her world falls to pieces…
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
The Saverini Widow | France | 2020 | 19’
Actress: Christiane Conil
Director: Loïc Gaillard
Writer: Loïc Gaillard, Wilfried Méance
Producer: Jonathan Hazan
Cast: Christiane Conil, Toussaint Martinetti, Cédric Appietto, Marie-Pierre Nouveau
Synopsis: Bonifacio 1883, extreme south of Corsica. The widow of the late Saverini lives in an isolated house near the cliffs, with her only son Antoine, and her dog. During the day, she assists women giving birth in town. One night her son is killed in a clash. The murderer flees to Sardinia. Her world falls to pieces…
BEST LEADING ACTOR
Father-time | Bulgaria | 2019 | 12’
Actor: Martin Ivo Paunov
Director: Martin Iliev
Writer: Martin Iliev
Producer: Angel Ivanov
Cast: Iosif Shamli, Martin Ivo Paunov
Synopsis: An ever absent father has only few minutes to teach his eleven-year-old son a life lesson before leaving him again.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Saverini Widow | France | 2020 | 19’
Cinematographer: Boubkar Benzabat
Director: Loïc Gaillard
Writer: Loïc Gaillard, Wilfried Méance
Producer: Jonathan Hazan
Cast: Christiane Conil, Toussaint Martinetti, Cédric Appietto, Marie-Pierre Nouveau
Synopsis: Bonifacio 1883, extreme south of Corsica. The widow of the late Saverini lives in an isolated house near the cliffs, with her only son Antoine, and her dog. During the day, she assists women giving birth in town. One night her son is killed in a clash. The murderer flees to Sardinia. Her world falls to pieces…
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Last Piece of the Puzzle | United Kingdom | 2020 | 09’
Set designer: Calum Marshall
Director: Nicolo Goattin
Writer: Nicolo Goattin
Producer: Rosie Goodwin
Cast: Natasha Chant , Angela Munnoch , Ian McShee
Synopsis: Hope, a young but inquisitive girl, has a seemingly perfect but repetitive life. Hope starts seeing mysterious logos on her belongings, including the pill she’s forced to take daily. Worried, she spits her pill out secretly. After a while she develops splitting headaches and hallucinates the logo shining all around her to the point of collapse. She wakes up in bed that night, only to find her mother with a glowing tube in her stomach, staring at her. This scares Hope, so she starts banging on the windows in an escape attempt. After a hard hit, the view outside glitches, and everything goes black. The ceiling glitches next, leaving Hope staring up into the sky. With no roof, Hope climbs up the walls to escape, only to see infinite rows of identical, roofless houses and the logo glowing in the sky.
BEST EDITING
My Life : Something Different | Czech Republic | 2020 | 04’
Editor: Jan Moravec
Director: Jan Moravec
Writer: Jan Moravec
Producer: Los Rentalos
Synopsis: We are watching on life of one young man from his birth, by school, first love and adult live. Now he is on crossroad and they are in crusial moment..
BEST NARRATIVE
Not Your Average Bear | Canada | 2020 | 15’
Director: Cliff Skelton
Writer: Simon Longmore
Producers: Adam Lolacher, Simon Longmore
Cast: Simon Longmore, Mauri Momose, Andrew Ucrianet, JC wendt, Christy Webb Gibson, Lisa Faist, Dominik Longmore, April Telek, Reese Alexander, Kevin O Grady, Adil Zaidi
Synopsis: A daring robbery pulled off by the most unlikely of culprits. What an average man will do when pushed to his limits.
BEST COMEDY
Summer Time | France | 2020 | 15’
Director: Andra Tévy
Writers: Andra Tévy, Manoline Beautier
Producer: Jonathan Hazan
Cast: Ophelia Kolb, Alice Barnole, Sylvain Dieuaide, Hervé Terrisse, Samuel Brafman
Synopsis: A summer Sunday on a café terrace near the Mediterranean coast. Everyone can’t help but notice their seemingly peaceful neighbors at the other tables. Subjective and distorted perceptions, an impression that the grass is greener elsewhere… The ensuing comparisons and criticisms trigger a crisis at their own tables.
BEST DRAMA
The Favor | France | 2019 | 15’
Director: HENRY Bruno
Writer: MAHIEU Maryline
Producer: BARRA Gaultier
Cast: HENRY Bruno, TREBEL Anne-Sophie
Synopsis: CHRISTELLE works with PASCAL. They appreciate each other, are courteous to each other and are inclined to render each other mutually. But Christelle becomes strange, absent and bothered. One Sunday while Pascal is at home with his family, Christelle calls him and asks him to come because she has a problem. Worried, Pascal immediately goes home. There, she asks him to make him a child. Pascal, a good family man, is shocked and tries to bring her back to reason but the more he opposes, the more Christelle tries to convince and charm him.
