Winners – Spring 2016
Best Film
The Kidnapping of a Fish, Dir: Philip A. Ramos, United States
A mild-mannered man is kidnapped and is forced to figure out if his girlfriend is the cause of his situation in this mixed genre film. This film explores and tests a relationship in which two people who don’t feel that they deserve love find it in each other.
Best Director
The Weekend, Dir: Dennis Cahlo, United States
A lonely man takes in a beautiful drifter for a weekend and discovers her dark secret.
Best Screenplay
’til Death, Dir: Adi Alfa & Eric Myers, United Kingdom
Two girls from Liverpool are abandoned as babies. After being brought up in the same children’s home they experience similar abusive treatment, it is their experiences that bring them closer together. With nothing but each other, they finally make a move to London, the city of dreams, new beginnings and opportunity. However, tragedy and misfortune seems to follow them like a bad smell. After all these circumstances, their relationship tested… can their bond withstand such events, or will they be torn apart forever?
Best Editing/Photography
Funkenflug – Chronicles of a Catastrophe, Dir: Stephanie Kiewel, United Kingdom
Based on original recordings, Funkenflug serves as an outstanding example of solidarity with a town facing its biggest catastrophe in history and citizens regaining strength and courage to rebuild the town to the important centre of the Black Forest it is today.
Best Actress
Jodi Lynn Thomas in Solitary, Dir: Daniel Ruczko, United States
Solitary follows Zoe Coleman, a successful novelist living in LA, struggling with isolation while being surrounded by millions.
Best Actor
Giacinto Palmarini in The Guest, Dir: Federico Olivetti, Italy
After the father’s death, a man gets on a train and stops in a country town. Takes a room in a boarding house run by a mother and her daughter, a fifteen-year-old girl. The girl seduces the man and the man rapes her. The man pays for his stay, and in order to avoid any possible official complaint, he leaves the boarding house and escapes.
Best Documentary
The Grouper Mystery, Dir: Gil Kébaïli, France
Every year, thousands of groupers gather in secret in the Southern pass of Fakarava in French Polynesia, followed by hundreds of sharks… The photographer, diver and biologist Laurent Ballesta and his team, wanted to understand better what motivates these fish to wait until the exact day of the full moon to spawn all at once ! With the help of researchers from the CNRS of Moorea, they dived and conducted numerous experiments to study and witness this unique phenomenon. Taking advantage of this period of incredible richness, Laurent Ballesta did a record dive of 24 hours at over 20 metres.
Best Animation
Cuerdas, Dir: Pedro Solís García, Spain
María’s routine at school is altered by the arrival of a very special child. Soon, they become close friends.