The 2017 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its Festival award winners on Sunday, June 25, 2017, with Swiss film Facing Mecca directed by Jan-Eric Mack winning the prize for the Best of Festival Award.
“After spending a week in and out of theaters, and talking with filmmakers and audiences, we close out the festival with such a strong sense of community,” said Festival Director Lili Rodriguez. “Filmmakers are making movies about the changing world around them. I think our award winners showcase an understanding and compassion for people and it’s a great thing to see.”
The 2017 Palm Springs International ShortFest award winners are:
JURY AWARDS
BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARD – Winner received $5,000 cash prize courtesy of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau. The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration.
Facing Mecca (Switzerland), Jan-Eric Mack
Pensioner Roli comes to Fareed’s assistance when the Syrian refugee is faced with a bewildering forest of Swiss bureaucracy before he can bury his Muslim wife.
GRAND JURY AWARD – Winner received a $2,000 cash prize.
The Head Vanishes (France/Canada), Franck Dion
Jacqueline, no longer quite in her right mind, still goes on her annual summer trip. This year, she’s followed by some woman who claims to be her daughter.
PANAVISION BEST NORTH AMERICAN SHORT – The use of a camera package valued at $60,000 courtesy of Panavision.
Dekalb Elementary (USA), Reed Van Dyk
Inspired by an actual 911 call placed during a school shooting incident in Atlanta, Georgia.
NON-STUDENT COMPETITION AWARDS
All first place winners in the non-student categories received a cash award of $2,000 and may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Head Vanishes (France/Canada), Franck Dion
Jacqueline, no longer quite in her right mind, still goes on her annual summer trip. This year, she’s followed by some woman who claims to be her daughter.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT OVER 15 MINUTES
Retouch (Iran), Kaveh Mazaheri
Maryam’s husband does weightlifting at home. When a weight falls on his throat and puts him near death, Maryam makes a decision.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT 15 MINUTES AND UNDER
Great Choice (USA), Robin Comisar
A woman gets stuck in a Red Lobster commercial.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Edith + Eddie (USA), Laura Checkoway
Ninety-something Edith and Eddie are America’s oldest interracial newlyweds, whose unusual and idyllic love story is disrupted by a family feud that threatens to tear them apart.
STUDENT COMPETITION AWARDS
FUTURE FILMMAKER AWARD – Winner received a $2,000 cash prize.
Where You Found Refuge (France), Guillaume Legrand
After Didier finds his daughter living in a cult, he decides to bring her home by force.
Special Mention: Fry Day (USA), Laura Moss
An adolescent girl comes of age against the backdrop of serial killer Ted Bundy’s execution in 1989.
All first place winners in these categories received a $500 cash prize.
BEST STUDENT ANIMATION
Sog (Germany), Jonatan Schwenk
After a flood, the fish are stuck in trees, in danger of drying out. They scream sharply, disturbing the inhabitants of a nearby cave.
BEST STUDENT LIVE ACTION SHORT OVER 15 MINUTES
Facing Mecca (Switzerland), Jan-Eric Mack
Pensioner Roli comes to Fareed’s assistance when the Syrian refugee is faced with a bewildering forest of Swiss bureaucracy before he can bury his Muslim wife.
BEST STUDENT LIVE ACTION SHORT 15 MINUTES AND UNDER
Iron Hands (USA/China), Johnson Cheng
A 12-year old girl tries out for the traditionally all-boys’ Chinese youth Olympic weightlifting team. And makes an unlikely connection with the weightlifting gym’s reclusive groundskeeper.
BEST STUDENT DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Searching for Wives (Singapore), Zuki Juno Tobgye
Male migrant workers from South India living in Singapore send photos back home in the hope of finding suitable and willing marriage partners.
Special Jury Mention: I Made You, I Kill You (Romania/France), Alexandru Petru Badelita
In a remarkable cinematic diary, by turns touching and disturbing, Badelita looks back at his traumatic childhood growing up in rural Romania.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Red Light (Bulgaria/Croatia), Toma Waszarow
A bus stops at a village’s only intersection, where the traffic light is stuck on red. The driver refuses to move forward
BEST ANIMATION SHORT
Coin Operated (USA), Nicholas Arioli
Seventy years pass in the life of one naïve explorer.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Kayayo (Norway), Mari Bakke Riise
Elementary-school-age Bamunu works as a kayayo (a living shopping cart) at the markets in Accra thousands of miles from her village.
SHORTFEST ONLINE AUDIENCE AWARD
Lost Face (Australia/Canada), Sean Meehan
Based on a classic story by Jack London set in mid-1800s Alaska, a man makes a deal with a native chief in hopes to save his life.
ADDITIONAL PRIZES
ALEXIS AWARD FOR BEST EMERGING STUDENT FILMMAKER – The Alexis Award is selected by the Festival’s programming team and was created in honor of Alexis Echavarria, 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.
Chebet (Kenya/USA), Tony Koros
A pregnant woman in the Kenyan highlands decides to take drastic action when she finds her husband passed out in front of their house yet again.
HP BRIDGING THE BORDERS AWARD PRESENTED BY CINEMA WITHOUT BORDERS – The award goes to a film that is most successful in bringing and connecting the people of our world closer together. The winner received an HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation valued at $3,000.
Pantheon (France), Ange-Régis Hounkpatin
Son of a Beninese immigrant, cut off from his roots, Solomon is about to donate his deceased father’s Voodoo costume to a museum when a young street-dancer reminds him of the ancestral soul.
YOUTH JURY AWARD – The winner received a $500 cash prize.
Everybody Else is Taken (New Zealand), Jessica Grace Smith
Meet Mika, a girl who refuses to let her gender define her place in one of the harshest environments on Earth-the play-ground.
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