Beyond the Other Shore (波罗蜜)

Pek Jia Hao & Ang Jia Jun – Singapur – 15’ – 2023 – FIC

Jury Statement Through a wonderfully mastered cinematography, this short film filled with poetry takes us down the path of grief. With a lot of delicacy, it allows the viewer to navigate between the physical wandering and the inner feelings of the main character. Just like him, and all along this journey, we are confronted with our own perception of mortality, beliefs and the passing of time. Diving deep into such heavy topics with a subtle look, this film rooted in everyday life is a call for tenderness and self-indulgence.

Ximinoa (The Monkey)

Itziar Leemans – Euskadi / Francia – 25’ – 2023 – FIC

Jury Statement Using a seemingly tranquil narrative, this short confronts us with a silently violent reality. A young actress, eager and brimming with naturalness, takes us through frontier geography where awakening into adult life is transformed into an inevitably harsh passage due to generational, cultural and vital borders, and especially clashes between social classes. Without forsaking the luminosity of its formal and aesthetic aspects, the short slowly submerges us in a claustrophobic atmosphere to which the protagonist is forced to wake up as her class consciousness emerges.

El Soldao

Alejandro Cabrera – España – 20’ – 2023 – DOC

Jury Statement Past and present intertwine in this personal trip to an incomplete intimate story. Thanks to its authenticity, this documentary rooted in the Spanish countryside portrays with great care a search for memories, but also what stays and what’s missing as time goes by.

It Turns Blue (Abi mishavad)

Shadi Karamroudi · Irán · 15’ · 2023

Jury Statement For addressing a most important and universal issue with intelligence, and from an unusual perspective. The short shows us the psychological mechanisms we use to render the obvious marks of violence invisible, thereby perpetuating systems of oppression from early childhood. With no prior warning, the screenplay takes us into a code of psychological terror in which a woman struggles desperately to maintain a world she herself would be happy to leave behind. For its daring and accurate approach to address a most difficult issue, the award for best short fiction goes to this film.

The Veiled City

Natalie Cubides-Brady – Reino Unido – 13’ – 2023

Jury Statement Adopting archival footages from the past and poetic letters from a fictional future in order to revisit the serious climate crisis in the one of the biggest cities in Europe, this modest documentary manages to craft a bridge of imagination to illustrate a crisis in front of us with array of delicate editing and experimental creativity.

La perra

Carla Melo – Colombia / Francia – 14’ – 2023 – ANI

Jury Statement A beautiful, traditional, intuitive and vibrant watercolor animation that fits perfectly with the theme of the quest for sexuality, the anthropomorphic characters bring a fabled aesthetic that makes the film magical and hypnotic.

It Turns Blue (Abi mishavad)

Shadi Karamroudi · Irán · 15’ · 2023

Kusikozu

Aitor Irulegi Lopez – Euskadi – 7’ – 2023 – ANI

Jury Statement For generating a surrounding atmosphere with musical and visual resources, for its profound minimalism, and for taking us through cycles from the most primitive nature to the ultimate definition of our existence.

It Turns Blue (Abi mishavad)

Shadi Karamroudi · Irán · 15’ · 2023

Jury Statement UNICEF has decided to award its prize to the short film It Turns Blue by director Shadi Karamroudi, on the invisible nature of violence against children.

Valerija

Sara Jurinčič – Croacia – 15’ – 2023 – DOC

Jury Statement The EFA nomination goes to a film that takes the boat to the underworld in order to unite living and dead, the momentum and the eternity. Through unconventional visual means and oneiric poetics, it emphasizes a ritual that keeps oblivion away from the ancestral memory, so that characters and viewers altogether can reconnect with their roots and with the very human essence.

In the Rearview (Skąd dokąd)

Maciek Hamela – Polonia, Francia, Ucrania – 84’ – 2023 – DOC

Jury Statement The jury has unanimously decided to grant the award to In the Rearview by Maciek Hamela due to the exceptional power of its minimalistic approach to an international conflict, exploring horror from a humanistic perspective. We highlight the solid construction of the editing, which creates a poetic and touching portrait of war, free of exploitative images, that invites deep reflection. As the characters and the filmmaker drive away from the war, the audience travels to the heart of it.

Zarata

Tamara García Iglesias – Euskadi – 62‘ – 2023 – FIC/DOC

Jury Statement For its originality and breaking of the narrative canon, for its interpretive and script work and for its invitation to critically reflect on the current audiovisual production system.

La isla sumergida

(2024, 90 min)

director
producer
Lucía Malandro, Daniel Delgado Saucedo
production
Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola – EQZE

Jury Statement As the film’s protagonist would say, “how expensive fantasy is”. This is why the Zinebi Networking jury panel has decided to award its prize to La isla sumergida, which portrays a unique character, a privileged witness and ultimate guardian of Cuba’s documentary history. A project which, in an era of frantic consumption of images, finds time to pause and reflect.

Jo Sóc

(2023, 90 min)

direction
Roger Torras Mayneris
producer
Patricia M. Félix
production
Diana Toucedo Films, wknd

Jury Statement At a time of maximum acceleration, Jo Sóc homes in on the time of narrative and the time of creation on the basis of patient observation, with a single revelatory outcome.

Inmersas en el Imserso

(2023, 90 min)

direction
producer
Aitor Arruti
screenplay
Oskar Tejedor

Tailor-made advisory for a project, to strengthen it and provide the knowledge and tools to establish it. The goal of this customised mentoring from the ECAM School, which is created on an ad hoc basis in accordance with the project’s specific needs, is to assist and support up-and-coming talent in the audiovisual sector.

Mi reina

direction – screeplay
Irene Royo
producer
Sara Vozmediano

Jury Statement A solid project in terms of its design, and also in the screenplay, created with ingenuity and a clear author hallmark, using humour and a new perspective to comment on such an important issue in our times as care during life and accompaniment towards death with dignity.

Ezagutzen ditugun bekain guztiak

direction – screeplay
Marta Codesido, Núria Ubach

Jury Statement A witty, ingenious approach to address an apparently anecdotic motive which nevertheless explores some relevant aspects of human nature, relationships with our body, expression and social interaction. Due to the creativity of the screenplay presented, composed of many and varied yet coherent stylistic resources, and also to the diversity it is able to transmit, in terms of cultures and languages and also ways of looking at or understanding the world.

Ezagutzen ditugun bekain guztiak

direction – screeplay
Marta Codesido, Núria Ubach

Jury Statement With this award, Zineuskadi seeks to help internationalize the project with the greatest need to search for European synergies. In view of the solidity of the project, the presentation of an extremely comprehensive dossier, a good teaser and a very well explained pitch, it has been decided that the Internationalisation prize goes to Ezagutzen ditugun bekain guztiak. In due consideration of Zineuskadi’s various agreements with French documentary markets, along with the project team, the best encounter will also be chosen to help them during their trajectory.

Gure gozamena

direction – screeplay
Amaia Chocarro
production
Adriana Gredilla
photography
June Guirado

Jury Statement Because it points out the importance of inclusion and equality by addressing a crucial issue: the right of people with disabilities to a full sex life, defying stigmas and fostering acceptance, Gure gozamena deserves an award for its contribution to cultural change, ushering in empathy and a change of perceptions.