SHORT TO THE POINT – JANUARY 2020 AWARDS
BEST FILM
Union Jake | Netherlands | 2019 | 03’
Director: Luuk Walschot
Writer: Luuk Walschot
Producer: Hannah Padding
Synopsis: Leading character Jake questions his identity in a politically and religiously divided community. He is done fighting and is in search of something which unites us all.
BEST DIRECTOR
Then comes the evening | Serbia | 2019 | 28
Director: Maja Novaković
Cast: Obrenija Radić, Vinka Radić
Synopsis: The documentary depicts life of two grannies living isolated on the hills of Eastern Bosnia. Nature is the entity with which grannies speak, listen to and respect. The film emphasizes the intangible cultural heritage, through the presentation of chants and rituals for taming the adverse weather, hail, and storm. It reflects the simplicity and purity of their way of life, as well as their painstaking work. In the daily activities that they perform, the excellence and distress of these displays is revealed and revived. Everyday life shows the caring and intimacy of the grannies, both in their mutual relations and in relationship with nature. Poetic tone of the frames relies on references from genre scenes of realism paintings, creating documents of bittersweet everyday life in the countryside.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Union Jake | Netherlands | 2019 | 03’
Director: Luuk Walschot
Writer: Luuk Walschot
Producer: Hannah Padding
Synopsis: Leading character Jake questions his identity in a politically and religiously divided community. He is done fighting and is in search of something which unites us all.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
My Breakfast Is Your Dinner | Hungary | 19’
Actress: Abigél Szőke
Director: Petra Pantyi
Writer: Alina Vincze
Producers: György Pálos, Linda Pfeiffer
Cast: Lolita Noa, Vogl, Abigél Szőke Synopsis: As a newly diagnosed diabetic, Luca spends her first days in the hospital when she unexpectedly receives a new roommate, Noémi, who opens her eyes on the possibilities of her individual freedom.
BEST LEADING ACTOR
Kindling | Poland | 2019 | 20’
Actor: Filip Krupa
Director: Stacey Rushchak
Writer: Stacey Rushchak
Producers: Stacey Rushchak, Grzegorz Adach, Maciej Slesicki
Cast: Filip Krupa, Magdalena Rozanska Synopsis: After spending eleven years in prison, Szymon, a man in his mid-twenties, struggles to come to terms with his past demons, over the course of his first 24 hours of freedom.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
I’am Raining Down İnto The City | Turkey | 2019 | 15’
Cinematographer: Emre Pekcayir
Director: Kasım Ördek
Writer: Kasım Ördek
Producer: Kasım Ördek
Cast: Ramazan Ergin, Fatoş Yıldız, Eyüp kan, Asuman Durmaz
Synopsis: Sait (55) lives in Diyarbakır with his family. His daughter Hacer gets dumped by her fiancee, Isa. Sait, who doesn’t accept this situation, begins to look for Isa, who is also his old apprentice. After a while, Sait faces some facts.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Le Miroir (The Mirror) | Australia | 2020 | 17’
Production designer: Ziggy Taylor
Director: Leila Murton Poole
Writer: Leila Murton Poole
Producers: Jara Gonzales, Leila Murton Poole
Cast: Michael Caton, Noah Wiseman, Vivienne Powell, Rachel Giddens
Synopsis: Mathilde, a mute French orphan, helps to protect Madame B, the most superstitious lady in the world, from all bad luck. Both have developed their own coping mechanisms to deal with extreme loss. When Mathilde breaks Madame B’s most prized possession, a magical mirror, she goes on a journey to fix it. Along the way, she meets 12 year old Tobias who is wise beyond his years and changes her life forever.
BEST EDITING
The Mother | Viet Nam | 2020 | 05’
Editor: Tuan Do
Director: Le Huy Anh
Writers: Le Huy Anh, Pham Quang Thai
Producers: Hoang Duy Khanh, Khang Nguyen, Mai Phuong Ngo
Cast: Quang Su
Synopsis: An adult man’s journey to find his childhood again.
BEST NARRATIVE
Fifteen (Quince) | United Kingdom | 2018 | 10’
Director: Peiman Zekavat
Writer: Peiman Zekavat
Producer: Yani Roncal Villanueva
Cast: Kelly Analy
Synopsis: Private video of Maria goes viral during a volleyball class in a school in Lima.
