Agata Kulesza (“Ida”) and Bartosz Bielenia (“Corpus Christi”) will brace for “The Time That Never Came.”
The dystopian melodrama, set to premiere in 2026, will focus on a couple in a world obsessed with youth. Sara (Kulesza) chose to age naturally while Oskar, her partner, took an anti-aging treatment. Years later, when they reunite — divided by time but bound by the past — Sara begins a journey to reclaim lost love, confront buried emotions and find freedom.
Ed (Bielenia) is a calm and resourceful driver who helps Sara escape the Refuge. As they travel together to the City of Youth, unexpected events begin to shift her plans.
Kulesza, also known for “Green Border,” told Variety: “I truly hope we can create a universal story, one that invites reflection on where older people stand in today’s world and whether we’re placing far too much value on youth, which is, from the outset,...
The dystopian melodrama, set to premiere in 2026, will focus on a couple in a world obsessed with youth. Sara (Kulesza) chose to age naturally while Oskar, her partner, took an anti-aging treatment. Years later, when they reunite — divided by time but bound by the past — Sara begins a journey to reclaim lost love, confront buried emotions and find freedom.
Ed (Bielenia) is a calm and resourceful driver who helps Sara escape the Refuge. As they travel together to the City of Youth, unexpected events begin to shift her plans.
Kulesza, also known for “Green Border,” told Variety: “I truly hope we can create a universal story, one that invites reflection on where older people stand in today’s world and whether we’re placing far too much value on youth, which is, from the outset,...
- 5/14/2025
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Christopher Eccleston and Madeleine Madden will lead the cast of Stephen Burke’s heist comedy Chasing Millions, for which LevelK has acquired world sales rights and will launch at next week’s Cannes market.
The film is loosely based on the largest bank robbery in British and Irish history, which took place in December 2004 in Belfast. It will begin shooting on June 2 in Dublin and Dundalk, Ireland.
The story will follow Diana, an Australian police detective, who is investigating the robbery of the Northern Bank while on a family visit; and is paired with Crayford, a seasoned Northern Irish detective.
The film is loosely based on the largest bank robbery in British and Irish history, which took place in December 2004 in Belfast. It will begin shooting on June 2 in Dublin and Dundalk, Ireland.
The story will follow Diana, an Australian police detective, who is investigating the robbery of the Northern Bank while on a family visit; and is paired with Crayford, a seasoned Northern Irish detective.
- 5/6/2025
- ScreenDaily
New features by Lukas Dhont, Felix van Groeningen, and Teodora Ana Mihai will be among the projects to be showcased at Flanders Film Days 2025, a relaunch of Flanders Image’s feature showcase, previously known as Connext.
Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) is again supporting the event which will take place in Ghent from October 7-8, 2025, in close collaboration with Film Fest Gent, which opens on October 8.
Feature-length fiction, animated and documentary films at various stages of production will be pitched and shown to international industry and festival executive.. It will also be presenting work from young and emerging filmmakers. In a change from Connext,...
Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) is again supporting the event which will take place in Ghent from October 7-8, 2025, in close collaboration with Film Fest Gent, which opens on October 8.
Feature-length fiction, animated and documentary films at various stages of production will be pitched and shown to international industry and festival executive.. It will also be presenting work from young and emerging filmmakers. In a change from Connext,...
- 2/13/2025
- ScreenDaily
New features by Lukas Dhont, Felix van Groeningen, and Teodora Ana Mihai will be among the projects to be showcased at Flanders Film Days 2025, a relaunch of Flanders Image’s feature showcase, previously known as Connext.
Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) is again supporting the event which will take place in Ghent from October 7-8, 2025, in close collaboration with Film Fest Gent, which opens on October 8.
Feature-length fiction, animated and documentary films at various stages of production will be pitched and shown to international industry and festival executive.. It will also be presenting work from young and emerging filmmakers. In a change from Connext,...
Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) is again supporting the event which will take place in Ghent from October 7-8, 2025, in close collaboration with Film Fest Gent, which opens on October 8.
Feature-length fiction, animated and documentary films at various stages of production will be pitched and shown to international industry and festival executive.. It will also be presenting work from young and emerging filmmakers. In a change from Connext,...
- 2/13/2025
- ScreenDaily
New films by directors Lukas Dhont, Ana Teodora Mihai and Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are among 14 new projects to share €3 million in funding from Screen Flanders.
Flemish director Dhont, who was Oscar nominated for his 2023 feature Close, received €200,000 for his new feature Coward.
Dhont joins forces again with co-writer Angelo Tijssens for the film, whose plot details are not yet available. The Reunion, the production company set up by Michiel and Lukas Dhont, takes the lead in the film’s production, with Lumière Publishing releasing in the Benelux.
Heysel 85, which received €250,000, is directed by Ana Teodora Mihai whose...
Flemish director Dhont, who was Oscar nominated for his 2023 feature Close, received €200,000 for his new feature Coward.
Dhont joins forces again with co-writer Angelo Tijssens for the film, whose plot details are not yet available. The Reunion, the production company set up by Michiel and Lukas Dhont, takes the lead in the film’s production, with Lumière Publishing releasing in the Benelux.
Heysel 85, which received €250,000, is directed by Ana Teodora Mihai whose...
- 12/3/2024
- ScreenDaily
The British Film Institute (BFI) has issued a further 11 awards through the UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), including Karim Aïnouz’s Rosebushpruning, Irish football story Saipan, starring Steve Coogan, and The Bureau-produced Moroccan co-production Behind The Palm Trees.
Rosebushpruning is the next feature from Brazilian director Aïnouz. It is a contemporary adaptation of Marco Bellocchio’s Fists In The Pocket, with Elle Fanning attached to star.
Producers are Kavac Film, The Match Factory and Surfilm, with CryBaby the minority UK producer on the project. Fremantle’s Italy-based The Apartment is on board as a co-producer, and Mubi is one of the backers.
Rosebushpruning is the next feature from Brazilian director Aïnouz. It is a contemporary adaptation of Marco Bellocchio’s Fists In The Pocket, with Elle Fanning attached to star.
Producers are Kavac Film, The Match Factory and Surfilm, with CryBaby the minority UK producer on the project. Fremantle’s Italy-based The Apartment is on board as a co-producer, and Mubi is one of the backers.
- 8/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
€2m invested in 11 films and TV series.
Gerrit Bekers’ Quentin Blake’s Box Of Treasures, a series of six animated stories by the UK illustrator and storyteller, has received backing from Screen Flanders in the latest tranche of funding that sees €2m invested in 11 films and TV series
It is produced by Walter Iuzzolino’s UK outfit Eagle Eye with Belgium’s Creative Conspiracy. The main animation studio is Spicy Acorn in Ghent. Aardman will sell the series internationally. BBC, Vrt and France Télé are also on board.
Screen Flanders is also backing Dorien Goertzen’s musical Just Like In...
Gerrit Bekers’ Quentin Blake’s Box Of Treasures, a series of six animated stories by the UK illustrator and storyteller, has received backing from Screen Flanders in the latest tranche of funding that sees €2m invested in 11 films and TV series
It is produced by Walter Iuzzolino’s UK outfit Eagle Eye with Belgium’s Creative Conspiracy. The main animation studio is Spicy Acorn in Ghent. Aardman will sell the series internationally. BBC, Vrt and France Télé are also on board.
Screen Flanders is also backing Dorien Goertzen’s musical Just Like In...
- 5/23/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Dominated by the charisma of Swedish-Lebanese lead Fares Fares, a “Westworld” co-star, “Partisan,” a Warner Bros.- production for Scandinavia’s Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent) walked off Wednesday evening with best series at the 3rd Canneseries TV festival.
Due to play on Nent’s SVOD service Viaplay, the slow burning and unsettling Nordic Noir sees Fares Fares’ character, Johnny, accept a job at an closed gate organic food farm which is some kind of front for far more sinister activities.
Co-created by Amir Chandin and Fares and sold by Federation Entertainment, “Partisan” was part of a 10-title Canneseries competition which painted this year a fairly disturbing portrait of contemporary world.
“Although all the shows at Canneseries were made before Covid-19, they are still often very dark and often treat weighty social issues,” Albin Levi, Canneseries artistic director, told Variety.
Cannes’ special interpretation prize and student award went to the ensemble cast of “Red Light,...
Due to play on Nent’s SVOD service Viaplay, the slow burning and unsettling Nordic Noir sees Fares Fares’ character, Johnny, accept a job at an closed gate organic food farm which is some kind of front for far more sinister activities.
Co-created by Amir Chandin and Fares and sold by Federation Entertainment, “Partisan” was part of a 10-title Canneseries competition which painted this year a fairly disturbing portrait of contemporary world.
“Although all the shows at Canneseries were made before Covid-19, they are still often very dark and often treat weighty social issues,” Albin Levi, Canneseries artistic director, told Variety.
Cannes’ special interpretation prize and student award went to the ensemble cast of “Red Light,...
- 10/14/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Thriller series “Red Light” world premieres Sunday as part of the competition section of Canneseries. Variety spoke to its stars and co-creators Halina Reijn and Carice van Houten, and writer Esther Gerritsen.
In the show, Van Houten, who played Melisandre in “Game of Thrones,” plays Sylvia, a brothel madam in Antwerp’s red light district. Reijn is opera singer Esther, and Maaike Neuville plays Evi, a woman struggling to be both a good mother and a detective solving brutal crimes.
The three women get caught up in the world of human trafficking and prostitution when Esther’s husband – a philosophy professor – disappears. From completely different backgrounds the lives of these women intertwine and they find out they need each other to get out of the difficult situations they’re trapped in.
The show is written by Gerritsen, alongside Christophe Dirickx, Frank Ketelaar and Reijn. The directors are Wouter Bouvijn and Anke Blondé.
In the show, Van Houten, who played Melisandre in “Game of Thrones,” plays Sylvia, a brothel madam in Antwerp’s red light district. Reijn is opera singer Esther, and Maaike Neuville plays Evi, a woman struggling to be both a good mother and a detective solving brutal crimes.
The three women get caught up in the world of human trafficking and prostitution when Esther’s husband – a philosophy professor – disappears. From completely different backgrounds the lives of these women intertwine and they find out they need each other to get out of the difficult situations they’re trapped in.
The show is written by Gerritsen, alongside Christophe Dirickx, Frank Ketelaar and Reijn. The directors are Wouter Bouvijn and Anke Blondé.
- 10/10/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Re>Connext is the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.
The first footage from Netflix drama Soil, directed by Bad Boys For Life duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is to be presented at Re>Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.
It is one of 26 upcoming television projects selected for the event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders and will run online from October 5-31. The physical showcase has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Scroll down for full list of projects
Soil,...
The first footage from Netflix drama Soil, directed by Bad Boys For Life duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is to be presented at Re>Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.
It is one of 26 upcoming television projects selected for the event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders and will run online from October 5-31. The physical showcase has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Scroll down for full list of projects
Soil,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Federation Entertainment has acquired international distribution rights to “Red Light,” a women-driven series created by Carice van Houten (“Game of Thrones”) and Halina Reijn (‘Instinct’) which will world premiere in competition at the third edition of Canneseries.
The 10-part Belgian/Dutch co-production, “Red Light” portrays three women with completely different backgrounds who get caught up in a world of human trafficking, prostitution and exploitation between Amsterdam and Antwerp. Sylvia, a prostitute, runs a brothel with her shady boyfriend, Esther is a well known soprano and comes from a wealthy environment and Evi is a policewoman trying to combine a major case with her family life.
“We have a mission to tell stories from a female perspective. ‘Red Light’ is exactly that: a story about women, sexuality and power but with enormous urgency,” said van Houten and Reijn.
“We’re very proud that, after a wonderful development and shoot with the whole team,...
The 10-part Belgian/Dutch co-production, “Red Light” portrays three women with completely different backgrounds who get caught up in a world of human trafficking, prostitution and exploitation between Amsterdam and Antwerp. Sylvia, a prostitute, runs a brothel with her shady boyfriend, Esther is a well known soprano and comes from a wealthy environment and Evi is a policewoman trying to combine a major case with her family life.
“We have a mission to tell stories from a female perspective. ‘Red Light’ is exactly that: a story about women, sexuality and power but with enormous urgency,” said van Houten and Reijn.
“We’re very proud that, after a wonderful development and shoot with the whole team,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
New films from Vincent Bal, Koen Mortier and Caroline Strubbe among 47 films at virtual showcase.
A new drama from Cannes award-winner Lukas Dhont (Girl) and a film produced in lockdown by Milo Rau are among 47 projects to be showcased at Re>Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.
The event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders, will run online from October 5-31 after the physical showcase was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Usually taking place over three days under the banner Connext, the virtual edition has been...
A new drama from Cannes award-winner Lukas Dhont (Girl) and a film produced in lockdown by Milo Rau are among 47 projects to be showcased at Re>Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.
The event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders, will run online from October 5-31 after the physical showcase was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Usually taking place over three days under the banner Connext, the virtual edition has been...
- 9/15/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins got more than divine intervention at the 27th Hamptons Film Festival, they got the audience’s blessing.
Netflix’s “The Two Popes” took top honors as the Hiff Audience winner at the festival, which ran from October 10-14. It was joined by two docs as fan faves over the long holiday weekend. “Popes” star Pryce even made a surprise appearance at a screening Sunday night, telling the sold-out crowd, “It’s pretty cool to play the pope. I was nervous at first. I wanted to be honest to the man. I look a bit like him. The uncanny thing is I walk like him anyway. He has a dodgy hip and I have a dodgy knee.”
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Pryce said he was in awe of his co-star and fellow countryman Hopkins, who played Pope Benedict XVI. And...
Netflix’s “The Two Popes” took top honors as the Hiff Audience winner at the festival, which ran from October 10-14. It was joined by two docs as fan faves over the long holiday weekend. “Popes” star Pryce even made a surprise appearance at a screening Sunday night, telling the sold-out crowd, “It’s pretty cool to play the pope. I was nervous at first. I wanted to be honest to the man. I look a bit like him. The uncanny thing is I walk like him anyway. He has a dodgy hip and I have a dodgy knee.”
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Pryce said he was in awe of his co-star and fellow countryman Hopkins, who played Pope Benedict XVI. And...
