Posted by editor@vimooz.com on June 30, 2009 under Palm Springs International Short Film Festival | 
The 2009 Palm Springs International ShortFest award winners are:
- “The Dinner” (Vacsora), Karchi Perlmann
Jury Awards
Best of Festival, “The Dinner” (Vacsora), Karchi Perlmann
Future Filmmaker Award, Katie Wolfe, “This is Her”
Panavision Grand Jury Award, “Jonathan’s Home,” Nathanael Carton
Audience Awards
Live Action Short, “Dandelion Dharma,” Veronica DiPippo
Documentary Short, “Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics On Trial,” Jonathan Joiner, Robert H. Martin
Animation Short, “Lost and Found,” Philip Hunt
Jury Category Awards
Best Live Action Short under 15 minutes:
First place: “The Stars Don’t Twinkle in Outer Space,” Peter Thwaites;
Second place: “The Man Inside,” Rory Bresnihan.
Best Live Action Short over 15 minutes:
First place: “The Taxidermist,” Bert & Bertie;
Second place: “Love Hate,” Dylan Ritson, Blake Ritson
Best Animated Short:
First place: “Cages,” Juan Jose Medina;
Second place: “Juiced and Jazzed,” Justin Webber.
Best Documentary Short:
First place: “Irene,” Lindsay Goodall;
Second place: “Naming Pluto,” Ginita Jimenez.
Student Categories
Best Student Live Action Short under 15 minutes:
First place: “Cigarette Candy,” Lauren Wolkstein;
Second place: “My Four Inch Precious,” Sou Yun Sim.
Best Student Live Action Short over 15 minutes:
First place: “The Lunch Box,” Lubomir Mihailo Kocka;
Second place: “Gloria & Eric,” Nicolas Calzada.
Best Student Animated Short:
First place: “The Incident at Tower 37,” Chris Perry;
Second place: “The Incredible Story of My Great Grandmother Olive,” Alberto Rodriguez.
Best Student Documentary Short:
First place: “Waiting for Women” (Esperando Mujeres), Estephan Wagnere;
Second place: “Nutkin’s Last Stand,” Nicholas Berger.
Kodak Award for Best Student Cinematography:
First place: cinematographer Alexa Caravia, “Rare Fish”;
Second place: cinematographer Nathan Levine-Heaney, “My Four Inch Precious.”
Special Awards
The Alexis Award for Most Promising Student Filmmaker, Steven Edell, “A Son’s War.”
Special mentions went to Brooke Sebold for “Brotherhood” and Lauren Wolkstein for “Cigarette Candy.”
The Hard C High Five to Lo Fi Award for Most Entertaining Low Budget Short, “Marry, F***, Kill ,” Douglas Lamore.
The Cinema Without Borders Best International Film Award, “Kingsland #1 The Dreamer,” Tony Grisoni.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on June 10, 2009 under Palm Springs International Short Film Festival |
The 2009 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its roster of 315 films, selected from more than 2,500 worldwide entries. Now in its 15th year, ShortFest will showcase 76 World Premieres, 43 North American Premieres and 14 U.S. Premieres. The selection of films for screening and competition features star-studded casts as well as award-winning films from 41 countries around the world. All selections are structured into 52 themed programs, which will screen June 23-29, 2009, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, CA. Visit www.psfilmfest.org after June 14 for a complete list of this year’s film programs.
Commenting on the Festival Darryl Macdonald, Programming and Executive Director said, “We were fortunate to have a wealth of extraordinary work submitted to us from all around the world this year, which made the selection process that much more difficult. The resulting line-up of short films is a richer, more diverse and accomplished collection of work than I’ve ever seen, and heralds a wealth of great new talent to enrich the film world for years to come.”
“We’re also excited this year about our special events at the festival, as we have brought together an exemplary list of industry heavyweights to share their knowledge - on both the ‘Digital Delivery/New Media Day’ and ‘Take it to the Next Level Day’ over closing weekend,” said ShortFest Film Curator Kathleen McInnis. “We’re giving our short filmmakers the real world tools to make that leap to feature filmmaker and beyond as part of our mandate to put filmmakers first.”
