BEST FILM
Nobody | Austria | 2022 | 17’
Director: Jakob Marvin Pietsch
Writer: Jakob Marvin Pietsch
Producers: Jakob Marvin Pietsch, Matthias Papst
Cast: Harwin Kravitz, Simon Dietersdorfer
Synopsis: A boy makes a unsuccessful living and is persuaded by two criminals to rob a gas station. He has to flee and hides in a small shed. There he discovers a human head that seems to have grown out of the wall and who can predict sports betting, promising the boy wealth. In exchange he wants to be freed.
BEST DIRECTOR
Moth | Belgium | 2021 | 24’
Director: Jérémy Maucour
Writer: Jérémy Maucour
Producer: Lou-Théa Papaloizos
Cast: Lazare Gousseau, Janine Godinas, Serge Swysen, Stéphane Bissot, Laurent Caron
Synopsis: In a quiet suburbia, a strange presence troubles the tranquility of the neighborhood.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Nobody | Austria | 2022 | 17’
Writer: Jakob Marvin Pietsch
Director: Jakob Marvin Pietsch
Producers: Jakob Marvin Pietsch, Matthias Papst
Cast: Harwin Kravitz, Simon Dietersdorfer
Synopsis: A boy makes a unsuccessful living and is persuaded by two criminals to rob a gas station. He has to flee and hides in a small shed. There he discovers a human head that seems to have grown out of the wall and who can predict sports betting, promising the boy wealth. In exchange he wants to be freed.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Made of Flesh | France | 2022 | 15’
Actress: Mara Taquin
Directors: Florence Rochat, Séréna Robin
Writers: Florence Rochat, Séréna Robin
Producers: Jonathan Hazan, Laurent Denis
Cast: Mara Taquin, Denis Eyriey, Laïka Blanc-Francard, Sanda Codreanu
Synopsis: With a touch of blush and a few drops of lip gloss, Lucie is getting ready to start her training day to become a hostess at a motor show. A lifelong car enthusiast, she has the secret hope of being noticed by the prestigious EBBE brand. However, she is unaware that the training has only one true goal: to make her and the other 15 girls into premium women.
BEST LEADING ACTOR
CHIN UP, DUDE ! | Austria | 30’
Actor: Laurin Saied
Director: Florian Moses Bayer
Writers: Florian Moses Bayer, Marie Luise Lehner
Producer: Caroline Liebhart
Cast: Laurin Saied, Felix Oitzinger, Antonia Baumgartner, Suse Lichtenberger, Thomas Mraz, Christian Strasser
Synopsis: Gery makes the leap from the youth soccer team to the testosterone-overloaded combat team. He is pushed from all sides into desired futures – he tries to match all of them without knowing what he actually wants himself.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Moth | Belgium | 2021 | 24’
Cinematographer: Philémon Mouz, Agnès Walpen
Director: Jérémy Maucour
Writer: Jérémy Maucour
Producer: Lou-Théa Papaloizos
Cast: Lazare Gousseau, Janine Godinas, Serge Swysen, Stéphane Bissot, Laurent Caron
Synopsis: In a quiet suburbia, a strange presence troubles the tranquility of the neighborhood.
BEST EDITING
Moth | Belgium | 2021 | 24’
Editor: Clément Tebar
Director: Jérémy Maucour
Writer: Jérémy Maucour
Producer: Lou-Théa Papaloizos
Cast: Lazare Gousseau, Janine Godinas, Serge Swysen, Stéphane Bissot, Laurent Caron
Synopsis: In a quiet suburbia, a strange presence troubles the tranquility of the neighborhood.
BEST NARRATIVE
Black Black Night | Lithuania | 2022 | 25’
Director: Laura Udra
Writer: Laura Udra
Producer: Natalija Butylkina
Cast: Dainius Gavenonis, Viktorija Zobielaite
Synopsis: A middle-aged man Artūras and an eccentric teen Ilona are two strangers meeting at night. Together they seek to find an escape from personal loneliness.
BEST COMEDY
The Father, The Son and The Rav Kalmenson | France | 2023 | 15’
Director: Dayan D. Oualid
Writer: Dayan D. Oualid
Producers: Jonathan Hazan, Dayan D. Oualid
Cast: Marc Allal, Henri Liebman, Jarod Tseror, Tal Reuveny
Synopsis: Yoel, 30, is what was called in the 90s a “Lubavitch”, an Orthodox Jew. Every Saturday morning, he goes, accompanied by his 6-year-old son, to honor Shabbat in the synagogue in his neighborhood, a primary school set up for the occasion. That day, the rabbi of the community of devotees, Rav Kalmenson, an impressive man with his charisma and his long beard, will challenge Yoel by announcing to him that his son “is lighting up”.
