Discover the nine short films touring around Europe, which aim to win the title of 2022/2023 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 2023. 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
SPRÖTCH
(Squish)
Xavier Seron, 2020
Belgium, FIC, 21′
Brussels Short Film Festival – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
FLO has to go to Marrakech for work. So, it’s TOM who takes care of SAM, their 5-year-old son. Flo left him a list of tasks to complete during his absence. Despite this, Tom forgot Sam’s guitar course. From his ryad, Flo calls to blame him. Tom hates being caught. He picks up Sam. The car comes out of the garage at full speed. SPROTCH. Tom just crushed something…
Awards and Selections
12.2021 – Festival de Cinéma Européen des Arcs (Grand Prize)
11.2022 – Festival SPASM – Cinéma Insolite (Jury Award)
WE HAVE ONE HEART
Katarzyna Warzecha, 2020
Poland, DOC/ANI, 10′
Short Waves Festival – Audience Award 2022
Synopsis
After his mother’s death, Adam finds his parents’ correspondence. We discover a love adventure entangled in the 20th century, when the world was cut in two and the war between Iran and Iraq marked the start of tragic conflicts in the Middle East. Mixing animation and found footage, we dive in a odyssey full of bombshells and secrets.
Awards and Selections
2020 – DocsMX International Documentary Film Festival of Mexico City (Best Short Documentary – Fragmentos Internacionale)
2020 – Chicago International Film Festival (Gold Hugo for the Best Documentary Short Film)
2021 – Anibar International Animation Festival (Special Mention)
2021 – Aspen ShortFest (Jury Award in the Documentary category, Ellen Jury Award)
O LOBO SOLITáRIO
(The Lone Wolf)
Pavel Andonov, 2022
Finland/United Kingdom, FIC, 21′
Tampere Film Festival – Audience Award 2023
Synopsis
On a night like any other, Vítor Lobo, the “lone wolf”, goes live on Viva FM, a radio station “with people inside” (as the saying goes), in which he hosts a late-night talk show, taking calls from his listeners – some regulars, some newcomers. The theme for tonight’s show was emotions, but the “lone wolf” could never imagine the emotional night that awaited him.
Awards and Selections
2022 – Prémios Sophia – Portuguese Film Academy (Best Fiction Short Film)
2023 – Filmoramax – International Short Film Festival Lyon (Grand Prix OCS, Audience Award)
2023 – OSCARS® (Shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards)
HANGING ON
Alfie Barker, 2021
United Kingdom, DOC, 10′
Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival Bristol – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
A docu-drama that spotlights the strength of a community when faced with eviction. HANGING ON reminds us about the struggles of people who are slipping through the cracks of society and what it means to have a home.
Awards and Selections
2021 – Encounters Film Festival (Best British Short Film & UK)
2021 – Aesthetica Short Film Festival (Best of the Festival & Best Documentary Short)
2022 – Grierson Awards – (Shortlisted)
Nanu Tudor
(My Uncle Tudor)
Olga Lucovnicova, 2021
Belgium/Hungary/Moldova, DOC, 20′
Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
After 20 years of silence, Olga travels back to the house of her great-grandparents, where she spent her childhood. The long- awaited family reunion interferes with her attempts to overcome her childhood fears and confront her uncle, who hid his double personality for decades.
Awards and Selections
2021 – FEMINA (Grand Prix)
2021 – Regensburg International Short Film Week (Prize of the City of Regensburg)
2021 – Olympia Film Festival (Best Short & Medium Length Documentary)
2021 – Berlinale (Goldener Bär)
2022 – Movies that Matter (Best Short Film Award)
Harta
Júlia de Paz, 2021
Spain, FIC, 24′
ALCINE – Alcalá de Henares Film Festival in the Community of Madrid – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
Carmela, a 12-year-old girl, on her birthday, is forced to meet her father in a family meeting centre, due to the sentence of gender violence that he has against her mother.
BAMBIRAK
Zamarin Wahdat, 2019
Germany, FIC, 14′
Interfilm Berlin – International Short Film Festival – Audience Award 2021
Synopsis
When 8 year old Kati from Afghanistan stows away in her father’s truck, Faruk must juggle his responsibilities as a single dad while holding down his first job in a new country. As their relationship deepens, a brush with racism tests the bond between father and daughter.
Awards and Selections
2021 – Sundance Festival (Best International Fiction)
2021 – Filmfest Osnabrück (Best Student Short)
PARTIR UN JOUR
(Bye Bye)
Amélie Bonnin, 2021
France, FIC, 25′
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival – Audience Award 2022
Synopsis
After he graduated from high school, Julien left Normandy – where he was born and bred – to build a bigger life for himself in Paris, leaving his memories behind. But one day, it is time for him to go back, and all these memories violently come back to the surface.
Mehiläiskesä
(Summer OF Bees)
Ida-Maria Olva, 2021
Finland, FIC, 23′
Tampere Film Festival – Audience Award 2022
Synopsis
Eedi, suffering from eco-anxiety, decides to start beekeeping with the help of their mother Anne who, rather than fearing for the future, is scared of every single little bee.
Awards and Selections
2021- Raindance Film Festival (World Premiere)
2022 – Tampere Film Festival (Student Award, Special mention for Sustainability Award Verso)
2022 – BAFTA Student Awards (Shortlisted)
