Three films, all directed by women – “Like the Ones I Used to Know” by Annie St. Pierre, “Your Street” by Güzin Kar and “Homebird” by Ewa Smyk won the Grand Prizes along with the Academy Awards®-qualifying honors, at the 2021 Indy Shorts International Film Festival presented by Heartland Film (Indy Shorts).
“We are thrilled to qualify three amazing films for the first time out of Indy Shorts,” said Heartland Film Artistic Director Greg Sorvig. “Two of our winners are premiere titles: ‘Homebird’ is a world premiere student film from the National Film and Television School in the UK, and “Your Street” is a U.S. premiere after world premiering earlier this year at Berlinale. “Like the Ones I Used to Know” has had great success on the festival circuit, but Indy Shorts is proud to be the first Festival to qualify it for the 94th Academy Awards®. Congratulations to all the winners!”
Grand Prize Winners & Academy Award® Qualifiers
Academy Award® Qualification | Live Action Short
Grand Prize for Narrative Short | $5,000 Cash Prize
“Like the Ones I Used to Know” by Annie St-Pierre (Canada) Description: December 24, 1983, 10:50 p.m.; Julie and her cousins ate too much sugar, Santa Claus is late and Denis, alone in his car, is anxious at the idea of setting foot in his ex-in-law’s house to pick up his children.
Academy Award® Qualification | Documentary Short
Grand Prize for Documentary Short | $5,000 Cash Prize
“Your Street” by Güzin Kar (Switzerland) Description: A street in the industrial area of a German city, faceless, unobtrusive, unfinished. Warehouses, construction sites and car washes dominate. But little by little, the grey present of the street is being charged with its past, which is linked to one of the most tragic episodes in the history of reunified Germany. Are public memorials collective remembrance or collective repression?
Academy Award® Qualification | Animated Short
Grand Prize for Animated Short | $5,000 Cash Prize
“Homebird” by Ewa Smyk (U.K.) Description: Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.
2021 Indy Shorts International Film Festival Award Winners
Academy Award® Qualification | Live Action Short
Grand Prize for Narrative Short
“Like the Ones I Used to Know” by Annie St-Pierre (Canada)
Academy Award® Qualification | Documentary Short
Grand Prize for Documentary Short
“Your Street” by Güzin Kar (Switzerland)
Academy Award® Qualification | Animated Short
Grand Prize for Animated Short
“Homebird” by Ewa Smyk (U.K.)
Indiana Spotlight Award
“Cutters” by Matt Dillman (U.S.)
Comedy Award
“Close Ties to Home Country” by Akanksha Cruczynski (U.S.)
Heartland Horror Award
“The Thing That Ate the Birds” by Sophie Mair, Dan Gitsham (England)
Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award
“A Concerto is a Conversation” by Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot (U.S.)
Summer White Lynch Memorial Award – High School Film Competition Grand Prize
“Sophie and Jacob” by Max Shoham (Etobicoke School of the Arts, Toronto, Canada)
Directorial Debut Award
“Bruiser” by Miles Warren (U.S.)
Narrative Student Short Award
“Plaisir” by Molly Gillis (New York University, New York, U.S.)
Documentary Student Short Award
“Seahorse” by Nele Dehnenkamp (The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany)
Animated Student Short Award
“Love is Just a Death Away” by Bára Anna Stejskalová (FAMU, Czech Republic) I
Indiana Spotlight Student Short Award
“MTXE: Mental Toughness Xtra Effort” by Emmanuel Terrell (Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, U.S.)
High School Film Competition Narrative Winner
“Beth” by Ava Bounds (St. Peter’s School, Yorkshire, U.K.)
High School Film Competition Winner
“5 Years from Water” by Thao Nguyen (Blair Academy, Blairstown, New Jersey, U.S.)
High School Film Competition Animated Winner
“Sophie and Jacob” by Max Shoham (Etobicoke School of the Arts, Toronto, Canada)
High School Film Competition Indiana Winner
“No Human Being is Illegal” by Samuel Villagra-Stanton (John Adams High School, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.)