SHORT TO THE POINT – SEPTEMBER 2019 AWARDS
BEST FILM
Border Crossing | Poland | 2019 | 15’
Director: Agnieszka Chmura
Writer: Agnieszka Chmura
Producer: Piotr Lenar
Cast: Pola Galica Galoch, Agnieszka Koscielniak, Andrzej Rozmus, Andrzej Franczyk
Synopsis: A thriller based in the summer of 1989, the final year of communism in Eastern Europe, inspired by a childhood memory of crossing the border – not only between countries, but between the instinctive world of nature and the incomprehensible world of the adults. The story follows paths dictated by the little girl’s attention going from the bees buzzing around, to the rising tension between her parents, to the frightening border guard pacing along the queue. As the heat rises and the atmosphere thickens, can the little girl melt the border guard’s icy heart?
BEST DIRECTOR
SH’HAB | Qatar | 2018 | 13’
Director: Amal Al-Muftah
Writer: Amal Al-Muftah
Producer: Basel Owies
Synopsis: Upon hearing a myth about falling stars, a young girl’s curiosity is sparked. When night falls on AlWakrah village, she sets out on her father’s boat, with the assistance of her older brother, to chase the fabled comets
BEST SCREENPLAY
Traces | Turkey | 2019 | 24’
Director: Osman Şahin
Writer: Osman Şahin
Producer: Orkun Şahin
Cast: Melih Abdullah Yavaş, Serdar Sarıkurt
Synopsis: Story of 2 soldiers returning home after captivity during the Balkan Wars in 1913.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
SH’HAB | Qatar | 2018 | 13’
Actress: Al Jori Al Darwish
Director: Amal Al-Muftah
Writer: Amal Al-Muftah
Producer: Basel Owies
Synopsis: Upon hearing a myth about falling stars, a young girl’s curiosity is sparked. When night falls on AlWakrah village, she sets out on her father’s boat, with the assistance of her older brother, to chase the fabled comets
BEST LEADING ACTOR
PAPA-FIGO | Brazil | 2018 | 17’
Actor: Vitor Abate
Director: Alex Reis
Writer: Alex Reis
Producers: Marcus Araujo, Alex Reis, Beatriz Piffer, Filipi Nunes
Cast: Chiara Scalett, Vitor Abate, Herbert Richers Jr Synopsis: A child’s play turns out to be a nightmare when they set out to challenge an urban legend.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Border Crossing | Poland | 2019 | 15’
Cinematographer: Joanna Kakitek
Director: Agnieszka Chmura
Writer: Agnieszka Chmura
Producer: Piotr Lenar
Cast: Pola Galica Galoch, Agnieszka Koscielniak, Andrzej Rozmus, Andrzej Franczyk
Synopsis: A thriller based in the summer of 1989, the final year of communism in Eastern Europe, inspired by a childhood memory of crossing the border – not only between countries, but between the instinctive world of nature and the incomprehensible world of the adults. The story follows paths dictated by the little girl’s attention going from the bees buzzing around, to the rising tension between her parents, to the frightening border guard pacing along the queue. As the heat rises and the atmosphere thickens, can the little girl melt the border guard’s icy heart?
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
SH’HAB | Qatar | 2018 | 13’
Set decorator: Mayar Hamdan
Director: Amal Al-Muftah
Writer: Amal Al-Muftah
Producer: Basel Owies
Synopsis: Upon hearing a myth about falling stars, a young girl’s curiosity is sparked. When night falls on AlWakrah village, she sets out on her father’s boat, with the assistance of her older brother, to chase the fabled comets
BEST EDITING
May this city explode | Italy | 2019 | 04’
Director: Giacomo Spaconi
Writer: GIacomo Spaconi
Producer: La Scala Shepard
Cast: Diego Migeni, Chiara Lea
BEST NARRATIVE
SH’HAB | Qatar | 2018 | 13’
Director: Amal Al-Muftah
Writer: Amal Al-Muftah
Producer: Basel Owies
Synopsis: Upon hearing a myth about falling stars, a young girl’s curiosity is sparked. When night falls on AlWakrah village, she sets out on her father’s boat, with the assistance of her older brother, to chase the fabled comets
BEST COMEDY
Another Satisfied Customer | United States | 2019-03-27 | 04’
Director: Peier “Tracy” Shen
Writer: Peier “Tracy” Shen, Anton Shavlik
Producer: Rex Reyes
Cast: Madeleine Falk , Kurt Carley
Synopsis: A retired ballerina is ready to end her life when the door bell rings. Is life gonna give her a second chance?
