The 19th annual HollyShorts Film Festival has concluded, and with over 400 films over ten days, it was quite a task to see which of these amazing films would earn the festival’s most prestigious honors. But thanks to our incredibly talented jury, we are pleased to announce that the following films have done just that, including four that, with this award, will now qualify for an Oscar!
Speaking of the Oscar qualifying winners, it’s time to announce the ones that will get this incredible opportunity:
The first is We Were Meant To, the amazing films that sees black men take flight. Born with wings and making their way to the skies as a rite of passage, We Were Meant To is an absolutely gorgeous film by writer and director Tari Wariebi, and starring Tim Johnson, Jr. The film takes home to the top award of the night (Grand Prix Best Short) and a massive grand prize of $60,000 from sponsor Panavision. A huge congratulations to the entire cast and crew of the film for taking the top honor!
The other three Oscar qualifying films include Misan Harriman’s The After, which stars David Oyelowo and secured the win for Best Live Action Short, Rita Basulto’s Humo (Smoke), which took home the best animation award for its story about a boy named Daniel who takes a journey to the dark and dangerous place known only as the “Smokehouse”, as well as Elisa Gambino’s Every Day After, which tells the story of two siblings that display an powerful connection and show a side of healing that isn’t normally seen. Every Day After takes home the award for Best Documentary Short.
The awards ceremony to celebrate all of these brilliant filmmakers was hosted by Meredith Thomas, with the top awards of the night presented by acclaimed actor Jimmy Jean-Louis and last year’s top prize winner, Victor Gabriel.
Adding to those big winners are Christina Yoon’s Motherland (winner of Best Director), Hayley Alea Erickson and Taylor Washington’s Call Me Mommy (winner of Best Comedy), Aurélien Achache’s Separation (winner of Best Cinematography), Daniel Bdeir’s Warsha (Best Drama) and Michael Spiccia’s I’m On Fire (winner of Best Editing).
And that’s just the beginning! Below are the rest of the winners on the big night, all of whom should be celebrated for all of their hard work and the accomplishment of being recognized at the biggest short film festival of the year!
Best Genre Category Presented by Hot Pot Productions – Tim Webber’s Flite
Best Horror – Nuhash Humayun’s Foreigners Only
Best International – Mauricio Sierra’s Ciela
Latinx Award – Duván Duque Vargas’s All Inclusive
Best LGBTQIA+ – Niki Ang’s Maxine
Best Midnight Madness – Will Suen and Sejon Im’s Sweet Juices
Best Music Video – KAJO | Evelyn Lee’s REM Koolhaus video for the song “Kajo”
Best Music Video Film – Alexandre Moors’ Love Sick
Best Producer – Lloyd Lee Choi’s Closing Dynasty
Best SAGIndie – Logan Vaughn’s Benny And James
Hawk Films Screenplay Award – Joaquin Palma’s Eggplant
Best Sci-Fi – James A. Sims’s D.A.D.
Script Compass Screenplay Award – Nick Perry’s The Gifting
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 35MM – Maegan Houang’s Astonishing Little Feet
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 16MM – Joe Zakko’s Subway Stops
Kodak Best Shot on Film, 8MM – Alan Richard Halls’ Who The F**k Is Jackie Bumpers?
Kodak Best Shot on Film, Honorable Mention – Alden Ehrenreich’s Shadow Brother Sunday
Social Impact Award – Sterling Hampton IV’s Merman
Best Thriller – Rita Borodiyanski’s Time Out
Best Student Film – Marta Szymanek’s Eden
Best TV – Arden Grier and Kirsten Knisely’s Earth Girl
Best VFX – James A. Sims’ D.A.D.
Best Web Series – Stacey Maltin’s Mashed
Best Female Screenplay Presented By BeCine – K.D. Chalk’s Survived By
HollyShorts Honorable Mention – Raul Sanchez and Pasqual Gutierrez Shut Up And Fish
Best TV Screenplay – Ari Donnelly’s Power Couple
Huge congratulations to all of this year’s award winners! All of their films can be found as part of the 19th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival collection, only on BitPix.
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