BEST HORROR
Sensor | United States | 2020 | 04’
Director: Brian L Tan “BLT”
Writer: Jonathan Hirsch
Producer: Andrea Pasquettin
Cast: Dana Lee, Nikki SooHoo
Synopsis: Haunted by his experiences from the war, a Vietnam Veteran has had enough. Placing motion sensors around his property, he’s decided to face his demons once and for all. Unfortunately, he’s in for more than he bargained for.
BEST FANTASY/SCI-FI
The Last Piece of the Puzzle | United Kingdom | 2020 | 09’
Director: Nicolo Goattin
Writer: Nicolo Goattin
Producer: Rosie Goodwin
Cast: Natasha Chant , Angela Munnoch , Ian McShee
Synopsis: Hope, a young but inquisitive girl, has a seemingly perfect but repetitive life. Hope starts seeing mysterious logos on her belongings, including the pill she’s forced to take daily. Worried, she spits her pill out secretly. After a while she develops splitting headaches and hallucinates the logo shining all around her to the point of collapse. She wakes up in bed that night, only to find her mother with a glowing tube in her stomach, staring at her. This scares Hope, so she starts banging on the windows in an escape attempt. After a hard hit, the view outside glitches, and everything goes black. The ceiling glitches next, leaving Hope staring up into the sky. With no roof, Hope climbs up the walls to escape, only to see infinite rows of identical, roofless houses and the logo glowing in the sky.
BEST STUDENT
Monkey Thief | United States | 2020 | 06’
Director: Zachary Ates
Cast: Macie M Ates, Jacob R Ates
Synopsis: Myles, a shy boy who musters the courage to face his bully, Dolores, and rescue his favorite toy from her. The ensuing battle ends prematurely as Myles makes a life-changing discovery.
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Black Bear | United Kingdom | 2020 | 11’
Director: Peter Paton
Writer: Peter Paton
Producer: Liam Morgan
Cast: Andrew Joshi, Anita Garcha, Brendon Riley, Paul Dewdney
Synopsis: After a traumatic experience we follow Riley through his trials and tribulations living with OCD. Black Bear aims to challenge the stereotypes and educate audiences on the symptoms and struggles of OCD through our protagonist Riley, and his road to recovery. Riley is robbed at the start of the film which triggers his OCD. He is struggling to live with the anxiety and how it affects his daily life, work, and relationships. Riley is suggested therapy sessions at the local church by his friend Shane, where a member Jeffrey tells a fable about dealing with mental health, a little at a time, day by day. This is the moving story of a man’s battle with his mental illness.
BEST CHILDREN SHORT
Dream Store | Poland | 2020 | 26’
Director: Paweł Olearczyk
Writer: Paweł Olearczyk
Producer: Paweł Olearczyk
Cast: Bruno Grzeszykowski, Anna Dzierża, Paweł Kumięga, Andrzej Róg, Marta Kontny
Synopsis: Kacper visits the Dream Store for his 10th birthday.
