SHORT TO THE POINT – SEPTEMBER 2020 AWARDS
BEST FILM
CHARON | France | 2020 | 16’
Director: Yannick Karcher
Writer: Yannick Karcher
Producer: Marie Sonne-Jensen
Cast: Tchéky Karyo
Synopsis: Freshly retired, a man doesn’t know how to occupy his days. For fear of being killed by boredom, he gets involved in the crazy project of building a boat in the cellar of his suburban house.
BEST DIRECTOR
The ice cubes | Belgium | 2019 | 11’
Director: Sara Dufossé
Writer: Sara Dufossé
Producer: La Ravageuse Saga
Cast: Louise Manteau, Gaël Soudron
Synopsis: “The ice Cubes” tells the story of a past relationship and what’s left of it after a few months, shot in a single take.
BEST SCREENPLAY
CHARON | France | 2020 | 16’
Director: Yannick Karcher
Writer: Yannick Karcher
Producer: Marie Sonne-Jensen
Cast: Tchéky Karyo
Synopsis: Freshly retired, a man doesn’t know how to occupy his days. For fear of being killed by boredom, he gets involved in the crazy project of building a boat in the cellar of his suburban house.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
OLIVE | France | 2020 | 13’
Actress: MAUD BETTINA MARIE
Director: JEAN- BAPTISTE DELANNOY
Writer: MAUD BETTINA-MARIE
Producer: KEYVAN KHOJANDI
Cast: MAUD BETTINA MARIE, KEYVAN KHOJANDI, AUDE GOGNY GOUBERT, ELODIE GODART, MARION CREUSVAUX
Synopsis: The hard journey of a woman after she went through a miscarriage…
BEST LEADING ACTOR
Crossroads | Hungary | 30’
Actor: Pászik Cristopher
Director: Chilton Flóra
Writer: Chilton Flóra
Producers: Tóth Bálint, Preszl Éva, Haakon Gundersen, Herner Dániel
Synopsis: After Deni returns home from prison, his hustler stepfather sends him to the countryside to lure a girl from a foster home. His task is to inveigle her to become a prostitute but as times goes by his feelings starts to rise towards her. Can this love be mutual and real? Deni is torn between his motivation to prove to his father and his sense of righteousness. Has the girl got a chance of not becoming a victim? Who are the victims in these situations? Just the girls? Or even the boys who are following the family’s norm?
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Don Patricio 22:23 | Spain | 2019 | 04’
Cinematographer: RAFAEL REPARAZ
Director: La Favorita
Writers: JUANMA KUCE & CHRISTOPHER CARTAGENA & FRANCISCO INSUA
Producers: PACO DIAVLO & LOBO KANE
Synopsis: A fast paced and assured crime melodrama that uses some impressive camera work to tell a serious, though somewhat hilarious tale of death and betrayal. The retro homages are fun on their own, but the performances and finale show very assured direction and a fantastic filmmaking team at the helm.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHARON | France | 2020 | 16’
Set Designer: Jean-Francois Sturm
Director: Yannick Karcher
Writer: Yannick Karcher
Producer: Marie Sonne-Jensen
Cast: Tchéky Karyo
Synopsis: Freshly retired, a man doesn’t know how to occupy his days. For fear of being killed by boredom, he gets involved in the crazy project of building a boat in the cellar of his suburban house.
BEST EDITING
OLIVE | France | 2020 | 13’
Editor: CLEMENCE SAMSON
Director: JEAN- BAPTISTE DELANNOY
Writer: MAUD BETTINA-MARIE
Producer: KEYVAN KHOJANDI
Cast: MAUD BETTINA MARIE, KEYVAN KHOJANDI, AUDE GOGNY GOUBERT, ELODIE GODART, MARION CREUSVAUX
Synopsis: The hard journey of a woman after she went through a miscarriage…
BEST NARRATIVE
Nahjum | Mexico | 2020 | 17’
Directors: Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle
Writers: Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle, Erik Hirschhorn
Producers: Sebastian Torres Greene, Manuel Del Valle, Erik Hirschhorn, Diego Andoni Rubio
Cast: Alejandra Herrera, Estanislao Marin, Fernando Rojasbarr
Synopsis: A prehistoric family´s desperate search for a mythical source of life turns into tragedy when the egos and obsessions of their male members rise to the surface.
