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Short films stand tall in southern California every year at the Palm Springs International Shortfest — after over 4,000 submissions, 327 shorts from over 50 countries were shown this past week at North America’s largest short film festival. The winners of this year’s festival, announced Sunday night, received combined prizes valued at approximately $115,000 with $20k of that being in cash.
“A common thread of immigration and compassion dominates our award winning films this year – echoing current issues around the world,” said Festival Director Helen du Toit. “After a stimulating and energizing week of storytelling and networking between the next generation of filmmakers, we leave with a sense of hope for a world that, despite some setbacks, does seem to be evolving slowly but surely.”
The Kosovan film “Home” by Daniel Mulloy, which rides along with a “young, happy family [who seem] to be going on holiday but is instead on a journey similar to millions of others,” won the Best of Festival Award. Per the Jury’s statement, “The winner of the Best of the Fest Award goes to a film that devastated the jury with its portrayal of a family escaping danger. This surprising and incredibly powerful film deftly elicits not just our compassion, but more importantly, our empathy.”
Winning the Grand Jury Award was “Minh Tâm,” which follows the title character, a woman who comes upon a renewed belief in love. According to the Jury’s statement, the French film by Vincent Maury was awarded “for its honest, haunting and subtly devastating depiction of an emotionally damaged woman struggling to reconnect her body and her soul.”
The entire list of winners is below:
Jury Awards
Best of Festival Award: “Home” (Kosovo) – Daniel Mulloly
Grand Jury Award: “Minh Tâm” (France) – Vincent Maury
Panavision Best North American Short: “La Laguna” (Mexico) – Aaron Schock
Future Filmmaker Award: “Limbo” (Greece) – Konstantina Kotzamani
Non-Student Competition Awards
Best Animated Short: “Glove” (US) – Alexa Lim Haas & Bernardo Britto
Best Live Action Short Over 15 Minutes: “Bon Voyage” (Switzerland) – Marc Wilkins
Best Live Action Short 15 Minutes And Under: “Filip” (Sweden) – Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
Best Documentary Short: “Clínica de Migrantes: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (US) – Maxim Pozdorovkin
Student Competition Awards
Best Student Animation: “Mr. Madila” (UK) – Rory Waudby-Tolley
Best Student Live Action Short Over 15 Minutes: “Peacock” (Czech Republic) – Ondrej Hudecek
Best Student Live Action Short 15 Minutes And Under: “Gabber Lover” (France) – Anna Cazenave-Cambet
Best Student Documentary Short: “I, Destini” (US) – Nicholas Pilarski & Destini Riley
Jury Special Mentions
“Thunder Road” (US) – Jim Cummings
“People of the Delta” (Ethiopia) – Joseph Lawrence
Audience Awards
Best Live Action Short: “The Chop” (UK) – Lewis Rose
Best Documentary Short: “Phil’s Camino” (USA) – Annie O’Neil and Jessica Lewis
Best Animation Short: “Taking Flight” (USA) – Brandon Oldenburg
Shortfest Online Audience Award: “High Chaparral” (USA) – David Freid
Additional Prizes
Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker: “Peacock” (Czech Republic) – Ondrej Hudecek
HP Bridging the Borders Award Presented By Cinema Without Borders: “French” (France) – Josza Anjembe
Youth Jury Award: “Taking Flight” (US) – Brandon Oldenburg
Up next for PSIFF is the Palm Springs International Film Festival, which will be held January 5-16, 2017.
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