WINTER 2022 | Festival Laurels (all categories + nomination laurel + special mention laurel)
Jury Prize
Winner: PSI – The Lives You Could Have Lived by Olivier Wright
“An epic of all indie proportions. Quite daring. A special indie experience.”
Nominees: Cycles, The Riverman, Deus Ex Machina, Blur the Line, Asylum, Wasted Milk, Being a Dog, Awkward Endeavours
FILM
- Best Short Film made for less than $5,000
Awkward Endeavours – Nominee: Best Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Supporting Actress: Kathleen Kozak, Winner: Best Supporting Actor: David Amadio, Nominated: Best Direction – “Amadio makes the perfect neighbour, and Kozak is one scary teacher. All in all this is a lovely glossy short film that entertains a heap more than most that we get to see!”
Surviving LA – Nominated: Best Ensemble, Nominated: Best Cinematography, Nominated: Best Score, Winner: Best Editing – “This lush LA short is full of energy and funny characters. There’s a sense of love for the grit of it all. The edit is something so slick.”
Blur the Line – Nominated: Best Cinematography, Nominated: Best Editing – “The grand style ability of the moving image to tell a story is greatly explored in this expressive piece. One could almost give a Best Actress nomination, though it feels a bit tough to do in the context of other entries… especially as there are only expressions here. The edit is impressive.”
Mail Bag – Nominated: Best Short Film made for less than $5,000, Winner: Best Score, Nominated: Best Actress (Irina Usova) – “Utterly charming.”
Eva – Nominated: Best Genre Film, Nominated; Best Score – “Atmospheric and dark. This dish is quite ghastly. Oh la la!”
VETO – Nominated: Best Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Genre Film, Winner: Best Actor (Elliot Cable) – “With too many breakup shorts made annually, it is rare to find one that is so fresh… and in it, a lead performance that really helps highlight the film’s genre, tone and overall pace. Cable does a great job here in propelling a small budget short into a showcase of talent.”
Happy Anniversary – Winner: Best Genre Film – “The film boasts a great sense of comedic tone with it’s rom-com-gone-wrong plot.”
Prey – Nominated: Best Actor (Jordan Turk), Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Phill Webster), Nominated: Best Cinematography – “This short film balances an artful image (black and white and all that jazz) with a comical cerebral tone. The lead, Turk, does a great job of grounding it all. Quite a great short!”
The Santa Situation – Nominated: Best Genre Film, Nominated: Best Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Direction, Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Santa) – “Comical and a great blast of fun, this Christmas themed film is a great reward for those struck on the naughty list!”
Asylum – Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Direction, Winner: Best Short Film made for less than $5,000 – “With a small budget, this short really propels its simple but very human story to the edge of perfection.”
Wasted Milk – Nominated: Best Short Film made for less than $5,000, Winner: Best Supporting Actress (Vena Pefani), Nominated: Best Cinematography, Winner: Best Direction – “Confident, still and often atmospheric, Wasted Milk enjoys the power of cinema through its many great tones.”
Leap – Winner: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Actress (Kia Pegg), Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast – “The cast bring a great deal of life to this intimate domestic tale, but it is the nuance and realism that above all shine. This is a quality film, and the lead performance by Ms. Pegg is completely compelling.”
The Boxening – Best Short Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Genre Film – “The Boxening flexes many amusing scenarios for a well rounded often comical horroresque film.”
Aylum –
Teal to Orange – Nominated: Best Actress (Marina Kozawa), Nominated: Best Direction – “Loveable at its core, this short film excels with Marina’s central performance. The intimate space the film explores is also quite enjoyable, and helps affirm the lead’s strength.”
- Best Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000
Sunspot – Nominated: Best Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000, Winner: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast, Nominated: Best Cinematography, Winner: Best Actress (Joelle Montoya) – “Clean with its art design, this delicate film by Mihok choses the intimate over dramatic… and in doing so, becomes a very natural and strong cinematic experience. The cast feels real, and the script is carefully elevated within this presentation.”
Capo di Famiglia II – Nominated: Best Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000, Winner: Best Cinematography, Winner: Best Ensemble Cast – “The vibrancy of the project is very much present in all the players of the film, one of whom is the camera and its lush movement.”
Shadows of the Dust – Winner: Best Short Film made for between $5,000-$10,000, Nominated: Best Actor (Daniel Rios Jr.), Nominated: Best Screenplay – “All in all, Shadows of the Dust touches the cusp of what feels more like a TV show pilot that we’d love to see greenlit into a Season long run. Rios provides a fantastic lead performance, and the fun brainy sci-fi script keeps you on your toes.”
- Best Short Film made for more than $10,000
The Shadows of Magellan – Nominated: Best Short Film made for more than $10,000 – “The sheer scale of the production, with the ship and dramatic lighting and costumes, is great fun.”
Deus Ex Machina – Winner: Best Cinematography, Winner: Best Short Film made for more than $10,000, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast, Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Direction – “Lush and well produced, this short film is one of the slickest on offering.”
- Best Feature Film made for less than $5,000
Fine China – Nominated: Best Feature Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Actor (Noah Pedersen) – “Compiled with great care for some true mumblecore cinema love, Fine China almost asks the audience a question: what do we care about and should we care about these things? – Of course, the said philosophical question is never clear if it is the care of items, people or the idea of ownership that we should be concerned with.”
