Saigon Kiss from Hồng Anh Nguyễn has won the €20,000 Saxon Film Promotion Prize in the National Competition at the 37th Filmfest Dresden international short film festival. in Dresden, the capital city of Saxony, which ran from April 8 to 13, 2025.
The German short film Do Something by Sofija Živković walked away with two prizes in the National Competition – the Golden Horseman Animated Film as well as the Audience Award.
The Panamian film Panadrilo by Marcela Heilbron also scooped up two prizes in the International Competition – winning the Golden Horseman Short Film as well as the ARTE Short Film Prize.
In the Central German Competition, Sophie Mühe’s film Social Club was awarded the Golden Horseman, and Ferdinand Ehrhardt scooped up the new Audience Award for his film Detlev.
Vox Humana from Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan received the Golden Horseman of the Youth Jury in the International Competition, and the Youth Jury in the National Competition awarded their Golden Horseman to The Male Gaze Recipe from Alma Weber and Joey Arand.
The “fully political” – Short Film Award for Democratic Culture went to I Died in Irpin from Anastasiia Falileieva; the DEFA Promotion Prize Animation was received personally by Shadab Shayegan for Pear Garden; and For Like What Would Sorrow Look, Hao Zhou received the LUCA Film Award for GenderEquality.
Award Winners of the 2025 Filmfest Dresden
International Competition Awards
Golden Horseman Animated Film International Competition
THE GIRL AND THE POT (A MENINA E O POTE) by Valentina Homem, Tati Bond (Brazil,
2024)
Jury Statement:
This evocative animated film blends sensual paint-on-glass technique with intuitive sound design to create a dreamlike world. Bold yet grounded, it draws on Indigenous South American narratives to imagine new ecological possibilities. A hopeful, original vision that speaks to the planet’s future.
Special Mention:
MOTHER’S CHILD by Naomi Noir(The Netherlands, 2024)
Jury Statement:
This animated short powerfully captures the emotional toll of navigating the UK welfare system. Through striking partly surreal animation, the filmmaker conveys the exhaustion and resilience of a mother caring for her adult disabled child. The film’s quiet heaviness speaks volumes – deeply moving and impossible to ignore.
Golden Horseman Short Film International Competition
PANADRILO by Marcela Heilbron (Panama, 2023)
Jury Statement:
With a playful soundtrack and a magical realism that punctuate an otherwise tragic story with absurdist humor, the director’s intentionality and vision shine in this understated allegory of the migrant experience. Even a blind belief in an unguaranteed afterlife can yield some promise of family reconnection, when resistance against violent structures and inhumane migration policies feels futile.
Special Mention:
2006 by Gabriella Choueifaty (France, Lebanon, 2024)
Jury Statement:
A beautifully short film that subtly captures the quiet tensions of family life in Lebanon, delicately exploring the raw, emotional complexity of teenage curiosity and defiance, while the country is under Israeli attack.
Golden Horsemen of the Audience International Competition
WANDER TO WONDER by Nina Gantz (The Netherlands, France, Belgium, UK, 2023)
Golden Horseman of the Youth Jury International Competition
VOX HUMANA by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Philippinenes, Singapore, USA, 2024)
Jury Statement:
How often do we really listen properly? Our award-winner impresses with its aesthetics that transport the visual experience through powerful image composition and the precise usage of sounds, thus inviting the viewers to pause and perceive the world in its full depth.
The element of listening suffuses the entire narrative, focusing on the deep need to understand and be understood.
In this way, the nonverbal becomes the universal language through which the dwindling contact with nature becomes restored.
Special Mention:
RUBY ALIA RITCHY vby Mika Baudoux (Belgium, 2024)
Dresden Short Film Award of the German Film Critics Association
GENDER REVEAL by Mo Matton (Canada, 2024)
Jury Statement:
A short film just needs a good idea, the rest is craftsmanship: From the perspective of the
marginalized, we take a dramaturgically clever look at a society that marginalizes.
Elements of horror are conveyed with great satirical delight in the precise portrayal of all the characters, with what began as a strained idyll ending in dystopia. A consistent exaggeration that dispenses its criticism with amusement.
National Competition Awards
Golden Horseman Animated Film National Competition
DO SOMETHING by Sofija Živković (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
This animated film captivates through its multilayered interplay of contrasts: humorous yet melancholic, profound yet trashy, light-hearted yet serious. It provides an approachable, human perspective on mental health – without ever losing its love for playfulness.
Special Mention:
THE SUNSET SPECIAL 2 by Nicolas Gebbe (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
Despite its “broken” style, the aesthetic remains captivating and consistently reflects an absurd world.
Golden Horseman Short Film National Competition
FIRE DRILL by Maximilian Villwock (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
An intriguing setting, isolated from the outside world and caught between places and conflicts, serves as a microcosm where the protagonist confronts toughness, intimacy and identity. With striking visual storytelling and physical immediacy, this film portrays masculinity – raw, authentic and deeply human.
