Sundance Institute announced Tuesday the jury prizes in short filmmaking at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Park City, Utah. The short film program at the Festival is the centerpiece of Sundance Institute’s year-round efforts to support short filmmaking, including a series of daylong workshops and a traveling program of short films.
This year’s Short Film program is comprised of 60 short films selected from 8,061 submissions. The Short Film jurors are: K.K. Barrett, Alia Shawkat and Autumn de Wilde.
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival runs through February 1 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. A complete list of films and events is available at sundance.org/festival.
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Short film award recipients will also be honored at the Festival’s feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Tig Notaro, on Saturday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m. MT and live-streamed at sundance.org.
The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to:
World of Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Don Hertzfeldt) — A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future.
The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was presented to:
SMILF / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Frankie Shaw) — A young single mother struggles to balance her old life of freedom with her new one as mom. It all comes to a head during one particular nap-time when Bridgette invites an old friend over for a visit.
The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was presented to:
Oh Lucy! / Japan, Singapore, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Atsuko Hirayanagi) — Setsuko, a 55-year-old single so-called office lady in Tokyo, is given a blonde wig and a new identity, Lucy, by her young unconventional English-language teacher. “Lucy” awakens desires in Setsuko she never knew existed.
The Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction was presented to:
The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul / Australia (Director: Kitty Green) — Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from across a divided, war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of Olympic champion figure skater Oksana Baiul, whose tears of joy once united their troubled country.
The Short Film Jury Award: Animation was presented to:
Storm hits jacket / France (Director and screenwriter: Paul Cabon) — A storm reaches the shores of Brittany. Nature goes crazy, two young scientists get caught up in the chaos. Espionage, romantic tension, and mysterious events clash with enthusiasm and randomness.
A Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting was presented to:
Back Alley / France (Director and screenwriter: Cécile Ducrocq) — Suzanne, a prostitute for 15 years, has her turf, her regular johns, and her freedom. One day, however, young African prostitutes settle nearby, and she is threatened.
A Short Film Special Jury Award for Visual Poetry was presented to:
Object / Poland (Director: Paulina Skibińska) — A creative image of an underwater search in the dimensions of two worlds — ice desert and under water — told from the point of view of the rescue team, of the diver, and of the ordinary people waiting on the shore.
The Sundance Film Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute.