SHORT TO THE POINT NOVEMBER 2021 AWARDS
BEST FILM
HABITAT | Spain | 2021 | 11’
Director: JAIME A. CALACHI
Writer: JAVIER HUESA
Cast: BALBINO LACOSTA, ITZIAR CASTRO, CANDELA LIU
Synopsis: In a dead-end room lives a slave of the system, addicted to the computer mouse and a reality show that never ends. Obsessed with an illusion, his dream is to go to the paradise that he has seen in a TV commercial…with just a flick of a finger.
BEST DIRECTOR
HABITAT | Spain | 2021 | 11’
Director: JAIME A. CALACHI
Writer: JAVIER HUESA
Cast: BALBINO LACOSTA, ITZIAR CASTRO, CANDELA LIU
Synopsis: In a dead-end room lives a slave of the system, addicted to the computer mouse and a reality show that never ends. Obsessed with an illusion, his dream is to go to the paradise that he has seen in a TV commercial…with just a flick of a finger.
BEST SCREENPLAY
HABITAT | Spain | 2021 | 11’
Writer: JAVIER HUESA
Director: JAIME A. CALACHI
Cast: BALBINO LACOSTA, ITZIAR CASTRO, CANDELA LIU
Synopsis: In a dead-end room lives a slave of the system, addicted to the computer mouse and a reality show that never ends. Obsessed with an illusion, his dream is to go to the paradise that he has seen in a TV commercial…with just a flick of a finger.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Everything Will Be Fine | Belgium | 2021 | 21’
Actress: Joke Devynck
Director: Joachim Dejonghe
Writers: Joachim Dejonghe, Jean Ryckebosch
Producer: Pieter De Saeger
Cast: Joke Devynck, Isabelle Van Hecke, Els Deceukelier, Jessa Wildemeersch, Vera Van Dooren
Synopsis :A single mum, trying to make ends meet, is faced with a dilemma due to very peculiar job cuts at work.
BEST LEADING ACTOR
Bullmastiff | Ukraine | 2020 | 25’
Actor: Evgenii Lamakh
Director: Anastasiia Bukovska
Writers: Klaus Ivanov, Vlad Ned, Anastasiia Bukovska, Volodymyr Gromov
Producers: Anastasiia Bukovska, Danylo Kaptiukh, Maxim Usyk
Cast: Evgenii Lamakh, Nina Antonova, Oleksii Gorbunov, Marc Raymond Wilkins
Synopsis: Mitya is a war veteran trying to get back to normal. Suddenly, he meets Roy, a lost bullmastiff who becomes quite fond of him. At first, the relations are difficult, but eventually, Roy will be the one to help Mitya cope with his difficult past.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
HABITAT | Spain | 2021 | 11’
Cinematographer: MARCOS DEL VILLAR
Director: JAIME A. CALACHI
Writer: JAVIER HUESA
Cast: BALBINO LACOSTA, ITZIAR CASTRO, CANDELA LIU
Synopsis: In a dead-end room lives a slave of the system, addicted to the computer mouse and a reality show that never ends. Obsessed with an illusion, his dream is to go to the paradise that he has seen in a TV commercial…with just a flick of a finger.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
HABITAT | Spain | 2021 | 11’
Production Designer: Julia Valentin, Monica La Mola, Elisa Perez
Director: JAIME A. CALACHI
Writer: JAVIER HUESA
Cast: BALBINO LACOSTA, ITZIAR CASTRO, CANDELA LIU
Synopsis: In a dead-end room lives a slave of the system, addicted to the computer mouse and a reality show that never ends. Obsessed with an illusion, his dream is to go to the paradise that he has seen in a TV commercial…with just a flick of a finger.
BEST EDITING
The Devil’s Avocado | Italy | 2021 | 03’
Editor: Edoardo De Luca
Director: Edoardo De Luca
Writer: Riccardo Galla
Cast: Tommaso Dugato, Riccardo Galla, Rebecca Ferron
Synopsis: Do you know how many kilometers your avocados have to travel to reach your table? Your environmental impact while buying them? Or even how much water is needed for an avocado toast? We realized that we tend to take care of problems as long as they are covered by medias; then we forget them. This movie looks at a crucial ethical problem that’s close to us all, in a comical way.
BEST NARRATIVE
The Black Veil | Qatar | 2020 | 17’
Director: A.J. Al-Thani
Writer: A.J. Al-Thani
Producer: Vibhav Gautam
Cast: Sana Al Habib, Ahmed Al-Nowfal Al-Tamimi
Synopsis: Reem, a young Iraqi woman, escapes her home in the middle of the night. She lives in Mosul after being forced to marry an ISIS soldier. Reem finds help in a taxi driver named Ahmed to help her escape Mosul and find her family again.
BEST DRAMA
TALA’VISION | Germany | 2020 | 28’
Director: Murad Abu Eisheh
Writers: Murad Abu Eisheh
Producers: Philipp Maurice Raube, Gabriel Waldvogel, Esther Busch, Jude Kawwa
Cast: Ziad Bakri, Aesha Balasem
Synopsis: Trapped in a war ridden reality, with the hope of one day playing in the neighborhood’s football field, 8 year old Tala finds solace and freedom in a forbidden television. However, the secret TV becomes a matter of life and death.
BEST COMEDY
The Magic of Seduction | France | 2021 | 05’
Director: JBJ
Writer: JBJ
Producer: JBJ
Cast: Léa Biron, Valérian Moutawe, Christine Lutete, JBJ
Synopsis: In a café, a young man hatches a plan centered on a magic trick to seduce a waitress. But in magic, illusion is queen…
BEST FANTASY/SCI-FI
Mergen | Kazakhstan | 2021 | 27’
Director: Raiymbek Alzhanov
Writer: Raiymbek Alzhanov
Producer: Banu Ramazanova
Cast: Alikhan Abi, Temirkhan Tursungaliyev, Aynur Akhmetzhanova, Shirai Maksat, Erkebulan Suleimenov
Synopsis: On the strife-torn Central Asian steppe, the boy Mergen must defend his family in the place of his absent father. He will do so with courage, cunning, and above all, a mystical gift from his grandmother. An exciting historical thriller enriched with ancient magic.
BEST DANCE/MUSICAL
All Cosmologies | Portugal | 2021 | 24’
Director: Vasco Mendes
Writer: Alexandre Monteiro
Producer: Alexandre Monteiro
Cast: Carolina Amaral
Synopsis: 2020: suddenly The Weatherman disappears misteriously. 28 years later his niece Valentina embarks on a journey to find what happened, and in the meantime she draws a picture about the state of the world.
BEST STUDENT
The Fisherman | France | 2021 | 05’
Director: FRANCOIS BALANANT
Writer: FRANCOIS BALANANT
Producer: FRANCOIS BALANANT
Synopsis: An old fisherman and his two small children live by the shore. They will undergo a terrible storm which will submerge their house and swallow everything up, but there is still a way to find their memories …
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Toli | Russian Federation | 2021 | 21’
Director: Diana Mashanova
Writer: Diana Mashanova
Synopsis: Anya is a teenage girl who is just beginning to realize herself as an adult. Elena is a single mother who tries to feel like a woman again. Sergey, a man who has warm feelings for Elena, invades the life of this Buryat family. Raised according to oriental traditions, Elena shows her care for her daughter through control over her mind and body. The girl, on the other hand, just wants to enter into a dialogue with her mother, but after Sergei came into their life, it became even more difficult to get the mother’s attention. Using Sergey’s appearances as an excuse, Anya increasingly runs away from home. After Sergei first appeared in the family’s house, Anya regards this as a threat to her personal space and established family structure. The girl once again runs away from home and at a party, looking into her mother’s eyes, she asks the guy to cum inside. Anya seeks the attention of her mother, but the consequences of that trick are not so easy to resolve. In order to finally tie her mother to herself, Anya decides to bring them closer together with a common trauma. Anya goes to the hospital where her mother works as a gynecologist and signs up for an abortion.
BEST ANIMATION
A Night at the Cemetery | Greece | 2021 | 12’
Director: Stelios Polychronakis
Writer: Stelios Polychronakis
Producer: Konstantinos Vassilaros
Synopsis: In the Mediterranean island of Crete, Maria heads to the cemetery every Friday to tend her beloved husband’s grave. When the bus that picks her up breaks down, she will be forced to spend the night among the tombstones.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Lost Time | United Kingdom | 2021 | 13’
Director: Jack Montgomery Baxter Chapman
Producers: Jack Montgomery Baxter Chapman, Marco Eisenbarth
Cast: John Adams
Synopsis: When his wife dies, a 92 year old’s saving grace is the brotherhood of his local bowls club, which is forced to close during the pandemic
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Night Wolf | 2021 | 07’
Director: Joseph Robert Redl
Writer: Joseph Robert Redl
Producer: Michael Joel
Synopsis: Adrian gives in to desire for a single night, only to confront the repercussions as the day breaks.
BEST MINI SHORT
The Devil’s Avocado | Italy | 2021 | 03’
Director: Edoardo De Luca
Writer: Riccardo Galla
Cast: Tommaso Dugato, Riccardo Galla, Rebecca Ferron
Synopsis: Do you know how many kilometers your avocados have to travel to reach your table? Your environmental impact while buying them? Or even how much water is needed for an avocado toast? We realized that we tend to take care of problems as long as they are covered by medias; then we forget them. This movie looks at a crucial ethical problem that’s close to us all, in a comical way.
BEST LOW/NO BUDGET
My Best Friend Caroline | United States | 2021 | 05’
Director: Sarah Corean
Writer: Sarah Corean
Producers: Ethan Marler, Sarah Corean
Cast: Hannah McCarthy, Chloe VanDeGraaf
Synopsis: A troubled pre-teen is interviewed about her relationship to a classmate at school.
BEST DEBUT
Gigantic Fluctuation | Russian Federation | 2021 | 17’
Director: Max Karpylev
Writers: Alexey Kazakov, Tatyana Mitushova, Max Karpylev
Producer: Artem Sviryakov
Cast: Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Vladislav Schevchuk, Pavel Polyakov
Synopsis: The captain of the robotics club doubts he can win the competition. Zhilin, the curator of the club, wants to help the boy believe in himself and invites him on a fishing trip. There he talks about a meeting with a strange man that happened to him in his youth.
BEST COMMERCIAL/AD/TVC
Tale of the American Dream (Trailer) | United States | 03’
Director: Stanislav Puzdriak
Synopsis: American Dream is the freedom all immigrants dream about. But does it still exist and did it exist at all? We’re going to find it out.
BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE
The Secret of Mr. Nostoc | France | 2021 | 11’
Directors: Patrice Seiler, Maxime Marion
Writer: Patrice Seiler
Producer: Patrice Seiler
Cast: Jean-Marie Pexoto, Céline Lehmann, Cyril Mazzotti
Synopsis: Mr. Nostoc lives in an hectic city. Not stressed or pressed by time, he goes to work, and always has a new surprise under his hat. When night comes, he goes into his attic and stays there for hours. Working on his secret.
