Discover the nine short films touring around Europe, which aim to win the title of 2021/2022 European Short Film Audience Award.
After winning the favour of their national audience, these short films are on a quest to win the hearts of Europeans, who are invited to vote for their favourite short film. The final award of €3,500 will be presented at the Brussels Short Film Festival, in 2022. The national audience won’t be able to vote for the short film coming from its own country to ensure the fairness of the award.
Winner
CONFINÉS DEHORS
(Locked Out)
Julien Goudichaud, 2020
France, DOC, 24′
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
March 2020, a global pandemic hits humanity. In an empty and silent Paris, there remain urban ghosts, Sarah, Nelson and Katia, who have no other choice but to be locked out. These people forgotten by the health crisis ask us: how to continue to survive in a world at a standstill?
MOTHER’s
Hippolyte Leibovici, 2019
Belgium, DOC, 22′
Brussels Short Film Festival – Audience Award 2020
Synopsis
The documentary paints a portrait of a drag family from Brussels spanning four generations during an evening backstage. As layers of makeup and alcohol erode away the masculinity and feminize them their hearts begin to open. Difficult subjects are addressed (suicide, coming out or maternal love, for example), the jokes merge and generational misunderstandings inevitably insert themselves in discussion.
Awards and Selections
2019 – Breedbeeld Kortfilmfestival (Best Documentary Award)
2020 – Les Rencontres Audiovisuelles – Festival International du Court-métrage de Lille (Grand Prix)
2021 – CUT TO : GENT Festival (Audience Award)
U nashii synagozi
(In Our Synagogue)
Ivan Orlenko, 2019
Ukraine/France, FIC, 21′
Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz Art – Audience Award 2020
Synopsis
A boy tries to find out what happened in the old local synagogue. Obsessed, he is chasing something he never saw and does not pay any attention to what is happening around him.
Awards and Selections
2019 – Odesa International Film Festival (FIPRESCI Prize)
2019 – Ukrainian Film Critics Awards (Ukrainian Film Critics Award “Kinokolo”)
2020 – Ukrainian Film Academy Awards (Golden Dziga)
O Nosso Reino
(Our Kingdom)
Luís Costa, 2020
Portugal, FIC, 15′
Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival – Audience Award 2020
Synopsis
In a village where time and space run out, a child dwells in the death vortex.
Awards and Selections
2020 – Curtas Vila do Conde IFF (Portuguese Audience Award)
2021 – MOTELx Lisbon International Horror Film Festival (Best Portuguese Horror Short Film Award, Méliès d’argent Award – Best European Short)
2021 – Caminhos do Cinema Português (Best Sound, Best Cinematography)
No More Wings
Abraham Adeyemi, 2019
United Kingdom, FIC, 11′
Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival Bristol – Audience Award 2020
Synopsis
Two lifelong friends meet up at their childhood favourite South London fried chicken shop at a divergent point in their lives.
Awards and Selections
2020 – Tribeca Film Festival (World Premiere)
2020 – The Shortlist Film Festival (Audience Award)
2020 – Raindance Film Festival (London Premiere)
FERROPITOS
Nüll García, 2020
Spain, FIC, 14′
ALCINE – Alcalá de Henares Film Festival in the Community of Madrid – Audience Award 2020
Synopsis
A model is taking a photo shoot with a recognized photographer. He proposes to take the photos with the naked torso to convey that insecurity caused by nakedness. He wants to talk about how vulnerable women feel in this society.
Awards and Selections
2019 – Festival Intl del Cortometraje de San Roque (Best Short Film)
2020 – Semana del Cortometraje de la Comunidad de Madrid (Premio Madrid en Corto, Prémio Semana del Corto, Premio Accesit al Goya)
FLIEßENDE GRENZE
(FLUID BORDER)
Joana Vogdt, 2020
Germany, FIC, 17′
Interfilm Berlin – International Short Film Festival – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
The border between East and West Germany in 1980. The bureaucratically defined “fluid border” runs right through Schaalsee Lake. One night, a storm displaces the border demarcation buoys. While border troops and military survey teams in East and West meticulously try to restore order, two surveyors throw their prejudices overboard and overcome the boundaries between them.
Awards and Selections
2021 – Interfilm Berlin – International Short Film Festival (Best German Film, Audience Award)
2021 – Landshuter Kurzfilmfestival (Großer BMW Preis Grand prize)
Na krańcu miasta
(THE EDGE OF TOWN)
Daria Kasperek, 2019
Poland, FIC, 14′
Short Waves Festival – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
At the edge of town we can reach places we do not ordinarily visit. At the edge of town there is a forest. To reach its source, you have to cross the darkest places.
Awards and Selections
2021 – Stuttgarter Filmwinter — Festival for expanded Media (Norman Award)
2021 – Short Waves Festival (Audience Award)