BEST DRAMA
Where Dreams Rest | United States | 2018 | 15’
Director: Elaine Wong
Writer: Elaine Wong
Producers: Lareina Joelle, Ariel Du
Cast: Michelle Sun, Zhan Wang
Synopsis: In this poetic, impressionistic, realistic coming-of-age film, Ah Wei, a young woman from rural China, decides to cross the US-Mexico border through the underground tunnel to reunite with her husband in the United States. She soon realizes the journey is not about the crossing, but about mending the discrepancies between expectations and reality once she gets there.
BEST FANTASY/SCI-FI
THE SECRET BOX – The Rise of Paperboy | Ireland | 2019 | 10’
Director: G.S. Leitgeb
Writer: G.S. Leitgeb
Cast: Senan Jennings, Degnan Geraghty, Desmond Eastwood, Charlie Hughes, Johnathan French, Wesley O’Duinn
Synopsis: As part of THE SECRET BOX Trilogy, THE RISE OF PAPERBOY comes to us as a stand-alone motion picture short, introducing us to a 7-year-old Paperboy and letting us witness his first encounter with ancient paranormal forces in 1885. An abandoned street-kid in the docks of New England, Codie ‘Paperboy’ Basket is present when old adventurer Abe T. Huxley and his bunch of henchmen fail to open a lost wooden box. Facing this group of shady giants, Codie needs to pluck up all his courage and put his mind to the test, being the only one capable of unlocking the box. A path opens in front of Codie, that will lead him to become the true ringmaster of moving pictures, and the founder of the quirky Entertainment Network KTC® in 1964. NOTE: Trailer and Screener are not the official release versions and only suited for internal festival-staff. Intro & Outro Credits are currently just placeholders. For promo versions suited for public, please get in contact with submitter. NOTE: The official website is still under construction as well.
BEST HORROR
Z-GOAT: First Bleat | Belgium | 2018 | 13’
Directors: Julien Jauniaux, Bertrand Leplae
Producer: Laurent Meeus
Cast: Océane Weyer, Hugues Hausman, Simon Damamme
Synopsis: The year is 2078. Resources are scarce and the world is slowly dying. Darwina the young huntress will encounter a new threat very soon.
BEST STUDENT
Quiet Crossing | United Kingdom | 2019 | 04’
Director: Patrik Krivanek
Writer: Rik Hulme
Producer: Ella Eddy
Cast: Tullia Pagano, Matej Paprciak, Jack Purkis
Synopsis: 45,000 sections of reinforced concrete – three tons each. Nearly 300 watchtowers., over 250 dog runs, twenty bunkers. Sixty-five miles of anti-vehicle trenches—signal wire, barbed wire, beds of nails. Over 11,000 armed guards. A death strip of sand, well-raked to reveal footprints. 200 ordinary people shot dead following attempts to escape the communist regime. 96 miles of concrete wall. Families divided, loved ones lost… “Quiet Crossing is a strong emotional, political story filmed by the Film BA students at the University of Westminster/Westminster Film School (London). It is a 1967 story of East German students, opponents of the communist regime, who are trying to emigrate to West Germany hidden at the back of a food delivery truck. They must remain quiet at the time of arrival at the border crossing point, or they will be discovered and executed for their anti-political activities. Anna’s and Yans’s sleeping baby on board is a time bomb that can explode at any time, and something unexpected happens…”
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
PAPA-FIGO | Brazil | 2018 | 17’
Director: Alex Reis
Writer: Alex Reis
Producers: Marcus Araujo, Alex Reis, Beatriz Piffer, Filipi Nunes
Cast: Chiara Scalett, Vitor Abate, Herbert Richers Jr
Synopsis: A child’s play turns out to be a nightmare when they set out to challenge an urban legend.
BEST CHILDREN SHORT
Blooming | Czech Republic | 2018 | 14’
Direcotr: Dora Šustić
Writer: Dora Šustić
Producer: FAMU
Cast: Verica Nedeska
Synopsis: Two sisters, Alma (11) and Lila (6), enjoy their playful time together, having a bath. One evening, faced with a strange sensation, Alma experiences the beginning of a transformation from a child to a girl: she gets her first period. At first ignoring it, Alma deals with blood during the night, but is discovered by Lila. In panic, she asks Lila to keep a secret, but little Lila misunderstands it for sickness, thinking her sister is dying. She protects Alma from their mother’s attempts of sending her to school and spills the secret. Miljana, their mom, allows Alma to stay at home and deal with her problem on her own, giving her a space to bloom. She comforts Alma and helps her to overcome the shame. All three girls are united in the end, playing in the bath.