BEST COMEDY
Do not ask for your way | France | 2019 | 15’
Director: Deborah Hassoun
Writer: Déborah Hassoun
Producer: Jonathan Hazan
Cast: Sophie DE FÜRST, Youssef HAJDI, Judith SIBONI, Béatrice DE STAËL
Synopsis: After 6 years of analysis, Inès, 31 years old, wishes to leave her analyst. When confronted with the magnitude of the task, she decides to get help… from another analyst.
BEST DRAMA
THE PORTRAITIST | Russian Federation | 2020 | 21’
Director: Roman Kosov
Writer: Roman Kosov
Producer: Ekaterina Shashorina
Cast: Aleksey Artemov, Sergey Trifonov
Synopsis: A young guy lives in a landfill. During the day he and his friend look for scrap metal to sell, in the evening he draws and dreams of finding a good pair of shoes. One day he finds a dead body and a sketchbook next to it. He goes to the park and tries to draw trees. This is when a conman finds him and takes him to meet a woman who dreams of having an exquisite portrait of hers. The guy begins working on the portrait, gets used to his new comfortable life and stops recognising his friend from the past. The woman likes the portrait, she and the artist start to get close, which seriously annoys her butler, who poisons the guy and sends him back to the landfill completely blind
BEST HORROR
Pirouette | Australia | 2020 | 07’
Directors: Peter Howard, Glenn Delaney
Producers: Peter Howard, Glenn Delaney
Cast: Ani Priyo
Synopsis: Kate purchases a ballerina box at a garage sale, upon returning home she discovers the ballerina is missing from the box.
BEST STUDENT
Road | Belarus | 2020 | 09’
Director: Kirill Khaletsky
Cast: Bogdan Hmelnitsky, Polina Artyhovskaya, Arseniy Bushmakin, Svetlana Gruzd
Synopsis: The most important thing in life is people and the relationship between them. This film is about that. It doesn’t matter when this story took place and where, only people are important and what everyone in the audience will discover for himself.
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Monsters Never Know | China | 2020 | 16’
Directors: Yang, Ming
Writers: Yang, Ming
Producers: Li, Shuai, Ju, Jiali
Cast: Yang, Ming, Narisu
Synopsis: Mongolians believe in Tengri. They think everything in the world has a spirit. Tengri is god and the spirit of god is hidden in nature to protect the tribe. Mongolians call people who don’t respect life and nature ‘monsters’. Monsters can also refer to frightened animals in Mongolian culture. Mongolians also believe that monsters are intrinsically good by nature. The evil behavior of monsters is not their original intention. Therefore, relatives send monsters to the temple for reincarnation of the spirit. The spirit of Tengri points out the way for monsters at critical moments. After the journey of reincarnation, the monsters finally get healed.
BEST ANIMATION
Sheep, Wolf and a Cup of Tea… | France | 2019 | 13’
Director: Marion Lacourt
Producers: Edwina Liard, Nidia Santiago
Synopsis: At night, while family members indulge in curious rituals before sleeping, a child invokes a wolf from the bottom of a box hidden under his bed. Disturbing sheep then besiege the door of his bedroom….
BEST DOCUMENTARY
A Place Called Galet | Hong Kong | 2020 | 08’
Director: Arjarn Jin
Writer: Tseser
Producer: Heather Kong
Cast: Allen Yuan
Synopsis: Galet is a theatrical vision of an antique shop galvanising interest from young generations and people from all walks of life. The magic comes from owner and dreamcatcher Allen Yuan, a professional dancer and choreographer whose exploration of human nature and stories bleed over into his inspired vision of what an antique shop can be. For Yuan, antiques show us a slower world full of detail, wonder and human history — if only we see them in the right light. Galet, the French word for “pebble” carries special significance for Yuan. Like the perfectly round natural pebbles shaped over lengths of time, Yuan believes there are no shortcuts to great things. Our story follows Yuan in his daily life and interactions, delving into his journey as a dancer and antique entrepreneur as he leads us to where they both converge in an immersive experience.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
Second Seed | United States | 2019 | 16’
Directors: Baye & Asa
Producers: Jack Grabow, Evan Jonigkeit, Zosia Mamet
Cast: AJ Tasley Parr, Marla Phelan, Myssi Robinson, Amadi Baye Washington, Sam Asa Pratt
Synopsis: Second Seed is a dance horror film responding to D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. Griffith’s film is a veneration of the KKK, painting the Klan as saviors of a white race in danger as American culture and politics begin to shift after the American Civil War. It highlights a fundamental White supremacist delusion that continues to plague this country: that White people are inherently superior, and that they are politically and culturally under attack. Second Seed grapples with this White delusion.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Don Patricio 22:23 | Spain | 2019 | 04’
Director: La Favorita
Writers: JUANMA KUCE & CHRISTOPHER CARTAGENA & FRANCISCO INSUA
Producers: PACO DIAVLO & LOBO KANE
Synopsis: A fast paced and assured crime melodrama that uses some impressive camera work to tell a serious, though somewhat hilarious tale of death and betrayal. The retro homages are fun on their own, but the performances and finale show very assured direction and a fantastic filmmaking team at the helm.
BEST MINI SHORT
A real man | France | 2019 | 03’
Director: Aurélien Mathieu
Writers: Aurélien Mathieu, Julie Bonnemoy
Producer: Charles Rambeau
Synopsis: A father share with his son his vision of masculinity during a rugby training.
BEST MOBILE PHONE
Dream driver | Russian Federation | 2019 | 09’
Director: Vera Lykova
Writers: Ekaterina Kakurina, Anastasia Frygina, Vera Lykova
Producers: Maxim Mussel, Boris Gouts
Cast: Vladislav Kuvitsyn, Ekaterina Shumakova, Vadim Kuvitsyn
Synopsis: The famous pickup-blogger tests his holographic image for the new (self-drive) taxi feature “Dream Driver”. A pretty girl assesses the test-drive and checks the quality of the hologram. During the drive, the blogger tries to seduce her, but the hologram intrudes on his plans.
BEST LOW/NO BUDGET
Quick Fix | Canada | 2020 | 04’
Director: Alexandra Lemay
Writer: Alexandra Lemay
Prodcers: Alexandra Lemay, Kacim Steets
Cast: Daniel Amerman, Vic Lamontagne
Synopsis: Quick Fix is a stop-motion/Live-action hybrid that explores the comedic parallels between our throwaway habits and serial dating. This bittersweet love affair follows a coffee cup who becomes smitten by his drinker only to discover she may not be as loyal as he assumed.
BEST AMATEUR
Calm Down | United States | 2020 | 05’
Director: Christopher Peay
Writer: Christopher Peay
Producer: Christopher Peay
Cast: Brandon Lee W., David Lami-Friebe, Emiliano Sorrosa-Elioenai
Synopsis: Ryan and Will are two friends from high school and they are gambling outside late at night. Ryan has been winning for most of the night. Will sees their other friend from high school Justin. Justin and Ryan used to be on the high school basketball team. They were both point guards , but Ryan was the starter until he suffered a career ending injury. Justin became the starter and became a star point guard. He eventually got a scholarship to Clemson. Ryan has been jealous of him ever since Justin got the scholarship. Will convinces Justin to join the game. Ryan can’t hide his jealously and gets into an argument with Justin. Ryan feels like Justin is living the life that he could’ve been living if he didn’t get hurt.
BEST SERIES (WEB/TV)
The Coroner – Season 1 | France | 2019 | 07’
Directors: Fabio Soares, Mike Zonnenberg
Writers: Fabio Soares, Mike Zonnenberg
Producers: Fabio Soares, Mike Zonnenberg
Cast: Stefan Godin
Synopsis: Webseries with a unique concept: The Coroner autopsies for you the most striking deaths of pop culture. From Tony Montana to Marion Crane (Psycho), discover the secrets from cult death scenes from cinema!
BEST FASHION SHORT
Fenice – Momoni SS21 | Italy | 2020 | 07’
Director: Giulia Achenza
Cast: Maria Vittoria Franzini
Synopsis: Directed by Giulia Achenza, Fenice – Momoni SS21 is an ode to the cyclical, regenerative nature of life. Employing dance to unfold its narrative, the fashion film celebrates the world of symbolism through a series of sensual, yet ethereal movements and gestures. A woman awakens from her sleep enlightened, taking on a new persona. She’s now at one with the earth that surrounds her, looking to approach her new found relationship with nature with love and respect. As part of her new life, she connects with the spirit of our times and discovers that beauty, health, human contact and spirituality are the new luxury in her life – the true path to feeling content and at peace. She embarks on a journey into herself, leading her to connect with her surroundings, feeling balanced and whole despite the constant state of flux of the world around us.
BEST TRAILER
IN_NOMINE_PATRIS | France | 01’
Director: Delphine Seignon
Writer: Delphine Seignon, Joël Girod
Producer: Joël Girod
Cast: Simon Larvaron, Delphine Seignon, Louis Bujeau, Jordan Gailleton.
