SHORT TO THE POINT JUNE 2021 AWARDS
BEST FILM
Deus Ex Machina | France | 2021 | 21’
Director: Langlois Jessy
Writer: Langlois Jessy
Producer: Langlois Jessy
Cast: Leeb Tom, Charmetant Christian, Coppin Dorcas
Synopsis: A young adult goes looking for his biological father. He’ll understand, when he finds out, that his daddy never ran away as he was told. His father suffers from a very little-known disease: Prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. Even if he would regularly meet his son in the street, he would be unable to know who he is. In spite of everything, father and son will end up and help each other.
BEST DIRECTOR
Deus Ex Machina | France | 2021 | 21’
Director: Langlois Jessy
Writer: Langlois Jessy
Producer: Langlois Jessy
Cast: Leeb Tom, Charmetant Christian, Coppin Dorcas
Synopsis: A young adult goes looking for his biological father. He’ll understand, when he finds out, that his daddy never ran away as he was told. His father suffers from a very little-known disease: Prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. Even if he would regularly meet his son in the street, he would be unable to know who he is. In spite of everything, father and son will end up and help each other.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Deus Ex Machina | France | 2021 | 21’
Writer: Langlois Jessy
Director: Langlois Jessy
Producer: Langlois Jessy
Cast: Leeb Tom, Charmetant Christian, Coppin Dorcas
Synopsis: A young adult goes looking for his biological father. He’ll understand, when he finds out, that his daddy never ran away as he was told. His father suffers from a very little-known disease: Prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. Even if he would regularly meet his son in the street, he would be unable to know who he is. In spite of everything, father and son will end up and help each other.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Restless | Denmark | 2015 | 29’
Actress: Sarah Boberg
Director: Asger Krøjer Kallesøe
Writer: Asger Krøjer Kallesøe
Producer: Maja Dyekjær
Cast: Sarah Boberg, Elliot Hove, Sophie Zinkernagel, Esben Dalgaard
Synopsis: Tinna, herself a recovering long time drug user, has her heroin addicted son living with her in her rehabilitative “half-way home”. As Tinna gets a job, she decides its time for her son to move out.
BEST LEADING ACTOR
And then, the silence | France | 2020 | 18’
Actor: Igor Kovalsky
Director: Lucas Trochet
Writer: Lucas Trochet
Producer: Idris Lettifi
Cast: Igor Kovalsky, Constantin Vidal, Riton Liebman, Matthieu Dessertine
Synopsis: Breton coast. The storm season has started. Matthias, in his twenties, kills himself on the job in the small family farm, waiting for the recognition of his father. As we prepare to celebrate the annual procession of the Virgin in the village, Hugo, his brother, comes back home.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Deus Ex Machina | France | 2021 | 21’
Cinematographer: Emerson Lefrancois
Writer: Langlois Jessy
Director: Langlois Jessy
Producer: Langlois Jessy
Cast: Leeb Tom, Charmetant Christian, Coppin Dorcas
Synopsis: A young adult goes looking for his biological father. He’ll understand, when he finds out, that his daddy never ran away as he was told. His father suffers from a very little-known disease: Prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. Even if he would regularly meet his son in the street, he would be unable to know who he is. In spite of everything, father and son will end up and help each other.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Help3 | France | 2019 | 16’
Production Designer: Valerie Bille, Karine Boutroy, Ceren Kaya
Director: Janek TARKOWSKI
Writers: Janek TARKOWSKI, Valentine THOMASSET
Producer: Quentin DANIEL
Cast: Gérard CHAILLOU, Clément BARTHELET, Juliette GERNEZ, Guillaume DENAIFFE
Synopsis: Nicolas, a pensioner fond of his independence, loses his autonomy following a heart attack. This results in his son, Gabriel, imposing on him a robot to assist him in his daily life, but Gabriel may have taken a thoughtless decision…
BEST EDITING
Deus Ex Machina | France | 2021 | 21’
Editor: Langlois Jessy
Writer: Langlois Jessy
Director: Langlois Jessy
Producer: Langlois Jessy
Cast: Leeb Tom, Charmetant Christian, Coppin Dorcas
Synopsis: A young adult goes looking for his biological father. He’ll understand, when he finds out, that his daddy never ran away as he was told. His father suffers from a very little-known disease: Prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. Even if he would regularly meet his son in the street, he would be unable to know who he is. In spite of everything, father and son will end up and help each other.
BEST NARRATIVE
And then, the silence | France | 2020 | 18’
Director: Lucas Trochet
Writer: Lucas Trochet
Producer: Idris Lettifi
Cast: Igor Kovalsky, Constantin Vidal, Riton Liebman, Matthieu Dessertine
Synopsis: Breton coast. The storm season has started. Matthias, in his twenties, kills himself on the job in the small family farm, waiting for the recognition of his father. As we prepare to celebrate the annual procession of the Virgin in the village, Hugo, his brother, comes back home.