BEST ANIMATION
And yet we’re not super heroes | Belgium | 2019 | 13’
Director: Lia Bertels
Writer: Lia Bertels
Producers: Thierry Zamparutti, serge Kestemont, Nuno Amorim, Vanessa Ventura, Jeanne Thibord, Sidonie Garnie Synopsis: It takes time to grow up. And sometimes you even wonder if it’s really worth it… Then the children move slowly, at their own pace, the time to tame the world that awaits them. On the way, they ask questions and invent answers using their overflowing imagination. Carried by the voices of these little philosophers, the film depicts the journey of the imagination of childhood in the form of an animated road movie, populated by extraordinary créatures. A Cadillac trip during which these magnificent vagabonds share their unique experiences on the transition to the real world of adults. A journey full of surprises, doubts and joy.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
LOOK AT WHAT THE LIGHT DID NOW | United States | 2019 | 13’
Director: Brian Imakura
Producer: SAINT HISAKO FILMS
Cast: Bri Scalesse, Dexter Lott, Jerron Herman, KhrystyAna, MeeWha Lee
Synopsis: 21 dancers. 16mm film. 2 questions. What was the darkest moment of your life? What was the light that saved you?
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
Dark Sand | France | 2019 | 20’
Director :Thanasis Trouboukis
Writer: Thanasis Trouboukis
Producers: Le Fresnoy – studio national des arts contemporains, Thanasis Trouboukis
Cast: Sara Klimoska, Nicolette Picheral, Julien Bouvard
Synopsis: Alice, a young woman living in the Northern France, finds mysterious tapes with people narrating their nightmares. As she is looking for the sender, the limits between dreams and reality get obscured.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
May this city explode | Italy | 2019 | 04’
Director: Giacomo Spaconi
Writer: GIacomo Spaconi
Producer: La Scala Shepard
Cast: Diego Migeni, Chiara Lea
BEST MINI SHORT
ONE HOT TOKYO MINUTE | Sweden | 2019 | 02’
Director: Sebastian Lindblad
Synopsis: A hot last day in Tokyo provided the perfect setting for a voyeuristic documentation of this world metropolis.
BEST MOBILE PHONE
Hands-Free | Italy | 2019 | 13’
Director: Paolo Strippoli
Writer: SALVATORE DE CHIRICO
Producers: 10D Film, AG Business & Services
Cast: CHIARA VINCI, CHIARA AQUARO, LADISLAO LIVERANI, DANIELE MARIANI
Synopsis: @iamchiaramancuso, twenty-three years old, is a pretty-looking economics student who loves to tell her happy and reassuring everyday life on Instagram, including selfies and cocktail parties. During an evening at the disco, Chiara lost her smartphone. To find him, a foreign presence, which without his knowledge begins to follow her by posting everything on his Instagram account. Chiara’s night, without a telephone, turns into an infernal vortex of danger and despair, up to a shocking ending. Who’s really following her?
BEST NO/LOW BUDGET
Casanova | Belgium | 2019 | 10’
Director: Ulf Larsen
Writer: Ulf Larsen
Producers: Ulf Larsen, Colin Donner
Cast: Daphné Huynh, Antojo Otero
Synopsis: After a party, a guy (Antojo Otero) takes a cab with a girl (Daphné Huynh). She invites him to spend the night at her house. It is the simple story of a one-night stand, a moment of life.
BEST AMATEUR
CowBot | United States | 2019| 04’
Director: Rahul Menon
Writer: Rahul Menon
Cast: Jonathan Johnson, Lillian
Synopsis: Based on a rumor, that might just be true.
BEST FASHION SHORT
Nesmeyana | Russian Federation | 2019 |05’
Director: Ulyana Spirova
Writer: Ulyana Spirova
Cast: Daria Kozlova, Jean Clement, Daria Sivakova, Anastasiya Popova
Synopsis: This this a story about a girl who never smiled.
BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE
GRIT | United Kingdom | 03’
Director: Matt Thomas
Synopsis: A frantic pursuit through a surreal labyrinth of concrete corridors. GRIT is a stop motion animated short film – Matt’s final year project for the BA (Hons) Animation course at UWE Bristol.
BEST TRAILER
10/6 | United States | 2019 | 12’
Director: William Nawrocki
Writer: Nigel Moore
Producers: Nigel Moore, John G. Young
Cast: Trinelle Bartholomew, Tida Lin, Cyrene Rene, Janey Lu, Nigel Moore
Synopsis: A Brooklynite is unexpectedly transported from his Prospect Heights neighborhood to a vibrant bucolic landscape inhabited with characters that lead him into an idyllic journey of discovery and wonderment. The first of an experimental film trilogy by fashion designer Nigel Moore “10/6” features pieces from JNIGEL S/S II collection.
