After a highly successful 10 day festival at Bondi the 31st annual FLiCKERFEST International and Australian awards were announced this evening at a star-studded ceremony under the stars on Bondi Beach. Attended by celebrated guests from the Australian film industry, the Closing Night ceremony honoured the esteemed entrants in this year’s competition and FLiCKERFEST’s Academy® Qualifying Awards, including Flickerfest Award for Best International Short Film, Yoram Gross Award for Best International Animation, Panasonic LUMIX Award for Best Australian Short Film & Flickerfest Award for Best Documentary. The Flickerfest Short Film Awards continue to cement the festival’s global position as a leading International Short film festival on the world stage.
FLiCKERFEST’s Festival Director BRONWYN KIDD said: We are thrilled that the 31st Flickerfest 2022 has been such a success with many filmmakers present to introduce their films, passionate crowds and great enthusiasm expressed for the programmes screened. It’s been great to see short films so warmly embraced by audiences across our ten-day event despite the challenges of COVID and its impact on the arts. I would like to congratulate all of the films selected for Flickerfest in competition this year and all of tonight’s award winners.
Flickerfest will now hit the road on a 45 venue national tour to all states and territories across Australia.
And the winners are:
INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNERS
Flickerfest Award for Best International Short Film (Academy® Qualifying)
Winner: Like The Ones I Used To Know (Canada)
Writer/Director: Annie St-Pierre
Producer: Fanny Drew, Sarah Mannering
Christmas 1983. Julie and her cousins ate too much sugar, Santa is late. Denis is anxious at the idea of picking up his children at his ex-in-law’s.
Yoram Gross Award for Best International Animated Short Film (Academy® Qualifying)
Winner: Save Ralph (United States)
Writer/Director/Producer: Spencer Susser | Producer: Lisa Arianna, Jeff Vespa
Ralph is a regular everyday rabbit, who is interviewed as he goes about his day, working as a cosmetic animal tester.
EU In Australia Award for Best EU Short Film
Winner: Shower Boys (Sweden)
Writer/Director: Christian Zetterberg | Writer: Albin Abrahamsson | Producer: Liselotte Persson
After a heated training match with the team, twelve-year-old Viggo and Noel go home to challenge each other’s limits and masculinity. A sudden stop to an innocent game questions what a male friendship is allowed to be.
Special Jury Prize
Winner: A Summer Place (Cyprus)
Writer/Director: Alexandra Matheou | Producer: Soyo Giaoui, Savvas Stavrou
Summer is a permanent state of mind in Limassol, a once small seaside town in Cyprus that has transformed into the oligarch paradise of the Mediterranean. Being both a player and a victim of this city transformation as a food stylist, Tina is depressed. On the day of her birthday, she is ready to give up on everything, until an extraordinary encounter changes her life.
SAE Creative Media Institute Award for Best Use of Digital Technology In A Short Film
Winner: Space Invader (New Zealand)
Writer: Matt Kelleher | Director: Issac Bell | Producer: Lissandra Leite
Max is a small boy with a big imagination. Him and his Dad form a tight knit crew. But when Dad gets a new girlfriend, Max must find a way to confront this new menace before she steals his dad forever.
Flickerfest Award for Best Documentary Short Film (Academy® Qualifying)
Winner: Love, Dad (Czech Republic)
Writer/Director: Diana Cam Van Nguyen | Producer: Karolína Davidová, 13ka
She finds letters full of love her dad wrote her 15 years ago. Now she fights to get that love back.
Special Mention: for Documentary Short
Little Berlin (France, UK, Germany)
Writer/Director/Producer: Kate McMullen | Producer: Paul Wauters
When the Iron Curtain cuts his tiny German village in half, Peter the bull gets separated from his 36 cows. Based on a true story, narrated by Christoph Waltz.
Azure Productions Award for Best Rainbow Short
Winner: Baba (UK)
Writer/Director: Sam Arbor, Adam Ali | Producer: Hannah Stevenson, Susan Simnett
Rejected by his family for his queerness and oppressed by his country for the same, reckless Libyan teenager “Britannia” gets an interview at the British embassy, taking him one step closer to his childhood dream of stepping foot on Manchester’s Canal Street, the pulsing queer centre of the world. Being British and gay is everything he’s ever dreamed of.
