“Bahiya and Mahmoud,” from Jordan’s Zaid Abu Hamdan, won the Palm Springs ShortFest’s best of festival award at the June 21-27 event. The fest screened 331 short films as well as another 3,000 in the market and gave out $14,000 in cash awards.
The Panavision Grand Jury award went to Australia’s “Umoja: No Men Allowed,” director Elizabeth Tadic’s story of a Kenyan village where no men are allowed. “Tsuyako,” directed by Mitsuyo Miyazaki, won the future filmmaker award for a story inspired by her grandmother, a 1950s Japanese housewife who may have had a female lover.
Live-action and animation category winners become eligible for Academy Awards consideration, with the live-action awards going to “Cat and Mice” and “The Hours Home.” Best animation short was “The Lost Town of Switez,” while the docu short winner was “75 Watts.”
A jury special citation for excellence in filmic storytelling went to “Nullarbor,” also from Australia, which repped 10% of all films at the fest. The online audience award went to “Stephany + Me,” which is available for viewing at psfilmfest.org for three months.
Complete list of winners:
JURY AWARDS
BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARD
Bahiya & Mahmoud (Jordan/USA), Zaid Abu Hamdan
PANAVISION GRAND JURY AWARD
UMOJA: No Men Allowed (Australia), Elizabeth Tadic
FUTURE FILMMAKER AWARD
Mitsuyo Miyazaki, Tsuyako (Japan/USA)
JURY SPECIAL CITATION – The jury presented a special citation for Excellence in Filmic Storytelling to Nullarbor (Australia), co-director and writer Patrick Sarell and co-director Alistair Lockhart.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
AUDIENCE FAVORITE LIVE ACTION SHORT
dik (Australia), Christopher Stollery
Runner-up – Tsuyako (Japan/USA), Mitsuyo Miyazaki
AUDIENCE FAVORITE DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Johnny & Lyman: A Life Together (USA), Paul Detwiler, Michael Chen
Runner-up – The Unforgettable Hampton Family (USA), Julie Cohen
AUDIENCE FAVORITE ANIMATION SHORT
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (USA), William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
Runner-up – Danny & Annie (USA), Dave Isay, Tim Rauch
SHORTFEST ONLINE AUDIENCE AWARD
Stephany + Me (USA), Peter Shanel
JURY CATEGORY AWARDS
BEST Live Action short 15 MINUTES AND UNDER
First Place – Cat and Mice (Kattenkwaad) (Netherlands), Nova Van Dijk
Second Place – Nowhere Elsewhere (Au Milieu de Nulle Part Ailleurs) (Canada), Annick Blanc
Jury Special Citation – Pass the Salt, Please (USA) for Best Onscreen Pairing
BEST Live Action short over 15 minutes:
First Place – The Hours’ Home (A Casa das Horas) (Brazil), Heraldo Cavalcanti
Second Place – The Shore (UK), Terry George
BEST AnimatION short:
First Place – The Lost Town of Switez (Poland/Canada), Kamil Polak
Second Place – Interregnum (Canada), Nick Fox-Gieg
Jury Special Citation – The Cord-Woman (La Femme Á Cordes) (France) for Best Sound Design
BEST Documentary short:
First Place – 75 Watts (Canada), John Cullen
Second Place – Collaboration Horizontale (Ireland), Ciaran Cassidy
STUDENT CATEGORIES
BEST STUDENT Live Action short 15 MINUTES AND UNDER
First Place – The Promised Land (Israel), Vanessa Knutsen
Second Place – Kiss (Australia), Alex Murawski
BEST STUDENT Live Action short over 15 minutes:
First Place – Bekas (Sweden/Iraq), Karzan Kader
Second Place – Negative (Israel), Yoav Hornung
BEST STUDENT ANIMATION:
First Place – The Birds Upstairs (USA), Christopher Cinq-Mars Jarvis
Second Place – Heavy Heads (Denmark), Helena Frank
BEST STUDENT DOCUMENTARY short:
First Place – Goodbye Mandima (Kwa Heri Mandima) (Switzerland), Robert-Jan Lacombe
Second Place – Wajeh (Israel/Palestinian Territories), Murad Nassar
AWARD FOR BEST STUDENT CINEMATOGRAPHY
Taj Musco (cinematographer), Eh Jeung (South Korea)
Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker:
“Eh Jeung” (South Korea), directed by Taj Musco
Bridging the Borders Award:
“Bekas” (Sweden/Iraq), directed by Karzan Kader