- 10/16/2019
- by Bill McCuddy
- Gold Derby
Update, with Audience Awards The Hamptons Film Festival announced its Audience Award winners today, with Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes taking the Narrative Feature trophy and Ric Burns’ Oliver Sacks: His Own Life chosen by audiences as best Documentary Feature.
Fire in Paradise, directed by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
Also announced today, Trey Edward Shults, writer and director of the festival’s closing night film Waves, received the inaugural Zicherman Family Foundation Screenwriting Award, a $10,000 award presented to an early-career screenwriter “who has demonstrated singular vision and dedication to their craft.”
Previous, Monday Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day and the Sung-a Yoon documentary Overseas were awarded top honors today at the the 27th Hamptons Film Festival, the fest has announced.
Pálmason’s film won the Award for Best Narrative Feature, while Overseas received the Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Fire in Paradise, directed by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
Also announced today, Trey Edward Shults, writer and director of the festival’s closing night film Waves, received the inaugural Zicherman Family Foundation Screenwriting Award, a $10,000 award presented to an early-career screenwriter “who has demonstrated singular vision and dedication to their craft.”
Previous, Monday Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day and the Sung-a Yoon documentary Overseas were awarded top honors today at the the 27th Hamptons Film Festival, the fest has announced.
Pálmason’s film won the Award for Best Narrative Feature, while Overseas received the Award for Best Documentary Feature.
- 10/15/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Conference speakers to include Rikke Ennis, Philip Knatchbull and Walter Iuzzolino.
The Broken Circle Breakdown and Tabula Rasa actress Veerle Baetens will pitch her directorial debut, The Melting, at the fourth edition of Flanders Image’s annual film and TV showcase CONNeXT (October 6-9).
The Melting is adapted from Lize Spit’s novel about a woman looking back on one pivotal summer with the two boys who were her best friends in the small Flemish town of Bovenmeer.
CONNeXT invites international experts to Ghent to preview or screen features and TV series made in Flanders and Brussels. In past years,...
The Broken Circle Breakdown and Tabula Rasa actress Veerle Baetens will pitch her directorial debut, The Melting, at the fourth edition of Flanders Image’s annual film and TV showcase CONNeXT (October 6-9).
The Melting is adapted from Lize Spit’s novel about a woman looking back on one pivotal summer with the two boys who were her best friends in the small Flemish town of Bovenmeer.
CONNeXT invites international experts to Ghent to preview or screen features and TV series made in Flanders and Brussels. In past years,...
- 9/16/2019
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Around The World When You Were My AgeThe titles for the 48th International Film Festival Rotterdam are being announced in anticipation of the event running January 23 – February 3, 2018. We will update the program as new films are revealed.Tiger COMPETITIONSons of Denmark (Ulaa Salim)Take Me Somewhere Nice (Ena Sendijarević)Present.Perfect. (Shengze Zhu)Sheena667 (Grigory Dobrygin)Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them (Camila José Donoso)Koko-di Koko-da (Johannes Nyholm)Els dies que vindran (Carlos Marqués-Marcet)Bright Future COMPETITIONAlva (Ico Costa)Chèche lavi (Sam Ellison)De nuevo otra vez (Romina Paula)Doozy (Richard Squires)Dreissig (Simona Kostova)Ende der Saison (Elmar Imanov)Fabiana (Brunna Laboissière)The Gold-Laden Sheep & the Sacred Mountain (Ridham Janve)Heroes (Köken Ergun)Historia de mi nombre (Karin Cuyul)Last Night I Saw You Smiling (Kavich Neang)Lost Holiday (Michael Kerry Matthews/Thomas Matthews)Maggie (Yi Okseop)Mens (Isabelle Prim)No Data Plan (Miko Revereza...
- 1/9/2019
- MUBI
Big Screen Competition line-up also announced.
The 48th International Film Festival Rotterdam (23 Jan – 3 Feb) has revealed the eight films that will compete in its 2018 Hivos Tiger Competition.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The award includes a cash prize of €40,000, to be divided between filmmaker and producer. There is also a special jury award worth €10,000.
This year’s selection includes new feature films by directors including Johannes Nyholm, Ena Sendijarević, Ulaa Salim and Shengze Zhu. There are seven world premieres and one international premiere.
This year’s jury will comprise of Chilean filmmaker and artist Alfredo Jaar; Daniela Michel, festival...
The 48th International Film Festival Rotterdam (23 Jan – 3 Feb) has revealed the eight films that will compete in its 2018 Hivos Tiger Competition.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The award includes a cash prize of €40,000, to be divided between filmmaker and producer. There is also a special jury award worth €10,000.
This year’s selection includes new feature films by directors including Johannes Nyholm, Ena Sendijarević, Ulaa Salim and Shengze Zhu. There are seven world premieres and one international premiere.