Special Mention:
NUESTRA SOMBRA by Agustina Sánchez Gavier (Germany, Argentina, 2024)
Jury Statement:
A special mention goes to this film for its impressively cinematic atmosphere that distills the forces of nature and the destructive impacts of human actions.
Golden Horseman of the Audience National Competition
DO SOMETHING by Sofija Živković (Germany, 2024)
Golden Horseman Youth Jury National Competition
THE MALE GAZE RECIPE by Alma Weber, Joey Arand (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
Ultimate voyeurism! With a lot of humour and frivolity, the film captivated us and holds a mirror up to our patriarchal society. The absurd and multilayered staging of typical gender Golden
Horseman Short Film National Competition
FIRE DRILL by Maximilian Villwock (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
An intriguing setting, isolated from the outside world and caught between places and conflicts, serves as a microcosm where the protagonist confronts toughness, intimacy and identity. With striking visual storytelling and physical immediacy, this film portrays masculinity – raw, authentic and deeply human.
Special Mention:
NUESTRA SOMBRA by Agustina Sánchez Gavier (Germany, Argentina, 2024)
Jury Statement:
A special mention goes to this film for its impressively cinematic atmosphere that distills the forces of nature and the destructive impacts of human actions.
Golden Horseman of the Audience National Competition
DO SOMETHING by Sofija Živković (Germany, 2024)
Golden Horseman Youth Jury National Competition
THE MALE GAZE RECIPE by Alma Weber, Joey Arand (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
Ultimate voyeurism! With a lot of humour and frivolity, the film captivated us and holds a mirror up to our patriarchal society. The absurd and multilayered staging of typical gender
Award in the Central German Competition
Golden Horseman Central German Competition
SOCIAL CLUB by Sophie Mühe (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
The film positions itself as a political counterpoint to the prevailing images of East German fan culture. A subtle yet necessary shift in perspective that also sends a clear political message.
Special Mention:
WELCOME TO SEXY (MÖBELHAUS SEXY) by Nina Hoffmann (Germany 2024)
Jury Statement:
Short, funny, and above all – sexy!
NEW: Audience Award Central German Competition
DETLEV by Ferdinand Ehrhardt(Germany, 2024)
Cross-Competitive Awards
ARTE Short Film Prize
PANADRILO by Marcela Heilbron (Panama, 2023)
Jury Statement:
In the humid tropical jungle of the Darièn Gap, a man’s spirit takes up residence in the body of a crocodile. The road to exile is full with pitfalls, but the aim is to reach his destination: the United States where the family can reunite, whatever the cost. The ARTE jury was seduced by the originality of this modern odyssey.
“fully political” – Short Film Award for Democratic Culture
I DIED IN IRPIN von Anastasiia Falileieva (Czech Republic, Slowakia, Ukraine, 2024)
Jury Statement:
An intense journey through palpable pain and inner strength, which is visualised through the combination of different materials. We accompany the protagonist in her fight for survival against a war of aggression, the patriarchal oppression within her own four walls and the resulting self-doubt. Impressively animated, the film tells a story of self-empowerment and escape and, in a time of social hopelessness, gives us the feeling that we
are not powerless.
Special Mention:
CONTRADICTION OF EMPTINESS by Irina Rubina (Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
We would like to give a special mention to a film whose language, visuality and artistic
technique pierce its audience with the sharpness of a thousand little pins. A personal and
poetic film telling a story of belonging to two languages that carry so much violence, even
lullabies lose their innocence.
Golden Horseman Sound Design
ASTRO by Tim Ewalts (The Netherlands, 2024), Sound: Zoé Beekes, Music: Tim Ewalts, Sjeng Muermans
Jury Statement:
The claustrophobic feeling of the film is skilfully reflected in the soundtrack. Through the disembodied voices, we look into the intimate interior of the protagonist. This creates the perfect symbiosis of sound and image.
Special Mention:
NUESTRA SOMBRA by Agustina Sánchez Gavier (Germany, Argentina, 2024)
Sound: Henning Hein
LUCA Film Award for GenderEquality
LIKE WHAT WOULD SORROW LOOK byHao Zhou (China, Canada, Japan, Germany, 2024)
Jury Statement:
The film invites us into a sphere where identity and desire claim their own space within the walls of institutional power and heteronormative expectations. The imagery struck the jury with playfulness, intriguing shots and aesthetic montages. We admire the fact that the director puts themself in front of the camera to tell us a story about intimacy and being torn between systems, lovers and possibilities.
Special Mention:
I’VE HEARD A SIREN CALLING by Dylan Mitro (Canada, 2024)
Jury Statement:
A special mention goes to this film because of its mythological symbolism and the transnormative yet nostalgic journey portrayed in a captivating cinematic language.