WINNERS

MONTH OF MARCH

Trip To The Tax Paradise

Trip to tax paradise is an experimental silent film feature film, on which a musical with neorealist and humorous touches has been mounted. Based on real events, antonio bellido has tried to grotesquely portray the socioeconomic crisis in spain from 1908 to 1914, where the corruption and greed of its leaders have mortgaged future generations regardless of the consequences.

Best Emerging Filmmaker (Experimental)- Antonio Bellido Marin

Paul's Promise

Set during the civil rights movement, Paul’s Promise chronicles the life of a man who breaks free from the limits of racism and alcoholism, after he makes an unusual promise to his dying mother. Throughout Paul's story, his community is forever impacted as a result of his inspiring journey that led him to start one of the first integrated churches in the American South.

Best Lead-Female(Over 40min ) - Linda Purl Mighty

Ophelia

Ophélie de Ferjac was forcibly married to a boor, Geoffroy Désormeaux, at the end of the 16th century. While she was trying to join her lover, Quentin, her husband surprised her and to punish her, he locked her in her room where she died of grief. Since then, the ghost of Ophelia - nicknamed "the White Lady" - haunts the corridors of the castle and seeks revenge. Three centuries later, the building was bought by Bastien Désormeaux (one of Geoffroy's descendants), a scientist who wants to retire there in order to continue his research in astronomy. He hires at his side an apprentice astronomer, Théodore Lepré, who is led to the castle by Gaspard Fresnel, a villager whose behavior is at least ambiguous. At the meanwhile, a white Wolf wanders around the castle.

Best Director (Under 40min) - Klaudia Lanka
Best Support (Male) - Rémy Martin

Moon Sisters

Moon Sisters" explore everything that bubbles beneath the surface in seemingly wonderful female friendships. Set to a full moon circle that is a monthly meeting point for this group of young women, things get stirren up when Bea - the most succesful of the group - returns after months away. When the question of if you are able to "start again" is raised, tension, jealousy and pent up anger rise to the surface and take form in a way that none of them had expected.

Best Emerging Filmmaker(Under 40min) - Mari Ørstavik

Man in the Mountain

For generations, a family has been protecting secrets of alien encounters on family owned land. Now, in recent times, a scientist looks into them with historical evidence.

Best Film (Under 40min) Directed by Dennis Trombly

Best Original Score - Robert Gulya

Creators

"Creators"tells about the study of the cruel impact of the communist-bolshevik ideology on the cultural heritage and the way of thinking of Azerbaijan against the background of the life and work of Mikayil Huseynov and Sadyq Dadashov -the great Azerbaijani architects of the 20th century.
During the repressions of 1937, the overwhelming majority of the intelligentsia from among their relatives were exiled or executed, which caused irreparable damage to the nation's gene pool.
Mikayil Hüseynov and Sadyq Dadashov had to live the rest of their lives in fear and emotional turmoil.

Best Documentary Directed by Shamil Aliyev

Tears tears tears

"tears tears tears" is an experimental stop-motion animation made only of water and light… an homage for human heart and all the emotions that make it beat, subtle or dramatic, stubborn or volatile...
The process of creating the film lasted for 6 months and for its author it was a long meditative amd therapeutic process. Words written with frozen letters were melting under the eye of the camera for about 30 minutes, while on the screen they appear for a few or a dozen seconds, sometimes disappear in the blink of an eye or stay longer, repeat and repeat themselves.

Special Jury Award for Experimental stop-motion work by Ewa Maria Wolska

Tattooed Trucks of Nepal

“Tattooed Trucks of Nepal – Horn Please” is an upbeat documentary that celebrates Nepalis and their culture through a vibrant new artform: the paintings on their freight trucks. Set in the context of Nepal’s artistic legacy, the film introduces the talents of self-taught painters, who work by commission in order to share what is important to the trucker. Their subject matter provides a window into Nepali culture and includes truck protection, displays of spirituality, love of family, sports and new and old traditions. Representations of Lord Ganesh, European soccer heroes, Bob Marley and a salute to Avril Lavigne are displayed on these moving ‘canvases’ as they travel Nepal’s dangerous mountain roads. The film is created and narrated by Returned American Peace Corps Volunteer, Ron Ranson who worked as a teacher in Nepal for two years.

Best Director ( Documentary Under 40min) - Ron Ranson

The Useless Glassblower

A fascinating short documentary on a traditional glassmaker deep in the southern German Black Forest, and his thoughts and feelings about what this 7000-year-old craft has taught him about life.

Best Screenplay (Documentary Under 40 min) - Holger E. Metzger

Aces

Phoebe McDuff has moved to new towns more times than she can count. After missing the bus on her first day of school, she’s surprised when one of her new neighbors, Summer Raine, offers her a ride, kickstarting something neither of them expected. Phoebe finds a friend in Summer that quickly grows to be something more — it’s practically love at first sight. As their relationship progresses and they spend more time together, they decide to take things to the next level. After a failed intimate moment with Phoebe questioning her own sexuality and Summer hurt beyond belief, Summer ends their relationship. Phoebe realizes that her freeze reaction was due to a part of sexuality she never knew about until now -- she's asexual. Phoebe comes to terms with her newfound identity while Summer deals with the guilt of her initial reaction. Will they find their way back to each other, or officially call it quits?

Best LGBTQ+ Film( Under 40min) - Directed by Jordan-Paige Sudduth

10 Rounds

10 Rounds is a Documentary about the training of boxer Mike Esteves before his fight for a belt and a national title.

For 2 months we followed the physical preparation as well as the daily life of this young boxer, for a French championship title super-bantamweight category.
The subject of the film is to reveal a part of the backstage of the boxing.
The sacrifices, the athlete/coach relationship, the sharing, the respect for the opponent.

Special Jury Award - Jean-Christophe Gonon

Cassandra

A policewoman struggles to remember what happened at the old wilson farm, the predicted site of the next murder of a serial killer named Cassandra.

Best Screenplay - David E. Tolchinsky
Best Cinematography - Robert Patrick Stern

Claire de Lune

After attending a presentation at school, Alex, Claire's son seems disturbed. In seeking to know more about the mysterious speaker, Claire will discover family secrets buried long ago

Best Producer - Antoine Tapin, Valérie Lecomte

Framing the Self

Framing the Self is an experimental animated short film, whose purpose is to question the essence of individuality.
The two basic figures of a movie - the director and his character - engage in an aporetic dialogue which develops into a real conversation between the cinematic language and the animation.
The director, who can manipulate space and time around the character, isolates her from the surrounding distractions and interrogates her about the very nature of her Self.
The two mutually stimulate each other, expanding upon the subject matter throughout different chapters of the film, which are connected with each other by a non-linear narration.
The rules of language slowly lose their validity, being substituted by the principle of doubt. The character sees her individuality breaking apart, progressively exploding into an infinite multiplicity.

Best Animated Short Film - Directed by Andrea Cristini