This year’s jury will comprise of Chilean filmmaker and artist Alfredo Jaar; Daniela Michel, festival...
- 1/9/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The Palm Springs International Shortfest, the largest short film festival and market in North America, announced its Festival award winners on Sunday, June 24, 2012. 324 short films screened throughout the Festival along with more than 3,000 filmmaker submissions available in the film market. A total of $118,800 in prizes, including $16,000 in cash awards, were awarded in 20 categories. Held from June 19-25, 2012, the Festival had another record-breaking year in attendance for ticket buyers, filmmakers and film industry delegates.
Darryl Macdonald, ShortFest Programming and Executive Director, said, “It's been a great year for ShortFest, with record crowds, a spectacular lineup of provocative and engaging new films and a banner year for the ShortFest Forums, with acclaimed talents like Robert Elswit, Gus Van Sant and Oorlagh George participating. All in all, we've achieved everything we set out to accomplish with this year's Festival. I'm confident we've provided a fitting springboard for the astonishingly accomplished young filmmakers who participated.”
Returning for a second year, the Palm Springs International ShortFest continued the ShortFest Online Film Festival. Ten films were chosen to represent the Festival online. The ShortFest Online Audience Award went to Lost & Found (UK), directed by Sam Washington. The film will be available to view online for the next three months.
Jury Category Awards
Awards in the non-student and student categories were selected by ShortFest jury members Richard Abramowitz (President of Abramorama, distribution and marketing company), Lael Loewenstein, (President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and a critic for Variety) and Jane Schoettle (International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival). All first place winners in the non-student categories received a cash award of $2,000. First place winners in the non-student Animation and Live Action categories may be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Second place recipients received a $500 cash prize.
Designated by AMPAS as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest and its Short Film Market are the largest and most prominent short film showcase in North America. The Festival and its concurrent 3,000-film Market continue to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and are well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.
The Palm Springs International ShortFest is supported by an ever-growing number of new and longtime sponsors with local, national and international prominence. The Title Sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major Sponsors include, Panavision, The BottomLine, Stampede Post Productions, Greenhouse Studios, Kqed San Francisco and The Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles. Special support has been provided by The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The 2012 Palm Springs International ShortFest award winners are:
Jury Awards
Best Of Festival Award – Winner received $2,000 cash prize, Software Package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store, Post Production award courtesy of Greenhouse Studios and Final Cut Pro X courtesy of Apple. The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.
Behind the Mirrors (Detras del Espejo) (Peru/USA), Julio O. Ramos
A young husband, and soon-to-be father, manages a local brothel with his wife. When one of the night’s customers leaves behind an unexpected mess, the husband's keen eye for opportunity and quick thinking may change their fortunes forever.
Panavision Grand Jury Award – Winner received a Panavision Camera Package valued at $60,000.
Paulie (USA), Andrew Nackman
Paulie is a nine year old in the seventh grade. Used to being the smartest kid in the room Paulie aces every test, wins every spelling bee and science fair, and does not lose. So when bully Tony beats him one day at an essay contest, Paulie refuses to let it go.
Future Filmmaker Award – Winner received a $2,000 cash prize and a post production package courtesy of Greenhouse Studios.
Khaana (UK), Rajinder Sawhney
A pregnant, orthodox Muslim woman living in London has an appetite for life as well as for food, in this delightful exploration of the ways in which her homeland’s culture intersects with her still novel foreign surroundings.
Audience Awards
Audience Favorite Live Action Short
A Curious Conjunction of Coincidences (Netherlands), Joost Reijmers
An absurdist journey through time with an explosive ending in the heart of Amsterdam, this Dutch treat won the Best Comedy Award at the recent Aspen ShortsFest, and rightly so: its inventive tale links up three hapless heroes living in different centuries whose worlds collide unexpectedly in the present day.
Runner-up – Talking Dog For Sale, 10 Euros (Se Vende PerroQue Habla, 10 Euros) (France/Spain), Lewis-Martin Soucy
Audience Favorite Documentary Short
Mr. Christmas (USA), Nick Palmer
Bruce Mertz is the kind of guy who lights up the lives of those around him -- quite literally -- when every holiday season he transforms his house into a beacon with 50,000 colorful lights and himself into Mr. Christmas.
Runner-up – The Little Team (L’Equip Petit) (Spain), Robert Gomez
Audience Favorite Animation Short
The Boy in the Bubble (Ireland), Kealan O’Rourke
Young Rupert Shelley utilizes magic to win the heart of his true love at school and save his own heart from breaking. The magic works, but not in quite the way that Rupert had expected.
Runner-up – The Gruffalo’s Child (UK), Uwe Heidschötter, Johannes Weiland
Best Animation short
First Place ($2,000) – Nuru (Belgium), Michael Palmaers
In this dazzling, CG-enhanced story about an abandoned zoo and its lone animal inhabitant, a zookeeper looks after a giant gorilla who is being subjected to a dark experiment run by an opportunistic director.
