The 17th Annual Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (LA Shorts Fest) held from September 5- 12, 2013, announced this year’s award winners. Winners automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for a possible Academy Award nomination. SEQUENCE (USA), directed by Carles Torrens was selected by the jury as the LA Shorts Fest Best of the Fest Award. Sequence is about a man who wakes up one morning to realize the entire world has dreamed about him the night before.
The juror selection for the Best Drama Award went to Care. (USA), directed by Brett Wagner; Drea is a young woman whose life is just about to happen. But she is starkly alone in caring for her father, who has Alzheimer’s and mistakes her for his wife. When his confusion turns to violence, Drea must confront the limits of her ability to care for him.
LA Shorts Fest Best Documentary Award went to director Douglas Sloan’s Eddie Adams: Saigon ‘68 (USA)—a film that launches a broader inquiry into people’s perception and understanding of visual imagery. Eddie Adams: Saigon ‘68 tells the little known and surprising backstory behind the most influential photo of the Vietnam War, how it transformed the lives of the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, and the man who pulled the trigger.
The Best Comedy Award went to Record Breaker (USA), directed by Ryan Velasquez. This quirky comedy tells the story of a boy, Jonathan, the only seemingly untalented member of a family of prodigies, who decides the only way to fit in with his special family, is to break a world record.
Stink TV’s drama, Little Secret (Czech Republic), directed by Martin Krejci took home LA Shorts Fest’s Best Foreign Film Award. Inspired by a true story that became a national scandal the Czech Republic in April 2012, Little Secrets tells the story of a teenage boy who tries to cover up a life-threatening mistake, but when the consequences begin to snowball, he realizes that every minute becomes harder and harder to take back the lie.
Portrait As A Random Act of Violence by director Randall Okita (Canada) received the award for Best Experimental. Portrait As A Random Act of Violence is a piece that incorporates performance and sculpture to examine themes of harm, protest, and destructive and restorative transformations.
This year’s Best Animation Award went to director Eoin Duffy’s The Missing Scarf (Ireland). Narrated by George Takei, The Missing Scarf is a black comedy exploring some of life’s common fears: fear of the unknown, of failure, rejection and finally the fear of death.
Rounding out the award winners for the 17th Annual LA Shorts Fest is Grouplove’s Ways To Go (USA), who took home the award for Best Music Video. Directed by Cameron Duddy, Ways To Go shows a colorful day in the life of Kim Jung-Un– his one good day.
The complete list of award winners are:
Best of the Fest: SEQUENCE (USA)
Best Drama: CARE. (USA)
Best Documentary: EDDIE ADAMS: SAIGON ‘68 (USA)
Best Comedy: RECORD BREAKER (USA)
Best Foreign Film: LITTLE SECRET (Czech Republic)
Best Experimental: PORTRAIT AS A RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE (Canada)
Best Animation: THE MISSING SCARF (Ireland)
Best Music Video: WAYS TO GO BY GROUPLOVE (USA)
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