Cycles – Nominated: Best Feature Film made for less than $5,000, Nominated: Best Actor (Henry Wilson), Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Henry Fisk), Nominated: Best Direction, Nominated: Best Screenplay, Winner: Special Jury Prize – Best Indie Film – “With an almost Eric Rohmer style of silence, stillness and minimalism – this brotherly drama unpacks our insular lives in a bland setting… but this is one of the most beautiful tools of film being placed in our core centre – the forcefulness of allowing the audience into a time-sensitive space that is restrictive and intimate. We are witnesses in a way that even an intimate theatre show would be challenged in pulling off. Side note – wow what a pair of leads!”
The Riverman – Nominated: Best Direction, Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Actor (Jun Guo), Winner: Best Feature Film made for less than $5,000 – “Without a doubt one of the more impressive micro budget films. In The Riverman there is heart, emotion and an exciting use of locale. Jun Guo is very impressive as Daniel, and the entire film flexes a bold sense of epicness on the small budget scale.”
- Feature Film made for between $5,000-$10,000
The Art of Grieving – Winner: Best Feature Film made for between $5,000-$10,000 – “The impact of this documentary can’t be denied. The visuals are also very impressive.”
PSI – The Lives You Could Have Lived by Olivier Wright – Winner: Feature Film made for between $5,000-$10,000, Nominated: Best Director, Nominated: Best Screenplay, Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast – “The unusual and interesting blend of characters – the freeform dialogue and interview style… the crossing of fiction and documentary? – all in all it is an exciting project, and one that really keeps you guessing where and what it is about. Wright steadily engages with a Malick and Herzog style of film form – the very primitive blending of philosophy, image and concept.”
- Feature Film made for more than $10,000 – Not enough entries for this category to run. Entries moved to Feature Film made for between $5,000-$10,000.
- Web series
No entries in this category.
SPECIAL MENTION
Deep Encounters – Winner: Best Duo, Nominated: Best Direction – “Let’s not lie, sparks rarely actually occur in acting duos in short films. This film though turns up the heat fast and it doesn’t overcook. Lovely stuff, and a suitably fun almost Woody Allen styled script that comes alive with some very strong tactile direction.”
A Butcher Resigns – Winner: Best Documentary, Nominated: Best Score – “A fantastic character study.”
Being a Dog – Winner: Best Animation – “Perceptive, bold and moving – this short film boasts an impressive animation style comboed with a bold sense of narrative.”
Alex – Reach for the Stars – Nominated: Best Documentary, Winner: Special Mention: Best Documentary Direction – “Unusual in form, this documentary gets up and close to its subject matter and really engages with the world that this individual lives within.”
MUSIC VIDEO
Afirebird – Burning Man – Nominated: Best Music Video Cinematography – “The video is simple, and beautifully so… the camera work is free, like the dancer. We move, we explore, and above all – we feel.”
Dancing with the Angels – Winner: Best Music Video Editing, Nominated: Best Music Video – “The video is quite moving, and well cut to establish the various times, speeds and paces of life…”
Weltschmerzdigest — Flat Earth – Nominated: Best Music Video – “The beautiful concept is greatly elevated by the cliff end flame-lit ending.”
The Princes – The Little Prince – Winner: Best Music Video Cinematography – “The photography here is above average for short films, let alone music videos… very impressive.”
Hold Me Down – Winner: Best Music Video – “Hold Me Down’s intelligent and very expressive use of isolated dancers is perhaps proof, in combination with its strong technical skills, for us to introduce a Best Director category in the music video grouping of TMBT’s awards. Flood’s work is very impressive and minimalist (in the best sense) here.”
SCRIPT COMPETITION
- Best Character Arc
Winner: 2nd Date
“Though long for an indie film script, 2nd Date is very rewarding and a film that would be great to see made.”
Nominees: The Evil Within – “Bold genre piece which really is enhanced by the overall threading of characters, however – a little long for a short… so perhaps should be built up to a feature, or skimmed right down.”, Better – “Lovely characters, well rounded and quite enjoyable.”
- Best Genre Script
Winner: Parenting for Monsters
“This recalls a sort of bygone era of TV – the type that would love the whacky woo horror era of comedy (The Munsters etc) – and the fact that Stathis’ script embraces this genre with so much conviction is a lot of fun. If one could get this greenlit, it would be a hoot.”
Nominees: Love Unknown – “Charming as a set piece, this retro styled sci fi romance really digs its own world building, which is nice and refreshing.” Avalon Farms Academy – “With an unusual runtime for a short (is this a short or a feature?), this boasts a great sense of filmic genre and charm.”, Gimme Shelter – “The concept is appealing, the format sent isn’t quite a script though.”
- Best Micro Budget Script
Winner: Erosion
“An intimate and moving short that really carries a great deal within its potential for actors and the director(s) to hone in on the minimalist approach and relish the experience.”
Nominees: Going – “Though too robust for a short film in reality, the simple use of locality within this project really enhances its quality and the ease with which one can say ‘just go and make it!’”, Empty Nest – “Charming, low key and very much a charming coming of age script. Someone should go and make this!”, Better – “What Better features is a deliberate sense of voice and a smart delivery of concise content that avoids waste and excess.”
- Best Technique
Winner: Unchained Melodee
“The script writing is of a very skilled syntax format, and thankfully concise thanks to this writing technique.”
Nominees: The Mountain – “The writing is an impressive style, though a little grand for a short film… almost unfilmable. But still epic, and written with a great sense of quality.”, Better – “Written with some great craft.”