Second Place ($500) – Amen! (Germany), Moritz Mayerhofer
Best Live Action short over 15 minutes
First Place ($2,000) – Dura Lex (Belgium), Anke Blondé
When two detectives show up at Kristi’s house asking lots of questions about her Albanian maid, she has little time to decide what to think, say, and do – and her answers will have major consequences for all concerned.
Second Place ($500) – Light Years (Lichtjahre) (Germany), Florian Knittel
Best Live Action short 15 Minutes And Under
First Place ($2,000) – The Devil’s Ballroom (Mannen fra isødet) (Norway/Greenland), Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken
After burying his last remaining companion, a fearless explorer has to find his way to the North Pole alone, fighting snow-blindness and physical strain. An unexpected encounter forces him to decide between honor and fame in the history books or keeping the moral high ground—a choice which will haunt the rest of his life.
Second Place ($500) – The Moment (Australia), Troy Bellchambers
Best Documentary short:
First Place ($2,000) – The Record Breaker (Denmark), Brian McGinn
Climbing Machu Picchu on stilts is not for everybody, but it suits Ashrita Furman just fine. Furman holds the official record for the most Guinness World Records by one individual, and he has set his sights on one more for the books.
Second Place ($500) – The Globe Collector (Australia), Summer DeRoche
Student Categories
All first place winners in these categories received a software package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store along with a one-year download membership to videoblocks.com or stock footage DVD set courtesy of Video Block and Footage Firm.
Best Student Animation
First Place – Bear Me (Germany), Katarzyna Wilk
A young woman’s object of love, and other desires, is a surprisingly strange choice in her seemingly otherwise quite normal world.
Second Place – Flamingo Pride (Germany), Tomer Eshed
Best Student Live Action short over 15 minutes
First Place – Hatch (Austria/USA), Christoph Kushnig
On a wintry Vienna night, a young couple makes the decision to give up their child, knowing they cannot raise it and realize their own youthful dreams. Across town, another couple is desperate for a child of their own, with no way to conceive one. When the paths of these two couples briefly cross, fate holds an unexpected lesson for each of them.
Second Place – Good Night (UK), Muriel d’Ansembourg
Best Student Live Action short 15 Minutes And Under
First Place – Behind the Mirrors (Detras del Espejo) (Peru/USA), Julio O. Ramos
A young husband, and soon-to-be father, manages a local brothel with his wife. When one of the night’s customers leaves behind an unexpected mess, the husband's keen eye for opportunity and quick thinking may change their fortunes forever.
Second Place – Paulie (USA), Andrew Nackman
Best Student Documentary short
In an unprecedented decision, the ShortFest jury has decided to award first place jointly to two documentaries: The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist and Julian. The jury issued the following statement: “With strikingly different techniques, each paints a remarkable portrait of family ties. Although we didn’t set out to define the category thematically, we noted that both films raised questions of parental legacy, filial responsibility, and the indelible cost of personal ambition. Each left an unmistakable impression on us. And so, after sustained and impassioned deliberations, we decided that the only real option was to recognize both films.”
First Place (tie) – The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist (USA), Mark Columbus
Filmmaker Mark Columbus takes an inventive, probing and amusing look at his relationship with his dad, a once famous jazz guitarist from the Fiji Islands, whose career stalled when he moved to the U.S.
First Place (tie) – Julian (USA), Bao Nguyen
When a young man named Julian looks straight into the camera and talks about the lure of joining the Marines and the possibility of not returning home, so begins this riveting portrait of a young soldier and his family.
Best Student Cinematography - Software package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store.
Saro Varjabedian (cinematographer), Jesus Loves Youssef (Lebanon)
Young Youssef is praying for a bike for a first communion gift, but communion involves confession, and the boy is feeling awfully guilty about something that he doesn’t want to confess to the priest.
Second Place – Anand Kishore (cinematographer), Mong (China)
Best Student Film Award (From A Us Film School) - $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Kqed, San Francisco.
First Place – Hatch (Austria/USA), Christoph Kuschnig
On a wintry Vienna night, a young couple makes the decision to give up their child, knowing they cannot raise it and realize their own youthful dreams. Across town, another couple is desperate for a child of their own, with no way to conceive one. When the paths of these two couples briefly cross, fate holds an unexpected lesson for each of them.
Additional Prizes
The Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker went to Kiss Me (USA), directed by Jules Nurrish. The recipient received Final Cut Pro X courtesy of Apple. The Alexis Award is selected by the Festival’s programming team and was created in honor of Alexis Echavarria, a young filmmaker, whose talent as a budding filmmaker and gift for inspiring excellence among his fellow students were cut short suddenly in 2005 at age 16.