Special Mention: for Rainbow Short
Are You Still Watching (Australia)
Writer/Director/Producer: Tali Polichtuk | Director/Producer: Alex Cardy, | Director: Kitty Chrystal | Producer: Alexandra George
Jamie is a 20 something year old non-binary person living in Melbourne. They’re whip-smart, creative and have an encyclopaedic knowledge of cinema and pop culture. They’re also single, bored and perpetually horny.
AUSTRALIAN AWARD WINNERS
Panasonic LUMIX Award for Best Australian Short Film (Academy® Qualifying)
Winner: Giants
Writer/Director: Eddy Bell | Producer: Nonny Klaile, Steven Rees, Luke Mulquiney
Intermittently filmed on the same farm over a period of 18 months, Giants plays out amongst the changing landscape of the worst drought in Australia’s history.
Spectrum Films Award for Best Direction in an Australian Short Film
Winner: Taylor Ferguson for Tough
In the face of violence, Drew is forced to build her own body armour and overcome her bully dad. A subdued, sobering story about the harsh truths learnt in childhood.
Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Animation Short Film
Winner: The Better Angels
Writer/Director: Michael Cusack | Producer: Richard Chataway
A young soldier trying to escape the horrors of war, finds an abandoned house and within its walls the stories of what might have been.
Special Mention: for Australian Animation
Lifeblood
Writer/Director/Producer: Nicholas Tory | Writer: Jonathan Nix, Aunty Dot Martin, Phil Sullivan
A stunning exploration of Bourke Shire’s landscape, First Nations history and folklore that brings to our attention the resilience of the natural environment and the land’s inhabitants.
John Barry Award for Best Cinematography in an Australian Short Film
Winner: Tyson Perkins for Strange Country
Strange Country is a tale about ancient spirits that inhabit a far remote corner of Australia’s wilderness, and the people they choose for special tasks to protect the land from those that wish to steal from it for personal gain.
Avid Award for Best Editing in an Australian Short Film
Winner: Cameron Drew for Ishmael
Filmed primarily at sea onboard an active fishing trawler, Ishmael is a blending of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick with a personal story of a battle with terminal illness.
Avid Award for Best Original Music in an Australian Short Film
Winner: Jackson Mico Milas for Giants
Intermittently filmed on the same farm over a period of 18 months, Giants plays out amongst the changing landscape of the worst drought in Australia’s history.
Rebel8 Award for Outstanding Emerging Female Director In honour of Samantha Rebillet
Winner: Mariella Solano for Alba
An aspiring Peruvian-Australian performer must decide whether she’s dancing for others, or for herself. Alba is a story of diaspora and coming of age, illustrated through the traditional Marinera dance.
FLiCKERUP AWARD WINNERS
SAE Creative Media Institute FlickerUp Award for Best High School Short Film
Winner: The Rock Pool Waltz
Writer/Director: Marlon Denning | Producer: Marlon Denning, Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School
During COVID lockdown, a boy’s affinity with nature eases his loneliness and leads to an incredible friendship.
Special Mention: for High School Short Film
Suzanne
Writer/Director: Alexander Erasmus Wang
One woman’s experience of dementia told through the metaphor of a computer virus.
Yoram Gross FlickerUp Award for Best High School Animated Short Film
Winner: Can’t You See Me
Writer/Director/Producer: Tony Howjean Chang
A virtual world where soft puppets and toy-like features bid a young girl stay in their imaginary reality behind the flat screen.
Avid FlickerUp Award for Best Editing in a High School Short Film
Winner: Arriving at Eternity’s Gate
Writer/Director/Producer: Matthew Awad
A virtual world where soft puppets and toy-like features bid a young girl stay in their imaginary reality behind the flat screen.
PS Organic FlickerUp Award for Best Primary School Short Film
Winner: Triple Trouble
Writer/Director: Lucas Crisp, McMahon Hutton, Paige Nicolle, Kiera Smith | Producer: Michael van der Ploeg
Playing ball is wonderful fun until you miss a catch. Discover the disastrous consequences of missing a catch.