HollyShorts Film Festival announced the 2020 winners of their “Sweet 16” year. 1, 2, 3, ALL EYES ON ME from director Emil Gallardo went home with the Oscar-Qualifying Grand Prix award which comes with a $15,000 Camera Package from Panavision.

Both winner of Best Live Action WELCOME BACK by Tiffany K. Guillen, and winner of Best Animation – o28 from Otalia Caussé, Geoffroy Collin, Lousie Grardel, Antoine Marchand, Robin Merle, and Fabian Meyran now qualify for the upcoming Oscars.

Other awards went to Student Academy Award Winner Karishma Dube who won this year’s Best Director for her acclaimed short BITTU; and BAD HAIR director Justin Simien received the 2020 Indie Maverick Award.

Winners of 2020 HollyShorts Film Festival

(listed in alphabetical order):

Best Action: Twin Turbo by Caity Lotz

Best Animation (Oscar-Qualifying Category): o28 from Otalia Caussé, Geoffroy Collin, Lousie Grardel, Antoine Marchand, Robin Merle, and Fabian Meyran

Best Cinematography: Kai Dickson for Eyes of Eidolon

Best Comedy: Basic by Chelsea Devantez

Best Commercial: Lyon E-Sport by Gaetano Naccarato

Best Director: Karishma Dube for BITTU

Best Drama: November 1st by Charlie Manton

Best Documentary: USA vs. Scott by Ora DeKornfeld and Isabel Castro

Best Editing: Stella Heath Keir for End-O

Best Female Short Screenplay: Hello I Must Be Going written by Sara Hallowell

Best Horror: The Fourth Wall by Kelsey Bollig

Best International: Alive by Jimmy Olsson

Best LGBTQ+: Query By Sophie Kargman

Best Live Action (Oscar-Qualifying Category): Welcome Back by Tiffany K. Guillen

Best Midnight Madness: Inferno by Bishal Dutta

Best Music Video: Adventure by Monster Rally, directed by Zak Marx

Best Producer: Julia Retali for Aio Zitelli

Best SAGIndie Award: Sunday’s Child by Maisie Richardson-Sellers

Best Sci-Fi: Hekademia by Gloria Mercer

Best Student: A Beautiful Nightmare by Kevin Lee Maxwell

Best Television Pilot: Small Fry Pilot ‘Six Pack’ written by Madeline Mack, Michael Lincoln

Best Thriller: An Uninvited Guest by Richard B. Pierre

Best TV: The World Between Us by ChunYang Lin

Best VFX: Automaton by Krzysztof Rost

Best Web Series: All-American Sex Offender by Chloe Lenihan

Festival Honorable Mention: Nahjum by Sebastian Torres Greene & Manuel Del Valle

Grand Prix (Oscar-Qualifying Category): 1, 2, 3 All Eyes On Me by Emil Gallardo

Indie Maverick Award: Justin Simien

Screenplay 1st Place Grand Prize Winner: The Problem With Time Travel written by Mike Kearby

Screenplay 2nd Place: Christopher and the Bug written by Vanessa Esteves

Screenplay 3rd Place: Rice written by Omar Kamara

Shot on Film Award presented by Kodak: Birthday Girl by Portia A. Buckley

Shot on Film Honorable Mention presented by Kodak: David by Zach Woods

Shot On Film Super 8 Winner presented by Kodak: “World Premiere Video” – The Music Video that survived after Music Television didn’t by Mike J. Nichols

Social Impact Award: Black Boys Can’t Cry by Victor Gabriel

Special Jury Award: The Van by Erenik Beqiri

Women in Film Award: The Birth of Valerie Venus by Sarah Clift

The 2021 HollyShorts Film Festival will be held from August 12 – August 21, 2021.