Bridging the Borders Award presented by Cinema Without Borders went to Road to Peshawar (USA), directed by Hammad Rizvi. The winner received a certificate for an upcoming Method Acting Intensive with a value of $2000 from Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. The runner-up was Dura Lex (Belgium), directed by Anke Blondé.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival will be held January 3-14, 2013.
Darryl Macdonald, ShortFest Programming and Executive Director, said, “It's been a great year for ShortFest, with record crowds, a spectacular lineup of provocative and engaging new films and a banner year for the ShortFest Forums, with acclaimed talents like Robert Elswit, Gus Van Sant and Oorlagh George participating. All in all, we've achieved everything we set out to accomplish with this year's Festival. I'm confident we've provided a fitting springboard for the astonishingly accomplished young filmmakers who participated.”
Returning for a second year, the Palm Springs International ShortFest continued the ShortFest Online Film Festival. Ten films were chosen to represent the Festival online. The ShortFest Online Audience Award went to Lost & Found (UK), directed by Sam Washington. The film will be available to view online for the next three months.
Jury Category Awards
Awards in the non-student and student categories were selected by ShortFest jury members Richard Abramowitz (President of Abramorama, distribution and marketing company), Lael Loewenstein, (President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and a critic for Variety) and Jane Schoettle (International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival). All first place winners in the non-student categories received a cash award of $2,000. First place winners in the non-student Animation and Live Action categories may be eligible for Academy Awards consideration. Second place recipients received a $500 cash prize.
Designated by AMPAS as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest and its Short Film Market are the largest and most prominent short film showcase in North America. The Festival and its concurrent 3,000-film Market continue to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and are well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.
The Palm Springs International ShortFest is supported by an ever-growing number of new and longtime sponsors with local, national and international prominence. The Title Sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major Sponsors include, Panavision, The BottomLine, Stampede Post Productions, Greenhouse Studios, Kqed San Francisco and The Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles. Special support has been provided by The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The 2012 Palm Springs International ShortFest award winners are:
Jury Awards
Best Of Festival Award – Winner received $2,000 cash prize, Software Package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store, Post Production award courtesy of Greenhouse Studios and Final Cut Pro X courtesy of Apple. The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.
Behind the Mirrors (Detras del Espejo) (Peru/USA), Julio O. Ramos
A young husband, and soon-to-be father, manages a local brothel with his wife. When one of the night’s customers leaves behind an unexpected mess, the husband's keen eye for opportunity and quick thinking may change their fortunes forever.
Panavision Grand Jury Award – Winner received a Panavision Camera Package valued at $60,000.
Paulie (USA), Andrew Nackman
Paulie is a nine year old in the seventh grade. Used to being the smartest kid in the room Paulie aces every test, wins every spelling bee and science fair, and does not lose. So when bully Tony beats him one day at an essay contest, Paulie refuses to let it go.
Future Filmmaker Award – Winner received a $2,000 cash prize and a post production package courtesy of Greenhouse Studios.
Khaana (UK), Rajinder Sawhney
A pregnant, orthodox Muslim woman living in London has an appetite for life as well as for food, in this delightful exploration of the ways in which her homeland’s culture intersects with her still novel foreign surroundings.
Audience Awards
Audience Favorite Live Action Short
A Curious Conjunction of Coincidences (Netherlands), Joost Reijmers
An absurdist journey through time with an explosive ending in the heart of Amsterdam, this Dutch treat won the Best Comedy Award at the recent Aspen ShortsFest, and rightly so: its inventive tale links up three hapless heroes living in different centuries whose worlds collide unexpectedly in the present day.
Runner-up – Talking Dog For Sale, 10 Euros (Se Vende PerroQue Habla, 10 Euros) (France/Spain), Lewis-Martin Soucy
Audience Favorite Documentary Short
Mr. Christmas (USA), Nick Palmer
Bruce Mertz is the kind of guy who lights up the lives of those around him -- quite literally -- when every holiday season he transforms his house into a beacon with 50,000 colorful lights and himself into Mr. Christmas.
Runner-up – The Little Team (L’Equip Petit) (Spain), Robert Gomez
Audience Favorite Animation Short
The Boy in the Bubble (Ireland), Kealan O’Rourke
Young Rupert Shelley utilizes magic to win the heart of his true love at school and save his own heart from breaking. The magic works, but not in quite the way that Rupert had expected.
Runner-up – The Gruffalo’s Child (UK), Uwe Heidschötter, Johannes Weiland
Best Animation short
First Place ($2,000) – Nuru (Belgium), Michael Palmaers
In this dazzling, CG-enhanced story about an abandoned zoo and its lone animal inhabitant, a zookeeper looks after a giant gorilla who is being subjected to a dark experiment run by an opportunistic director.
Second Place ($500) – Amen! (Germany), Moritz Mayerhofer
Best Live Action short over 15 minutes
First Place ($2,000) – Dura Lex (Belgium), Anke Blondé
When two detectives show up at Kristi’s house asking lots of questions about her Albanian maid, she has little time to decide what to think, say, and do – and her answers will have major consequences for all concerned.