BEST DRAMA
Restless | Denmark | 2015 | 29’
Director: Asger Krøjer Kallesøe
Writer: Asger Krøjer Kallesøe
Producer: Maja Dyekjær
Cast: Sarah Boberg, Elliot Hove, Sophie Zinkernagel, Esben Dalgaard
Synopsis: Tinna, herself a recovering long time drug user, has her heroin addicted son living with her in her rehabilitative “half-way home”. As Tinna gets a job, she decides its time for her son to move out.
BEST COMEDY
Celestine | Austria | 2021 | 18’
Director: Denis Pejovic
Writer: Denis Pejovic
Producer: Denis Pejovic
Cast: Peter Moucka, Rita Radinger, Max Konrad, Rafael Wagner, Marco Otoya
Synopsis: A conservative and old pensioner tries to seduce a young and graceful woman named Celestine who lives next door and is his tenant. He causes a water pipe burst in her apartment and offers her one of his rooms to stay overnight. Unexpectedly, the same water pipe burst happens in another apartment and Celestine makes the same offer to the romantic and dreamy young Jonas who then also moves in. Both men fight for the same woman.
BEST HORROR
Fury | Serbia |2021 | 25’
Director: Petar Ristovski
Writer: Nada Savič
Producers: Nada Savić , Miloš Pavlović , Lazar Ristovski
Cast: Teodora Ristovski
Synopsis: Fury, the Goddess of revenge, returns to Earth to save her past self, the seven-year-old girl Mia who is kidnapped and is to be sold. Mija’s memories are being erased in a special chamber at the edge of the city. While the clock is ticking, the Fury chases those responsible and confronts them with their sins: greed, addiction, fear, lust. Their sins kill them, one by one.
BEST FANTASY/SCI-FI
Help3 | France | 2019 | 16’
Director: Janek TARKOWSKI
Writers: Janek TARKOWSKI, Valentine THOMASSET
Producer: Quentin DANIEL
Cast: Gérard CHAILLOU, Clément BARTHELET, Juliette GERNEZ, Guillaume DENAIFFE
Synopsis: Nicolas, a pensioner fond of his independence, loses his autonomy following a heart attack. This results in his son, Gabriel, imposing on him a robot to assist him in his daily life, but Gabriel may have taken a thoughtless decision…
BEST THRILLER/MYSTERY
The Confession Of Beuningen | Netherlands | 2020 | 06’
Director: Arjen Schotel
Writer: Arjen Schotel
Producer: Robin Bruinsma
Cast: Jack Wouterse, Nikki Kuis
Synopsis: “The Confession of Beuningen” is about Marius van Beuningen. A man with two sides who has done things that daylight cannot bear. For once he makes his confession. But isn’t it too late?
BEST DANCE/MUSICAL
Moving Barcelona | United Kingdom | 2021 | 07’
Director: Jevan Chowdhury
Writer: Jevan Chowdhury
Synopsis: Moving Barcelona is a magical realist dance story about the Catalonian capital, an autonomous region in the Spanish State contending with an identity crisis. A city with everything going for it is still haunted by the ghosts of its past and despite much progress, it finds itself unearthing old wounds. Narrated by celebrated actor, Pep Munné, who appeals for calm, there is a sense of reassurance that all is okay. The movement of the city however tells a different story, and he is resigned to the fact that things inevitably, are the way they are. Barcelonians, in pursuit of happiness, find themselves on a treadmill to nowhere in a tale of modern day life. Moving Barcelona is the eighth film in an award-winning collection of works by the London-based film-maker, Jevan Chowdhury to capture the world as a stage. Life on the street in London, Paris, Brussels, Dallas, Prague, Yerevan and Athens have all been recorded in this growing canon.
BEST STUDENT
Where ill winds blow | Switzerland | 2021 | 09’
Director: Francis Meier
Writer: Francis Meier
Producer: Niza Lou Waldburger
Cast: Adrian Naef
Synopsis: Balthasar wakes up in the cold, in nothingness. After finding refuge in a hut, he begins to remember a past existence.
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Where ill winds blow | Switzerland | 2021 | 09’
Director: Francis Meier
Writer: Francis Meier
Producer: Niza Lou Waldburger
Cast: Adrian Naef
Synopsis: Balthasar wakes up in the cold, in nothingness. After finding refuge in a hut, he begins to remember a past existence.
