ClujShorts Awards 2021
Best Director Award
The Handyman, Australia, Drama, Director Nicholas Clifford
Directed with great finesse, the film tells a story about loneliness, failure and hope, which is deeply emotional.
Best Photography Award
Allée des jasmins / Jasmine Lane, France, Drama, Director Stéphane Ly-Cuong, Director of Photography Alexander Icovic
This award is given for the refinement of composed images, for the art of harmonizing colors and shadows and - especially - for the powerful way the DOP has transformed the film into a painting.
Best Sound Editing Award
Musician, Iran, Drama, Director Mohsen Mehri Darouei, Music Mahdi Kalantari, Sound Babak Niazi, Sound mixing Hossein Ghoorchian, Recording supervisor Arian Gheytasi
This film deserves an award for the soundtrack, not only because it is a film about music and the desire to sing, but also because a polymorphic sound world is built, where the slightest noise falls into a superior harmony.
Best Script Award
Triplet, Russia, Drama, Director Vadim Zaytsev, Written by Alexander Vorozheykin
Authentic, frank, dynamic, psychologically truthfull, full of surprises, the script of this film guarantees an empathic reaction of the spectators ...
Best Editing Award
La Chica de los Cigarrillos / Cigarette Girl, Spain, Fantasy, David Cortázar& Alejandro Arestegui, Editing Jesús Ramé
The editing of this film manages to link together sequences with very different rhythms, with very particular atmospheres and tonalities, in a fluid and attractive cinematographic composition.
Best Animation Award
A Heart of Gold, France, Animation, Simon FILLIOT
This refined animation incites us to a very actual reflection on how big are the sacrifices we must accept for those we love and on the perverse ways of the socio-political system in which we are trapped, forcing us to lose our humanity.
Best Documentary Award
Venim pe rând și mergem pe sărite/ We Come One by One and We Leave at One's Time, Documentary, Romania, Mihnea Toma
Made with sincerity, directness and precision, this documentary addresses the survival of ancient funeral practices in an ecclesiastical and socio-political context that is not favorable to them.
Jury Special Award
El Pas de Sant Joan/ The Pas de Sant Joan, Spain, Fantasy, director Ana Ortiz
Tragic and comic at the same time, this film manages to address the fear of death and to look at it with a smile.
Persona Association Special Award
Cancer, sans dec / Cancer? No kidding, France, Comedy, director Emilie C. Marsollat
Of great psychological depth, this film manages to treat in a concentrated form, in a serious tone, but also with notes of humor, the array of emotional, social, sexual problems that women with breast cancer face.
The last bleat, Germany, War, director Yara Khalil
A simple, painful, absurd film, but full of compassion, The Last Bleat offers a model of noble conduct, in which love is above death and war.
ClujShorts Trophy
One 2 One, Spain, Drama, director Néstor Ruiz Medina
Fast, focused, strong, this film shines through a well-cohesive script, through the high-intensity acting, through the impeccable filming and through the upheavals that keep the spectators breathless.
Official Selection ClujShorts 2021
The ClujShorts team has completed the selection process of the films registered for the 9th edition, ClujShorts 2021. It was a difficult process, because all submitted films were very good. Congratulations to all of you! You can see the final selection here.
ClujShorts 2020 Awards
Best editing Award:
Fine dying, Director Umut Evirgen, Editing Erkan Erdem, Turkey
This film stands out thanks to its brilliant cinematography and extremely intelligent editing. By
putting together scenes with different rhythms, Fine Dying by Umut Evirgen is a true masterpiece of parallel editing.
Best photography Award:
Red Wine, Director Santiago Menghini, DOP Olivier Gossot, Canada
Sumptuous imagery, the art of stage lighting and the amazing tones in chiaroscuro are the main
arguments which make this award go to Red Wine by Santiago Menghini.
Best sound editing Award:
Horrorscope, Director Pol Diggler, Sound Marcel Basté, Spain
Though really short, this film employs sound as a fundamentally significant universe, which
slowly builds up the atmosphere by emphasising the horror elements, especially the twist at the end: Horrorscope by Pol Diggler.
Best script Award:
The Narrator, Director Julia Trofimova, Screenwriter James Barron, coproduction
Russia & USA
This film starts from an original idea, and develops into an intelligent satire on the human
resources policy in companies, but also on the way in which social pressure affects people’s opinions about themselves: The Narrator by Julia Trofimova.
Best Director Award:
Moon Drops, Director Yoram Ever Hadani, coproduction Israel & Serbia & Montenegro
Romantic, delicate, ironic, Moon drops by Yoram Ever Hadani tells a story that touches every
viewer’s heart. The script, the images, the actors, all aspects of this tiny masterpiece are proofs of a
remarkable directorial vision.
Best Animation Award:
Bolero Station, by Rolf Brönnimann, Switzerland
Telling a story of profound human vibrations, using exquisite dark humor and bitter irony, Bolero
Station by Rolf Brönnimann teaches us that nothing in life is really lost forever.
Best student short:
Rien ne va plus, Director Sophie Linnenbaum, Germany
A delicate and touching film about the humanity we could be capable of in dire circumstances,
Rien ne va plus by Sophie Linnenbaum is built with a touch of genius. It’s dynamic, it has
psychological suspense, and great character outlines revealed through acting.
Persona Association Award:
White Mark, Director Anton Mamykin, Russia
Although funny at a first glance, White Mark by Anton Mamykin tells a story about the difficulty,
or even impossibility of staying clean and pure in a world where dirt is mostly on the inside.
Jury Award:
In The Hut Of Mr. Van Den Brink, Director Björn Renner, Germany
By drawing a fine line between reality and fiction, through its unexpected ending, In the Hut of
Mr. Van Den Brink by Björn Renner casts a razor sharp glance over the human nature.
ClujShorts Trophy 2020:
La Ricetta della mamma/Mamma's Recipe, Director Dario Piana, Italy
This award goes to a film that creates a perfect blend between comedy and drama with a well
written script, a series of perfectly directed twists and turns, and flawless acting: La Ricetta della
mamma by Dario Piana.
Important announcement
Hello,
The ClujShorts International Short Film Festival, which is in its 8th edition and which was scheduled to take place between the 3rd and 12th of April 2020, is partially cancelled.
All the organizers, the volunteers, the partners and the sponsors, all those involved in the good organizing and conduct of this festival, understand that the state of affairs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic puts us in a position to work together in order to combat this virus. Due to the current epidemiological situation worldwide, all public activities within this festival are canceled. By civic spirit, but also due to the legal restrictions that have been imposed by the national and international authorities, the ClujShorts International Short Film Festival will change the way it performs for this year's edition. Thus, we want to comply with all the legal requirements to combat this virus and to encourage the population to protect themselves as much as possible and to stay in isolation. We are all responsible and accountable, as a community, of our own well-being and that of our fellow citizens. All the events that would have been based on mass gatherings are canceled for the moment, with the possibility of being resumed at a later date which is still undetermined.
From a legal point of view, as the state of emergency was already declared in most of the countries of the world, our activities with the public are strictly forbidden. Nevertheless, the judging of the short films and the awarding of the prizes will still take place.
The winners will be announced on the festival website and on the facebook page. The list of prizes that will be awarded at this edition of ClujShorts will be announced publicly on the 12th of April 2020, according to the initial schedule of the Award Gala.
We hope that together we can overcome this world condition as soon as possible and resume our normalcy as soon as possible. Kind thoughts from the ClujShorts team.
Rareș H. Stoica
Director of ClujShorts ISFF