Festival attendees will be able to see a roster of films featuring familiar faces in front of and behind the camera. Four actors will have their directorial debuts featured at the Festival including Demi Moore directing Streak (USA) starring Brittany Snow, Rumer Willis and Madeline Zima; Courteney Cox-Arquette directing and starring in The Monday Before Thanksgiving (USA) along with Laura Dern and Rosemary Harris; Marianne Jean-Baptiste directing Ink (USA); and Joseph Gordon Levitt directing Sparks (USA) starring Carla Gugino and Eric Stoltz. Other star-studded shorts include past Palm Springs International Film Festival Rising Star recipient Adam Beach who stars in Help (USA); Danny Glover in This Life (Australia); Olympia Dukakis in Hove (The Wind) (USA); Alfred Molina in Lessons in Self-Defense (USA); Rick Schroeder in Locker 13: Down and Out (USA); Christopher Eccleston in The Happiness Salesman (UK); Derek Jacobi in One of Those Days (UK); Will Patton in Looking at Animals (USA); the voices of Christopher Lloyd and John Lithgow in The Macabre World of Lavender Williams (USA); and Linda Hunt narrating The Crooked Eye (USA).
The selected short films are organized into 52 programs covering a variety of genres — including thrillers, horror, animation, documentaries, and comedies — and themes, including family, war, art, grandparents, pet peeves, sex, memories, immigration, obsessions, couples, travel, parents, the Jewish experience, gay and lesbian lifestyles. In addition, one of the programs will highlight short films from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, based in Singapore. The school has students from 21 countries and a faculty of working film professionals all dedicated to educating the next generation of storytellers.
This year’s opening night screening on Tuesday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. will be highlighted by award-winning live-action and animated comedy films including Dead Bunny (USA), Emilia Eckle (USA), Expiration (USA), Eyelash (Switzerland), Multiple Choice (Australia), My New Toy (Australia), Stop Requested (France), The Suffering of Mr. Karpf - The Birthday (Germany), True Beauty This Night (USA) and The Williams (France).
A jury of three industry professionals will screen this year’s short films selected for competition in eighteen categories including Best Animation, Best Documentary, Best Live Action, Best of Festival and the Future Filmmaker Award. A total of $94,000 in money and production prizes, including $14,000 in cash awards will be given out. The Panavision Grand Jury Award winner will receive a digital or film camera package valued at $60,000 and five days studio time courtesy of DST Studios. An additional $7,500 in Kodak film stock will be presented to the film winners in the student award categories. First place winners in four categories will automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a possible Academy Award nomination. Over the course of its first 14 years, the Festival has presented 64 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations.
Designated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 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 2,500-film Film Market continues to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and is well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.
Three days of panels comprised of industry representatives have been assembled to discuss trends and provide advice on short filmmaking. Friday, June 26 is “Digital Delivery/New Media Day” where top leaders in new media will discuss with filmmakers digital exhibition platforms, digital distribution and digital creativity. Saturday, June 27 is “Take It to the Next Level Day” with panels that will offer filmmakers tangible advice on making a feature production including packaging the production, casting the film and publicity. Sunday, June 28 is a brunch where filmmakers can meet programmers from a number of key festivals as well as theatrical, television and online buyers.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 17, 2009 under Palm Springs International Short Film Festival |
- Image from last year’s Audience Favorite Live Action Short winner Spielzeugland (Toyland)
The Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market, celebrated as one of the most acclaimed short film showcases in the world, will kick off at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs with new dates June 23 - 29, 2009, moving from its original August dates.
Now in its 15th year, the Palm Springs International ShortFest showcases over 320 short films each year from more than 40 countries, with a library of more than 2,700 films available to film buyers, industry and press in its concurrent Short Film Market, the largest of its kind in America. Festival events include nightly receptions, as well as seminars, master classes and scheduled ‘one-on-one’ meetings with industry experts and filmmaking professionals, free to all filmmakers who participate in the Festival.
Sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 65 short films featured at the event have gone on to garner Academy Award nominations, including 6 of this year’s nominees Best Live Action Short Film Academy Award winner Spielzeugland (Toyland). The Festival offers twenty awards in six competitive categories (including student and non-student work), with cash awards or film production prizes in each category (over $100,000 worth of prizes, in all).
