2020 Short Film Competition Awards

 

SIMCOE AUDIO PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD:

BREAK – Directed by Paul O. Arredondo Rodriguez

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HIGH SCHOOL CATEGORY:

FIRST PLACE – NURSERY CRIMES: THE CASE OF HUMPTY DUMPTY
Directed by Anne Ploegman (Canada)

SECOND PLACE – NUMB
Directed by Liv McNeil (Canada)

THIRD PLACE – A CONVERSATION WITH E
Directed by Esabella Anna Karena Strickland, Taylor Mitchell, Skyler (Canada)

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SIMCOE COUNTY CATEGORY:

FIRST PLACE – A LITTLE RACIST
Directed by Grady Carson MacTavish
Written/Produced by Samantha Loney (Canada)

SECOND PLACE – IMAGINE
Directed by Laura Leigh (Canada)

THIRD – BREAK
Written/Directed by: Paul Arredondo Rodriguez (Canada)

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SPECIAL JURY PRIZE:

I AM NAKED (Je suis nue)
Directed by Alexandra Mignien
Written by Alexandra Mignien & Laura Léoni (France)

Here is the full list of the 2020 Official selections that were shown at the festival.

 

2020 Official Selections

Margaux Vol. 1
Directed by Daniel Iglesias Jr. | Experimental | 2:00 | USA
Open Category

A retro magazine comes alive.

 

Imagine
Directed by Laura Leigh | Drama | 2:28 | Canada
Simcoe County Category

Lonely in isolation, a young girl finds a friend… and hope. Shot in Barrie, Ontario on an iPhone 11 with my Niece and Family as support.

 

A Little Racist
Directed by Grady Carson MacTavish | Written/Produced by Samantha Loney
Dark comedy/satire, contains coarse language | 9:30 | Canada
Simcoe County Category

When Sean, an entitled white man, discovers he is the only one in the office Zara, his South Asian coworker doesn’t speak to, he makes it his mission to catch her speaking English and discovers exactly what she thinks of him.

 

Spoko (The Blind Football Coach)
Directed by Wim Steytler | Documentary | 10:00 | South Africa
Open Category

Dumisani Ntombela lost his sight when he was two years old. He was beaten, demonized and called a ghost (“Spoko”). But that didn’t stop him. At 24, he is now a record-breaking coach who took a women’s football team to the South African Premier League, competing against the country’s best. He wanted to show the world that blindness isn’t a disability; it’s a different ability.

 

In Wonderland
Directed by Christopher Haydon | Written by Iona Firouzabadi
Drama/Romance | 10:00 | United Kingdom
Open Category

This story begins and ends in the same place: a beach where Alice has come to reflect on her relationship with Michael. It’s both the story of that one moment and the story of their whole relationship, seen through the shifting sands of Alice’s memory.

 

A conversation with E
Directed by Esabella Anna Karena Strickland, Taylor Mitchell, Skylar A.
Thriller/Drama | 5:03 | Canada
High School Category

When a girl playfully responds to a mysterious post-it note, she finds herself unable to escape the conversation she began…

 

Nursery Crimes: The Case of Humpty Dumpty
Directed by Anne Ploegman | Animation | 7:57 | Canada
High School CategoryDetective Jacklyn Horner sets out on a journey to solve the greatest mystery in all of Nurseryville: The Case of Humpty Dumpty. Throughout her adventure, she encounters several challenges, suspicious suspects, and a shocking truth.

 

A Mirror that was Hidden
Directed by Daniel Braga Ulvestad | Written by Daniel Braga Ulvestad and Raul Jocson
Drama | 8:00 | Australia
Open Category

Recognizing the ingenuine nature of her existence, a seemingly content woman in her thirties questions if confronting her deeply buried past might be her only way forward – if she can handle the pain that comes with it.

 

numb
Directed by Liv McNeil | Drama | 3:23 | Canada
High School Category

This film follows a character in isolation during lockdown, looking at objects in their room that used to make them happy, trying to relive memories, but then falling back into their state of monotony of doing the same thing everyday.

 

Break

Directed by Paul O. Arredondo Rodriguez | Cast: James Barth | Drama | 5:05 | Canada
Simcoe County Category

Sometimes life feels like a place where we are trapped. Day after day we follow the same patterns. But what happens when our mind is able to fly away? Where does it go? What does it do? And for how long?

 

I Am Naked (Je suis nue)
Directed by Alexandra Mignien | Written by Alexandra Mignien & Laura Léoni
Drama | 3:00 | French with English subtitles | France
Open Category

A woman wakes up and goes to work. She’s completely naked but no one around her seems to notice.

 

A Path Less Traveled
Directed by Samuel G. Davey | Drama | 1:32 | Canada
High School Category

The advice one would give a young boy to follow his dreams without conforming to the societal norms that would inevitably be pressured onto him as he grows up.

 

Eggg
Directed by Daniel Hishikawa | Written by Brian Moran | Experimental | 8:00 | Japan
Open Category

“Eggg” is a fast-paced visual essay shedding light onto what it is that drives us all. The film examines us as the collective mystery with the steadfast common goal: to get bigger.

 

Winter Sleep
Directed by Max Shoham | Animation/Live action | 1:11 | Canada
High School Category

Two friends: A boy, determined to hibernate, and his best friend, a bear, who only wanted to stay awake.

 

On The Fence
Directed by Paula Ner Dormiendo | Documentary | 6:21 | Canada
Open Category

 

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