BEST CHILDREN
Il richiamo dell’aria (The call of the air) | Italy | 2020 | 11’
Director: Valentina Malcotti e Emilio Romeo
Writer: ispirato ad un racconto di Piero Chiara
Producer: SVEVA film
Cast: Sara Sozzoni
Synopsis: Chiara is a little girl who dreams of flying. To make this dream come true she builds a flying machine, with care and precision. The world of adults, however, calls she back to reality. Will she be able to take flight and make her invention work? Inspired by a story by Piero Chiara, “The call of the air” tells the conflict between reality and fantasy, through the gaze of a child…
BEST ANIMATION
Kandittundu (Seen it) | India | 2021 | 12’
Director: Adithi Krishnadas
Producer: Nilima Eriyat
Synopsis: The ever-vibrant Mr. P. N. K Panicker has several shockers up his sleeve. He takes the viewer along a moonlit stroll and paints a quirky picture of the supernatural encounters he has had.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
More woman, more cry | Norway | 2021 | 24’
Director: Anne Haugsgjerd
Writer: Anne Haugsgjerd
Producer: Jarle Bjørknes
Synopsis: Anne Haugsgjerd (77), a renowned Norwegian director, reflects in a poetic, provocative and emotional way about entering the last chapter of her life. A naked story about aging, gravity and smoking weed.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
Where ill winds blow | Switzerland | 2021 | 09’
Director: Francis Meier
Writer: Francis Meier
Producer: Niza Lou Waldburger
Cast: Adrian Naef
Synopsis: Balthasar wakes up in the cold, in nothingness. After finding refuge in a hut, he begins to remember a past existence.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
What Remains | Switzerland | 2021 | 05’
Director: Stefan Fitzner
Writer: Stefan Fitzner
Producers: Release me, I’m Restless Productions, LIONLION
Cast: Michael Rückert, Matthias Rückert, Andre Bayer, David Laplant
Synopsis: “What Remains” is a narrative-driven music video about a renowned Quantum Physicist who disappears after an alleged routine test in a research facility. His brother, left behind, struggles to keep his sanity while in pursuit of finding his twin brother. After almost going mad, he has a sneaking suspicion and tries the impossible… unaware that the effect might be the cause for his brother’s disappearance. Because everything is interconnected.
BEST MINI SHORT
r e L I E f | Brazil | 2021 | 04’
Director: Leonardo Aiello
Writers: Leonardo Aiello, Luiz Gustavo Auricchio
Producers: Murilo Paiva, Felipe Zamberlan
Cast: Daniela Cury, Thais Piza
Synopsis: The relief felt in the past becomes a void in the present, that can only be perceived by a level o maturity. The story is presented by the vision of a woman that searches for relief throughout her entire existence. Her craziness mingles with the purest feelings, like love, and all of this is personified within her mind.
BEST MOBILE PHONE
Chase!! | Japan | 2021 | 03’
Directors: Hiroki Kawanami, Tommaso Barbetta
Writers: Hiroki Kawanami, Tommaso Barbetta
Producer: Hiroki Kawanami
Cast: Hiroki Kawanami, Yuichi Yarita, Aimee
Synopsis: A thief steals phone from a guy, then this peculiar and astonishing chase begins!
BEST LOW/NO BUDGET
ĀMRA | Israel | 2020 | 09’
Producer: Imri Agmon
Synopsis: Imri, an Israeli army veteran quests to rural Vietnam, and in an unforgettable encounter with an old Buddhist monk, learns the true meaning of happiness.
BEST COMMERCIAL/AD/TVC
Fit for the future | Switzerland | 2021 | 02’
Director: Jonas Hofmann
Synopsis: Have you ever seen lawyers jumping around and turning somersaults? For this image film we woke up the inner Super Marios of our clients employees. Making them the protagonists of an adventurous short story in an illustrated game world based on the companies 7 guiding principles (simply effective, simply professional etc.). As a legal expenses insurer, Coop Rechtsschutz (engl.: Coop Legal Protection) is good at solving cases as effectively as possible. Ideally, not in court at all, but early on through skilful mediation. The lawyers and heroes of this story brought their personal talents and style to the set. They stand up for their client against the inflated paper monster. Result: Building and strengthening team play and employer branding. Image building in the sense of Coop Rechtsschutz: simply different.
BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE
Gyoro goes to the theater | Japan | 2021 | 04’
Director: Shoichi “DAVID” Haruyama
Writer: Amon Miyamoto
Producers: Noriko Matsumoto(dwarf), Shunsuke Kojima(xpd), Yuzo Kajiyama(HoriPro), Kaoru Ikawa(HoriPro)
Cast: Takeshi Kaga, Megumi Hamada, Hayato Kakizawa, Kairu Nakamura
Synopsis: Covid-19 has shuttered theaters everywhere. We made this short film as an ode to the power of the theater, and the lifetime of memories that stay with us after every performance. This is a heartwarming story about a boy Takuto and his family. While helping his family for packing, Takuto found a pair of mysterious opera glasses from a piled-up cardboard box which turns out to be his grandma’s relic. The magical opera glasses named ‘Gyoro’ suddenly came to life when Takuto touched it. Gyoro brings back happy memories to grandpa and mom of going to theaters with grandma. With Gyoro, Takuto gradually becomes fascinated by the world of theater.
BEST TRAILER
‘Ori Tahiti Dancers | French Polynesia | 2021 | 02’
Directors: Nyko PK16, Hugues Damesin
Writer: Nyko PK16
Producer: Nyko PK16
Synopsis: ‘Ori Tahiti Dancers is the 1st documentary series on Polynesian dancers from around the world