BEST DRAMA
Made of Flesh | France | 2022 | 15’
Directors: Florence Rochat, Séréna Robin
Writers: Florence Rochat, Séréna Robin
Producers: Jonathan Hazan, Laurent Denis
Cast: Mara Taquin, Denis Eyriey, Laïka Blanc-Francard, Sanda Codreanu
Synopsis: With a touch of blush and a few drops of lip gloss, Lucie is getting ready to start her training day to become a hostess at a motor show. A lifelong car enthusiast, she has the secret hope of being noticed by the prestigious EBBE brand. However, she is unaware that the training has only one true goal: to make her and the other 15 girls into premium women.
BEST FANTASY/SCI-FI
Cockroaches | 2022 | 10’
Director: Adel Khan Faroog
Writer: Adel Khan Farooq
Producers: Lise Fearnley, Tonje Skar Reiersen
Cast: Marlon Valdés Langeland, Aksel Hennie, Abdulhakim Hassane
Synopsis: In a dystopian city on the verge of collapse after cockroaches have taken over, a brotherhood sends 17-year-old Tim on a mission to blow up the cockroaches’ nest to save his hometown. But a meeting with a stranger makes Tim reconsider his perception of reality. Cockroaches is an animated fable about exclusion and extremism, showing how search for acceptance can have fatal consequences. In a time when the extreme right is once again marching across many European countries, the film aims to send a warning.
BEST THRILLER/MYSTERY
SONAR | United Kingdom | 2022 | 07’
Director: James Hughes
Writer: Eleonora Mignoli
Producer: James Hughes
Cast: Amy Marie Campbell, Jack Brett Anderson
Synopsis: A swimmer detects an unusual sound late at night and she decides to investigate.
BEST DANCE/MUSICAL
Satisfaction Guaranteed | United Kingdom | 2022 | 15’
Director: David Buchanan
Writer: David Buchanan
Producer: Oriane Pick
Cast: Lucy Young
Synopsis: Amy dreams of being a musical star on the West End stage – but when her boss threatens to fire her from her day job, she must push her performance to a whole new level.
BEST STUDENT
JAWAI | United Kingdom | 2022 | 14’
Director: Katya Ignatiev
Writer: Katya Ignatiev
Producer: Vajaram Dewasi Verana
Synopsis: Hidden away in a corner of Rajasthan resides an ancient tribe. A community that cherishes their customs of mythology, history and ancestral heritage tying in with their traditional lifetime occupation as shepherds. These humble, semi-nomadic people have lived in Jawai for hundreds of years, but the untold secret about this specific community is that here they share their land with leopards…
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Wave Land | France | 2021 | 15’
Director: Ugo Aubry
Writer: Vincent Hartmann
Producer: Jean Loir
Cast: Maxime Ardant, Emma Gagnadoux
Synopsis: At the heart of a restless skatepark, Elio, a young 15-year-old designer, is captivated by the atmosphere of the place. It’s when he meets Gwen, a young skateboarder with a strong temperament, that Elio tries desperately to learn the hard rules of this arena where violence and competition reign…
BEST CHILDREN SHORT
Panchita!! | United States | 2023 | 05’
Director: Doug Bello
Creative Director: Tom Alex Buch
Producer: Keka Petrich
Synopsis: Panchita is a South American girl living in a poor community with dreams of dancing. This new passion will connect her with the wide world as she transforms her very own surroundings. Panchita! is a TECHO project to bring awareness to their cause.