BEST ANIMATION
TOMAS. A TALE OF REDEMPTION Nº01 YEAR 2095 | Colombia | 2020 | 10’
Directors: Sandra Obando Morales, Tatiana Pinzon Salavarrieta
Writers: Diana Vanegas Márquez, Sara Vanegas Márquez, Sandra Obando Morales, Tatiana Pinzón Salavarrieta
Producer: Malpraxis Studio
Synopsis: In a post apocalyptic Bogotá, a man will do anything in order to get to Arcadia, the only place alive in the planet. No matter what it takes, he will take a series of decisions to save himself, until he is trapped by his own destiny.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“World Premiere Video” – The Music Video that survived after Music Television didn’t | United States | 2020 | 12’
Diector: Mike J. Nichols
Writer: Mike J. Nichols
Producer: Mike J. Nichols
Cast: Mike J. Nichols
Synopsis: Over 30 years ago, a young filmmaker embarked on a mission to make a low budget Music Video using Super-8 film – This Music Video paid tribute and homages to the 1980’s Music Television channel, MTV. Inspired by Eddie Van Halen and Frank Zappa’s son, Dweezil, he borrowed a guitar and wrote his first song entitled, I WANT TO BE ON MTV – and thereafter attempted to make a music video spoofing MTV favorites like Bon Jovi, Van Halen and even the New Kids On The Block. Amazingly, MTV’s own Dweezil Zappa did a cameo in this Music Video. But… …a fire destroys all the Super-8 footage and all this time it has been presumed lost… for 30 years…. YET, during the COVID-19 SXSW shut down, The Zappa documentary lost it’s World Premiere so Mike J. Nichols – the editor of the Zappa documentary – finally found an old tape of this lost Super-8 footage and during confinement created his own surprisingly heartwarming mini documentary to turn his lost Super-8 film footage into a WORLD PREMIERE VIDEO!!!! This is an honest and feel-good testament to a time when the world loved Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and everyday kids could use Super-8 film to make their own dreams toward one day making it in Hollywood…
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
The animal that therefore I am | Netherlands | 2019 | 11’
Director: Bea de Visser
Writer: Bea de Visser
Producer: Bea de Visser
Cast: Erin Hill, Hertog, Onida, Alexandra
Synopsis: “What does the animal see when it looks at me?” Three animals and a woman in an enclosed space. As they study each other, their own methods of communication create a wordless conversation. We view them in close-up and from various perspectives, with the woman as a solitary species in this universe.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
TSOY IS DEAD! | Russian Federation | 2020 | 06’
Director: Alexander Solovyov
Writer: Alexander Solovyov
Producers: Georgiy Cherdantsev, Kesh, Alexander Efoshkin, Alexander Solovyov
Synopsis: Nine-year old Kim lives in North Korea. Surrounded by a totalitarian regime every day is the same – until the moment when Viktor Tsoy’s rock concert interferes with the usual TV Signal. Kim is shocked by what he sees and becomes obsessed by the rock star, trying to move and dance like him. Kim is not the same person anymore, but will his new personality be accepted by his surroundings?
BEST MINI SHORT
I’m not alone, I have a dog | Taiwan | 2020 | 03’
Director: Sheng Ting Shen
Writer: Sheng Ting Shen
Producer: Sheng Ting Shen
Cast: Yi Tien Cheng
Synopsis: A girl loves spending time with her dog. She’s not alone, but she’s lonely.
BEST MOBILE PHONE
My Life : Something Different | Czech Republic | 2020 | 04’
Director: Jan Moravec
Writer: Jan Moravec
Producer: Los Rentalos
Synopsis: We are watching on life of one young man from his birth, by school, first love and adult live. Now he is on crossroad and they are in crusial moment..
BEST LOW/NO BUDGET
At Home with… Nick Mullins | United Kingdom | 2020 | 08’
Directors: Paul Longley, James Longley
Writer: Paul Longley
Producers: Paul Longley, James Longley
Cast: Paul Longley, James Longley, Trevor Longley, Susan Longley
Synopsis: The “At Home with…” team spends some time with football referee Nick Mullins, a man who has dreamt of being a referee since he was a child. We follow Nick as he copes with life in lockdown during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has kept him away from his beloved job. Nick opens up and gives us an insight into his life, his passions and his dreams for the future.
BEST SERIES (WEB/TV)
True Demon | Germany | 2019 | 12’
Director: Jan Zenkner
Writer: Hanno von Contzen
Producers: Max Lais, Hanno von Contzen, Jan Zenkner
Cast: Olivia Burkhart, Marcel Kowalewski, Justus Johanssen
Synopsis: Anna and Jess have been looking forward to going camping together. But their fun trip is cut short when Jess suddenly disappears under mysterious and seemingly supernatural circumstances. Now, Anna resolves to search for Jess and enlists her friends Lukas and Ben to join her. Equipped with cameras, they document and post their journey online for everyone to witness, as it leads them to find brutal creatures and a wide-ranging conspiracy. With each step down this sinister path, Anna discovers ever more of her own dark past… but that is only the start. TRUE DEMON is a fictional web series presented as an authentic vlog channel, with the videos filmed, edited and uploaded to YouTube by Anna and her friend Ben. While playing with the conventions of the format, TRUE DEMON also makes use of all its possibilities within the narrative. Anna regularly does live streams, interacts with the community and tells them in her vlogs what’s going on when the cameras aren’t running – an action-packed mystery in the style of a real YouTube channel designed to excite, engage with and share.
BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE
Homeward | Israel | 2019 | 05’
Director: Shirley Neeman
Writer: Shirley Neeman
Producer: Shirley Neeman
Synopsis: A woman leaves her home with only a suitcase in her hand. Exile is a lonely place, a search of a lost feeling of belonging, of identity and security. Nothing but a portrait on the wall to remind you where you came from, but it will not tell you who you are. Objects become a true companion when the searching road is the only place that feels like home.