Second Place ($500) – Light Years (Lichtjahre) (Germany), Florian Knittel
Best Live Action short 15 Minutes And Under
First Place ($2,000) – The Devil’s Ballroom (Mannen fra isødet) (Norway/Greenland), Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken
After burying his last remaining companion, a fearless explorer has to find his way to the North Pole alone, fighting snow-blindness and physical strain. An unexpected encounter forces him to decide between honor and fame in the history books or keeping the moral high ground—a choice which will haunt the rest of his life.
Second Place ($500) – The Moment (Australia), Troy Bellchambers
Best Documentary short:
First Place ($2,000) – The Record Breaker (Denmark), Brian McGinn
Climbing Machu Picchu on stilts is not for everybody, but it suits Ashrita Furman just fine. Furman holds the official record for the most Guinness World Records by one individual, and he has set his sights on one more for the books.
Second Place ($500) – The Globe Collector (Australia), Summer DeRoche
Student Categories
All first place winners in these categories received a software package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store along with a one-year download membership to videoblocks.com or stock footage DVD set courtesy of Video Block and Footage Firm.
Best Student Animation
First Place – Bear Me (Germany), Katarzyna Wilk
A young woman’s object of love, and other desires, is a surprisingly strange choice in her seemingly otherwise quite normal world.
Second Place – Flamingo Pride (Germany), Tomer Eshed
Best Student Live Action short over 15 minutes
First Place – Hatch (Austria/USA), Christoph Kushnig
On a wintry Vienna night, a young couple makes the decision to give up their child, knowing they cannot raise it and realize their own youthful dreams. Across town, another couple is desperate for a child of their own, with no way to conceive one. When the paths of these two couples briefly cross, fate holds an unexpected lesson for each of them.
Second Place – Good Night (UK), Muriel d’Ansembourg
Best Student Live Action short 15 Minutes And Under
First Place – Behind the Mirrors (Detras del Espejo) (Peru/USA), Julio O. Ramos
A young husband, and soon-to-be father, manages a local brothel with his wife. When one of the night’s customers leaves behind an unexpected mess, the husband's keen eye for opportunity and quick thinking may change their fortunes forever.
Second Place – Paulie (USA), Andrew Nackman
Best Student Documentary short
In an unprecedented decision, the ShortFest jury has decided to award first place jointly to two documentaries: The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist and Julian. The jury issued the following statement: “With strikingly different techniques, each paints a remarkable portrait of family ties. Although we didn’t set out to define the category thematically, we noted that both films raised questions of parental legacy, filial responsibility, and the indelible cost of personal ambition. Each left an unmistakable impression on us. And so, after sustained and impassioned deliberations, we decided that the only real option was to recognize both films.”
First Place (tie) – The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist (USA), Mark Columbus
Filmmaker Mark Columbus takes an inventive, probing and amusing look at his relationship with his dad, a once famous jazz guitarist from the Fiji Islands, whose career stalled when he moved to the U.S.
First Place (tie) – Julian (USA), Bao Nguyen
When a young man named Julian looks straight into the camera and talks about the lure of joining the Marines and the possibility of not returning home, so begins this riveting portrait of a young soldier and his family.
Best Student Cinematography - Software package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store.
Saro Varjabedian (cinematographer), Jesus Loves Youssef (Lebanon)
Young Youssef is praying for a bike for a first communion gift, but communion involves confession, and the boy is feeling awfully guilty about something that he doesn’t want to confess to the priest.
Second Place – Anand Kishore (cinematographer), Mong (China)
Best Student Film Award (From A Us Film School) - $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Kqed, San Francisco.
First Place – Hatch (Austria/USA), Christoph Kuschnig
On a wintry Vienna night, a young couple makes the decision to give up their child, knowing they cannot raise it and realize their own youthful dreams. Across town, another couple is desperate for a child of their own, with no way to conceive one. When the paths of these two couples briefly cross, fate holds an unexpected lesson for each of them.
Additional Prizes
The Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker went to Kiss Me (USA), directed by Jules Nurrish. The recipient received Final Cut Pro X courtesy of Apple. The Alexis Award is selected by the Festival’s programming team and was created in honor of Alexis Echavarria, a young filmmaker, whose talent as a budding filmmaker and gift for inspiring excellence among his fellow students were cut short suddenly in 2005 at age 16.
Bridging the Borders Award presented by Cinema Without Borders went to Road to Peshawar (USA), directed by Hammad Rizvi. The winner received a certificate for an upcoming Method Acting Intensive with a value of $2000 from Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. The runner-up was Dura Lex (Belgium), directed by Anke Blondé.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival will be held January 3-14, 2013.
- 7/5/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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