BEST ANIMATION
Guilty Pleasure | Poland | 2021 | 13’
Director: Michał Orzechowski
Writer: Michał Orzechowski
Producer: Piotr Furmankiewicz
Synopsis: At the edge of the forest stood a house inhabited by a married couple and two adult sons. The film begins during their ordinary existence. A ringing alarm clock indicates that it is time to start the show. Father and son Andrew start a theater for the mother. The second son, Stephen is awaiting the arrival of his partner. A girl on a motorcycle pulls up to the cottage. Stefan quickly puts on his suit and jumps out the window. The couple is leaving
BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Heart of Baikal | Russian Federation | 2022 | 25’
Director: Arina Kosmina
Writer: Olga Kosmina
Producers: Olga Kosmina, Nikita Pavlutskiy
Synopsis: Shaman, Priest, UAZ Driver and Grandmother Valya are residents of the village of Khuzhir, the only settlement on the island of Olkhon in the middle of Lake Baikal. The characters of the film talk about their lives and the problems they face while living in a special place. The main character is Lake Baikal, which gives people the strength and faith to cope with all difficulties.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
FLYBY KATHY | Portugal | 2023 | 12’
Director: Pedro Bastos
Producer: Rodrigo Areias
Synopsis: In 1981, English actress Kathy Harcourt mysteriously disappeared from the United States. 40 years later, this story unfolds, from an old 35mm copy of the last film Kathy Harcourt stared in. This film retraces this brief episode of the golden age of adult cinema.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Promises | Lithuania | 2022 | 04’
Director: Lukas Rutkauskas
Writer: Lukas Rutkauskas
Producers: DOMINYKA BERULYTĖ, AISTĖ NAVECKAITĖ
Synopsis: “The song mocks pseudo-artists who talk more than work, have little experience but want everything here and now. It also speaks to those who like to publicly praise their own work,” — says the Frontman and song author of “ba.” Benas Aleksandravičius. The video for “Pažadai” starts with a quote: “the walls were shaking, the dogs were barking, the children were crying.” This is an excerpt from a news report that aired on Lithuanian television in the summer of this year, just after the end of “ba.” concert in Vingis park in Vilnius, Lithuania. The idea of making the video for the single was cherished in a bar in Vilnius. The director Aboveground, who lives and works in London, gave his word to make one by the end of the year. To ensure that these promises are not just empty words, as sung in the new single, he kept his word. “We associate empty promises with rubbish, so the main video location was on the landfills,” briefly explains the director whose creative style originated in New York. When asked about the experience of filming, “ba.” frontman said he would remember it for a long time: “Being there broke any smell record. It was definitely the most challenging part of the filming,” says Benas who wears head-to-toe white in the video to contrast with the environment of the dump.
BEST MINI SHORT
Zone Unknown | United Kingdom | 2023 | 03’
Directors: Alessi Heitman-Rice, Zack Langsdon
Cast: Abi Osu, Kwan Tang, Eve Hoffman, Agathe Charbon, Roxy Woods, Chris Thomas, Jamie Cobb
Synopsis: Inspired by their passion for cycling after taking up the sport to help their mental health during the lockdown, Co-directors Zack Langsdon and Alessi Heitman-Rice present Zone Unknown. Zone Unknown is a short abstract film that aims to open up people’s perception of cycling from an elitist endurance sport to instead a form of mental therapy. We hear intimate anecdotes from real people on how getting on a bike has been hugely beneficial and therapeutic in their lives, how it has led them back from dark places, how it can be a form of meditation and escapism within the hectic lives they lead. Cycling is simply a relationship between the rider and the bike, on the open road or static, it can transport you to a better mental state and it’s out there for everyone.
BEST NO/LOW BUDGET
F.A.R. East | France | 2021 | 10’
Director: Les DelphineS
Writer: Delphine Poudou
Producer: Les DelphineS
Cast: Hervé David, Blandine Guerrand, Pascale Mompez, Sandrine Guisier, Patricia Samuel, Caroline Rabaliatti, Thibault Duval
Synopsis: Every one, at FAR East, finds his particular place. And all the new visitors are so welcome…
BEST DEBUT
Yuvalo | Israel | 2022 | 06’
Director: Adi Nagar
Writer: Adi Nagar
Producer: Adi Nagar
Cast: Noam Avisror, Shahar Mor Haim, Vered Daniel Amir, Miriam Mimi Gotsdiner
Synopsis: After a violent incident, a young woman calls the police on her brother who suffers from manic depression, hoping they can finally provide a solution.
BEST SERIES (WEB/TV)
Psychics | Russian Federation | 28’
Director: Roman Bataev
Synopsis: Three Loser Psychics attract the attention of journalist Anna, who decides to make a revealing film with their participation. In the course of the investigation, Anna not only begins to feel sympathy for the charismatic trinity, but also begins to doubt that their activities are an absolute fake.
BEST FASHION SHORT
Forever Bound | Italy | 2022 | 08’
Director: Rob Bell
Writers: Elisa Messi, Vittoria Aganoor Pompilj
Producer: 1190 Productions
Cast: Marina Meinero, Lorena Sheriff, Jan Tononi
Synopsis: For Forever Bound, we wanted to explore the theme of fate’s adversarial role in a relationship, how destiny, if you believe in such a thing, plays an important role in how our lives turn out. It’s an exciting challenge solving the puzzle of how we are able to communicate such a personal, and yet universally experienced, stage in life. Our aim is that through both action and costume we will be able to artistically portray the inception of a separating thought, consequent tensions, and ultimately the final relief and acceptance of such a painful truth.
BEST STOP-MOTION/TIME-LAPSE
Under A Shooting Contrail | United States | 2022 | 07’
Director: Rika Nakayama
Synopsis: A little stop-motion puppet leaves his studio and explores the outside world. He experiences the vast, dynamic, and unpredictable world of nature through a lens of a stop-motion puppet.