BEST COMEDY
Cash Stash | France | 2019 | 15’
Directors: Martin Darondeau, Enya Baroux
Writer: Martin Darondeau, Enya Baroux
Producers: Nathalie Algazi, Marie Sonne-Jensen, François Drouot
Cast: Catherine Allégret, Husky Kihal, Philippe Bérodot, Philippe du Janerand
Synopsis: Jacques, 58, has had a stroke. When he wakes up at the hospital, two men claim to be his longtime friends, to have robbed a tobacco bar with him, and to be there to recover their share of the loot. According to them, Jacques is the only one who knows where the money is. However, Jacques does not remember anything. Is Jacques bluffing? Are these two men really his friends?
BEST DRAMA
Days of rage | Canada | 2019 | 20’
Director: Eli Jean Tahchi
Writer: Eli Jean Tahchi
Producer: Marina Khoury
Cast: Eli Jean Tahchi, Henry Wehbe, Eve Gadouas, Pierre François Bouffard
Synopsis: In December 2017, as Trump officially recognizes Jerusalem the capital of Israel, WALID, a 27 year old Palestinian finds out that his uncle who raised him, is suffering from terminal phase cancer. These disturbing news upset him and jeopardizes the relationship with his girlfriend especially after a provocative encounter with a man.
BEST FANTASY/SCI-FI
Snow Babel | Italy | 2019 | 09’
Director: Rossella De Venuto
Writer: Rossella De Venuto
Producer: Maurizio Antonini
Cast: Bianca Nappi, Anna Negri, Elettra Mallaby, Chiara Civello, Esther Elisha , Janina Rudenska, Mila Bianchi , Vega Antonini, Mary Louise Gray, Valeria Costa, Mario Antonini
Synopsis: In the middle of a dinner, words run fast from one point to another of the table. A serious and at the same time frivolous chatter made up of anecdotes, references, and assonances. Twelve women are gathered to commemorate a thirteenth, who no longer exists, but it is still there with them. They are women of different eras and different ages. Different in appearance, they share a language, a feeling and a mysterious intimacy. A black thread runs through their speeches. It is death, which in a serious, or irreverent, playful or threatening way makes sense to the things of life. It will be the arrival of a young waiter to reveal us that things are not as they seem, and women are not where they seem to be. And to show us what our women don’t know they don’t know.
BEST HORROR
Swipe | Netherlands | 2019 | 06’
Director: Niels Bourgonje
Writers: Niels Bourgonje, Paul Bontenbal
Producer: Steffie van Rhee
Cast: Ebony Obsidian, Jefferson White
Synopsis: A girl finds out that she has a match on a dating app with a stranger, despite swiping him to the left moments ago. She starts to fear that the man is dangerously close to her.
BEST STUDENT
AM HIMMEL – HEAVEN’S MEADOW | Austria | 2018 | 29’
Director: Magdalena Chmielewska
Writers: Magdalena Chmielewska, Andreas Schiessler
Producer: Yana Eresina
Cast: Maria Spanring, Valentin Postlmayr, Julia Jelinek, Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Giovanni Jussi
Synopsis: It is night in Heaven’s Meadow, on the outskirts of Vienna. Injured and barefoot, Maya runs back home, to the city center. Next day she reports the incident of the prior evening. She undergoes a check-up and files an official statement: assaulted by several perpetrators, no traces of semen, but internal injuries. Rather than falling apart, Maya takes off to Italy to see Daniel. There, she hopes to forget. She wants to regain control of her life. But instead, she keeps floating through the world like an unanchored island.
BEST YOUNG DIRECTOR
Le Miroir (The Mirror) | Australia | 2020 | 17’
Director: Leila Murton Poole
Writer: Leila Murton Poole
Producers: Jara Gonzales, Leila Murton Poole
Cast: Michael Caton, Noah Wiseman, Vivienne Powell, Rachel Giddens
Synopsis: Mathilde, a mute French orphan, helps to protect Madame B, the most superstitious lady in the world, from all bad luck. Both have developed their own coping mechanisms to deal with extreme loss. When Mathilde breaks Madame B’s most prized possession, a magical mirror, she goes on a journey to fix it. Along the way, she meets 12 year old Tobias who is wise beyond his years and changes her life forever.
BEST ANIMATION
The Shadow of the Sun | Israel | 2019 | 08’
Director: Ido Hartmann
Producer: Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Synopsis: 7 years ago Boaz has cut all ties with his parents, brother & sister, his friends, and his previous world. The film tracks the story of his disappearance and embarks in a surreal journey into the memories he left with his family.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Spray | United Kingdom | 2019 | 10’
Director:James McLean
Writer: James McLean
Producer: James McLean
Cast: Jerome Davenport
Synopsis: Spreading environmental awareness through urban art. Jerome Davenport is an aerosol artist from Perth, Australia. His murals help spread awareness about climate change and other environmental factors around the world. *All cans used in this film are CFC free and were 100% recycled after filming.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL
I’m here | Ukraine | 2020 | 04’
Director: Kateryna Tiurina
Writer: Kateryna Tiurina
Producers: Viktoria Zaliznyuk , Yana Teranis
Cast: Apache Crew
Synopsis: Kiev, year 2019 – total copying of style, attitudes, hobbies. Unreasonable obsession with everything new, trendy, lack of autonomous thinking, lack of truth and real desires. The new generation stopped asking themselves – what do I really want to do here and now? But these guys have their own reality. This is the new elite youth, that think critically. Original. True. Our short, beautiful video is about the eternal dreamers, boys and girls, called to inspire with their honest deeds. They push us to the new achievements. They know how to dream and fulfill. They live the moment, although it often happens that society breaks their framework of an ideal world, by throwing back to the ugly reality …
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Marsel – Go overseas | Russian Federation | 2019 | 04’
Director: Egor Myasnikov
Writer: Egor Myasnikov
Producer: Igor Kuznetsov
Cast: Mark-Malik Murashkin
Synopsis: In our cities, stars have not been seen for a long time. The only lights that we see are the light from the windows of the buildings opposite. It is a story about a boy who wants to see the stars, and his best friend – a faithful dog. Together they go on a journey to the dream.
BEST MINI SHORT
We Walk | Spain | 2019 | 03’
Director: Marc Lesperut
Writer: Maria León
Cast: Malcolm McCarthy
Synopsis: “We walk” is a moving piece that talks about the traumatic experience of what it means to run away from your roots and become an immigrant. Purposely set up in an undefined country, the main character battles against desolation and torment while thinking about his family back home. This short portraits a story of survival, hope and wish for freedom.
BEST NO/LOW BUDGET
Girl And A Polar Bear | Canada | 2019 | 07’
Director: Emily Shepard
Writer: Emily Shepard
Cast: Kami Norbom, Polar Bear, Geordie Cheeseman, Ry Dizon, Philip Wilson
Synopsis: A convenience store worker is having a rough night when she is greeted by a very unusual customer.
BEST SERIES (WEB/TV)
Dead End | Israel | 2019 | 04’
Director: Nir Berger
Writers: Nir Berger, Ofir Z Sasson
Producer: Yael Ozsinay – Mind the Gap Animation
Cast: Ofir Z Sasson, Gaya Beer Gurevich
Synopsis: Dead End is an animated comedy web series set in a post-apocalyptic Israel. The year is 2020 and Jerusalem has been decimated by a nuclear war. Bickering teenage siblings Yarden and Kineret travel what remains of the city in search of their little brother who went missing in the aftermath of the bombing. In their travels they encounter various survivors of what was once Israel, only to find that very little had actually changed.
BEST FASHION SHORT
Hotel MFW | Italy | 2019 | 02’
Director: The Blink Fish
Producers: Carlo Alpeggiani, Antonio Guarrella
Synopsis: The Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (National Chamber of Italian Fashion) presents Hotel MFW, the latest fashion film directed and produced by the Milan-based Creativity Factory The Blink Fish. Shot to celebrate Milan Fashion Week S/S 2020 (17-23 September, 2019), Hotel MFW sees several rooms of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Milan brimming with unique guests on the eve of Milan Fashion Week. Championing inclusion, diversity and uniqueness, these values form the central theme of the film and are strongly promoted by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. The different looks of the models were carefully curated by fashion editor and stylist Georgia Tal, with a focus on supporting the local design scene by featuring a wide range of brands based in Italy, from emerging to more established, namely Annakiki, The Attico, L’Autre Chose, GCDS, MSGM, Paula Cademartori, Sara Battaglia, Stella Jean and Vivetta. The Blink Fish and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana have been collaborating since 2016, developing an increasingly strong online presence with fresh and relevant video content with each fashion season. Some of their most recent works, such as Start the Buzz, Be Ready and Waiting Room, have been internationally recognised, selected and awarded by several film festivals, including Berlin Commercial, Aesthetica Short Film Festival and the LA Fashion Film Festival.
BEST COMMERCIAL
AURA | Germany | 2019 | 03’
Director: Timm Völkner
Synopsis:AURA gives an emotional insight into the dire world of a migraine patient.