Joanna, 90 Days, Tyres triumph at PS Shortfest

Timothy Yeung’s 90 Days took the Panavision Best North American Short honours.

The festival ran from June 17-23 and screened 330 films from more than 3,000 submissions. Organisers handed out more than $115,000 in prizes, including $21,000 in cash awards, in 21 categories. 

“The 2014 Palm Springs ShortFest far surpassed all of our expectations,” said festival director Kathleen McInnis (pictured at the Australian reception). “Our audience, filmmaker and industry attendance all soared, as did the striking talent we were able to showcase during our 20th anniversary year.

“Well over 800 filmmaker and industry guests made our Filmmaker Forums one of the most dynamic we have ever had, and most of the screenings had all filmmakers in attendance — a great bonus for our audience who love their Q&A sessions. Filmmakers brought themselves here from 37 countries, the most we have ever had, which speaks directly to the success of our targeted outreach to world cinema.”

Events included roundtables and industry panels. Screen’s US editor Jeremy Kay (pictured) was among the speakers at Saturday’s (21) business panel. The jury comprised Screen’s Nigel Daly (pictured with Jeremy Kay), Katie Holly of Blinder Films and Steven Gaydos of Variety.

Festival brass announced the  Palm Springs International Film Festival will take place from January 2-12, 2015.

2014 Palm Springs International ShortFest winners:

Best Of Festival Award – Carry On (China), Yatao Li

Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau Grand Jury Award – Joanna (Poland), Aneta Kopacz

Future Filmmaker Award – Whisker (New Zealand), Steven Saussey

Panavision Best North American Short – 90 Days (Canada-Hong Kong), Timothy Yeung

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Best Live Action Short – Dragula (US), Frank Meli
Runner-up – Young Americans (US), Kevin Lacy

Best Documentary Short – Showfolk (US), Ned McNeilage
Runner-up – The War Photographers (US), Steven Kochones

Best Animation Short – Bendik & The Monster (Norway), Frank Mosvold
Runner-up – The Gulf (Canada), Carl Beauchemin, Thomas Chrétien, David Forest

Shortfest Online Audience Award – Juliet (Australia), Martin Høgberget

JURY CATEGORY AWARDS

First place winners in the non-student animation and live action categories may be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Second place recipients received a $500 cash prize. 

Best Animation Short

First Place – Los Rosales (Italy), Daniel Ferreira

Second Place ($500) – Dwarf Giant (Nain Geant) (France-Switzerland), Fabienne Giezendanner

Best Live Action Short Over 15 Minutes

First Place ($2,000) – That Music (Esa Música) (Colombia), Darío Vejarano

Second Place ($500) – The Nostalgist (UK), Giacomo Cimini

Best Live Action Short 15 Minutes And Under

First Place ($2,000) – The Chicken (Germany-Croatia), Una Gunjak

Second Place ($500) – Oranges (Naranjas) (Colombia), Iván D Gaona

Honorable Mention – Through the Breaking Glass (A Través Del Espejo) (Spain), Iván Mena

Best Documentary Short:

First Place ($2,000) –

Joanna (Poland), Aneta Kopacz

An intimate portrayal of a young mother who must contemplate what she wants to leave behind for her toddler son and husband.

Second Place ($500) – The Dogwalker (Hundvakten) (Sweden), Caroline Ingvarsson

Honorable Mention – A Paradise (Un Paraiso) (Cuba-UK), Jayisha Patel

Student Categories

All first place winners in these categories received a one-year download membership to Videoblocks, AudioBlocks or GraphicStock. 

Best Student Animation

First Place – Mend And Make Do (UK), Bexie Bush

Second Place – The Little Cousteau (Maly Cousteau) (Czech Republic), Jakob Kouril

Best Student Live Action Short Over 15 Minutes

First Place – The Aftermath Of The Inauguration Of The Public Toilet At Kilometer 375 (Egypt), Omar El Zohairy

Second Place – Serori (Japan-Netherlands), Pedro Collantes

Best Student Live Action Short 15 Minutes And Under

First Place – Siham (Lebanon-USA), Cyril Aris

Second Place – Here (UK), Colum Eastwood

Best Student Documentary Short

First Place – Tyres (Myanmar), Kyaw Myo Lwin

Second Place – The Immaculates (Gil Immacolati) (France), Ronny Trocker

Best Student Cinematography

First Place – Aung Ko Ko (cinematographer), Tyres (Myanmar)

Second Place – Jeff Wong (cinematographer), 90 Days (Canada-Hong Kong)

Best US Film School Student Film Award - $2,000 cash prize courtesy of KQED, San Francisco.

Pigs (Singapore-US), Laura Mohai

ADDITIONAL PRIZES

Alexis Award For Best Emerging Student Filmmaker

Chosen by the festival’s programming team and was created in honour of Alexis Echavarria, a young filmmaker, whose talent as a budding filmmaker and gift for inspiring excellence among his fellow students were cut short suddenly in 2005 at age 16.  The recipient received Final Cut Pro X courtesy of Apple Computer. 

First Place – Sun Can Blind (O Sol Pode Cegar) (Brazil), Toti Loureiro

Runner-up – He Took His Skin Off For Me (UK), Ben Aston.

HP Bridging The Borders Award Presented By Cinema Without Borders

The winner received the award’s diploma and an HP ZBook Mobile Workstation with a color critical HP DreamColor display and Thunderbolt 2, valued at approximately $3,000.  The runner-up received a certificate for an upcoming Method Acting Intensive Workshop provided by The Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute with a value of $2,000

First Place - Foad (Norway), Farzad Samsami

Runner-up - Kush (India), Shubhashish Bhutiani