Denmark’s Blood Sisters won the City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film at this year’s best BigPond MIFF shorts awards. ‘With extraordinary performances by two young girls and bold direction by Louise N.D. Friedberg, Blood Sisters was the standout amongst an eclectic worldwide selection in Official Competition at this year’s festival.’ said MIFF Short Film Coordinator Michelle Fillery.
David Michod’s Crossbow, which had its World Premiere at MIFF and has been selected for the Venice Film Festival, won the Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film ($5000). David was also a participant of this year’s Accelerator programme, which is designed to fast track a selected number of short filmmakers’ careers. Crossbow tells the story of a neighbour who bears witness to a young man’s life unraveling.
Dance Like Your Old Man won two awards – Best Documentary and Nova Cinemas Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker. Produced by Melbourne-based dance company Chunky Move, the documentary is about six women who, as they imitate their fathers’ dancing, describe their relationship with their dads.
This year 107 short films have been screened in competition at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The winners of the best BigPond MIFF shorts, have been decided by an impressive jury, which includes Richard Sowada, Marieke Hardy, Madeleine Swain and James Hewison, who have watched all 107 short films over the past few weeks.
‘MIFF is extremely grateful to our sponsors for their support of these awards. The opportunities the awards create, the prestige they carry and the exposure they give to the work of short filmmakers are all vital for the continuing development of short film filmmaking in Australia,’ said MIFF Executive Director Richard Moore.
best BigPond MIFF shorts:
City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film ($7,000)
Blood Sisters (Denmark) Dir. Louise N.D. Friedberg
Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film ($5,000)
Crossbow (Australia) Dir. David Michod
Melbourne Airport Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker ($5,000)
Nana (Australia) Dir. Warwick Thornton
Nova Cinemas Award for Creative Excellence in Australian Film ($3,000)
Dance Like Your Old Man (Australia) Dir. Gideon Obarzanek and Edwina Throsby
Best Documentary Short Film ($3000)
Dance Like Your Old Man (Australia) Dir. Gideon Obarzanek and Edwina Throsby
Best Experimental Short Film ($3,000)
Harrachov (UK) Dir. Matt Hulse, Joost van Veen, and Ben Rivers
Best Animated Short Film ($3,000)
Yours Truly (UK) Dir. Osbert Parker
Highly Commended Animation Award
The Bat and the Butterfly (Australia) Dir. Dave Jones
Award for Best Student Production ($3,000)
The Butcher’s Wife (Australia) Dir. Kylie Plunkett
Award for Short Film Promoting Human Rights ($500)
The T-Shirt (Czech Republic) Dir. Hossein Martin Fazeli
Highly Commended Short Fiction Award
Wrestling (Iceland) Dir. Grimur Hakonarson
[release from Limelight PR]