US student live action shortThe Wormhole directed by JessicaSharzer won the Best Of Festival Award worth $2,000 at the eighth annual PalmSprings International Festival Of Short Films which ended last weekend (Aug11). Over 290 films from 25 countries played during the six-day event whichlasted Aug 6-12.

The $15,000 Future FilmmakerAward went to another US film-maker Alan Brown for O Beautiful, the story of two boys, one straight and one gay,one boy and one brutalized. And James Goss won the brand new Kodak Award forbest student cinematography for his work on the Swiss short Jean-Luc'sCalling. Goss won an invitation tothe 2003 Cannes Film Festival to showcase a clip of the film presented by theKodak Student Filmmaker Programme and $1,000 in Kodak film stock. Runner-up inthe Kodak section was Nathan Wilson, who shot Up and won $500 in film stock.

The CasablancaAward of Merit, which awards two days of studio time at Desert Hot Springsproduction facility Casablanca Studios, was won by Jeremy Passmore for his filmCrossing.

The nine-memberjury comprised Spencer Beglarian (actor/writer/educator), Rui Henriques Coimbra(writer/journalist), Andrew Crane (short film programmer for the AmericanCinematheque), Jim Holt (writer/documentary producer), Thomas Ethan Harris(former programming director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, film consultantand executive producer), Suzanne Lezotte (writer and representative from ARRI),JC MacKenzie (actor), Amy Talkington (film-maker/writer) and Erin CressidaWilson (screenwriter, playwright and professor at Duke University).

Sectionaward-winners were as follows:

Live Action 15minutes and under:

First place: BrotherOf Mine (Bror Min), JensJonsson (Sweden)

Second place: ShadowMan, Amanda Rudman (UK)

Live Action over15 minutes:

First place: Tattoo, Jules Williamson (UK)

Second place: Mabul, Guy Nattiv (Israel)

Animation:

First place: TheFreak, AristomenisTsirbas (US)

Second place: TheHungry Squid, JohnWeldon (Canada)

Documentary:

First place: BerthaAlyce, Gay Block (US)

Second place: Album, Barbara Bird (US)

Studentaward-winners were as follows:

Live Action 15minutes and under:

First place: Traveler, Marie Regan (US)

Second place: BackSlide, Rick Ross (US)

Live Action over15 minutes:

First place: BarrierDevice, Grace Lee (US)

Second place: HereWas The Anthem, SergioUmansky (Mexico)

Animation:

First place: Dog, Suzie Templeton (UK)

Second place: Pending, Anna Tow (Australia)

Documentary:

Clyde, Mans Mansson (US/Sweden)

Special awardsof merit:

Best interpretationof a woman's experience as told by a man: No Prom For Cindy, Charlie Adler

Honorary mentionfor acting: Jamie McShane, Fine