WINNERS in the 27^th Canberra Short Film Festival were announced  at a packed event at Dendy last night (November 19).

Among the winners was Stephanie Begg’s “Echo Pines,” for which she won best director in the Canberra category and Barry Jarrot won best production design, in which rookie Detective Barnes (Danielle King) takes the lead on a missing child case, only to encounter a punch of unexplainable phenomena in a forest obviously near Canberra and getting no support from her fellow officers.

Best Film of the Festival went to “Acts for the Invisible”, directed and written by Kate Vinen, which looks at Alistair Trung,  one of Australia’s most celebrated fashion designers, who grapples with the  meaning of grief after his life partner dies.

National Category winner was “Amissa Anima,” a short drama directed by Tatiana Doroshenko where four boys survive on the night streets of St Kilda in Australia in the ’80s until an act of betrayal pushes the boys to take action

Festival director, John Frohlich said the 2022 event had been its largest festival, with more than 600 submissions, including more than 70 from the ACT, with 215 films from 21 countries screened.

It was, he said, proof apparent that the short-film format is having a resurgence, attributable to its more creative, accessible and independent format than seen in feature film or television.

One more category, “Smith’s Short Shorts,” will be announced tonight (November 20), after the finale screening at Smith’s Alternative.

Winning and commended films 

 Best Film of the Festival

Acts for the Invisible

National Category

Best Film: Amissa Anima

Best Director: Tatiana Doroshenko – Amissa Anima

Best Screenplay: Ismail Khan – Sunnies

Best Editing: Raymond J Evans – Mars

Best Cinematography: Petra Leslie – Acts for the Invisible

Best Production Design: Barry Jarrot – Hermit

Best Sound: Nest

Best SFX/VFX: Shudder

Best Comedy: Hatchback

Best Actor: Mitchell Brotz – Animal Work

Best Actress: Claudia Hruschka – Jungle

Emerging Talent: The Party Job

Highly Commended:

Laughter Club

Inspire Me

Sunset Country

International Category

Best Film: Safe As Houses

Best Director: Kohei Hirota – Falling in Love with A#

Best Art Direction: Fishwife

Best Cinematography: Hunros Jorna

Best Screenplay: Fabien Ara – Fairyocious

Innovation & Creativity Award: Once I Passed

Best Score: Martin Gerigk – Once I Passed

Best Sound Design: Mohammad K Alavi – Silence Again

Best Editing: Jean-Baptiste Guignot – Freefall

Best Actress: Lauren Corah – Jackson

Best Production Design: Carlos Flores – Distance of Time

Best SFX: INCUBUS

Human Rights Award: Water, Wind, Dust, Bread

Highly Commended:

The Savior

Mamma

The Finding

Split Ends

Silence Again

Canberra

Best Film: The Power of Love

Best Director: Stephanie Begg – Echo Pines

Best Cinematography: Cameron Dunlop – Dust Cloud

Best Editing: The Power of Love

Best Score: Not Everything’s About You

Best Production Design: Barry Jarrot – Echo Pines

Best Actor: Jacob Brede – BLOOMIN’ (alex’s monologue)

Best Actress: Danielle King – Echo Pines

Best Screenplay: Maura Pierlot – Fragments Series

Emerging Talent: Zain Oskar Brown – Concrete Cylinders

Best TV or Web Series: Dan Sanguinetti – Fragments Series

Best Comedy: Not Everything is About You

Best VFX: Echo Pines

Best SFX: Violet Daze

Highly Commended:

A Letter Home

BLOOMIN’ (alex’s monologue)

Music Video

Best International MV: David Lindmer // Omen

Best National MV: Let’s Make a Baby – The Maes

Best MV: Ain’t Many Like Lenny – CJ Shaw

Highly Commended

Hippo – The Lazy Eyes

Alaska – Holly George

Mess of Iguanas – Entangled

Metal Bruises – Effie Li

First Nations Stories

Best Film: Mikayla

Highly Commended

Mourning Country

Háldi

Mungo

The Yapas

Animation

Best Film: Saturation

Best National Animation: Anxiety

Best Canberra Animation: Ain’t Many Like Lenny

Best Schools/U18s Animation: Under the Bed

Highly Commended

Our Photo Memento

Memento Mori

Pebble

Blow Out

The Statue

Documentary

Best International Doc: Not Like You

Best National Doc: Acts For The Invisible (trophy)

Best Schools/U18s Doc: The Rock Pool Waltz

Highly Commended:

Inspire Me

Pandemonium

Scars

Experimental

Best Experimental: The Cost

Best National: 101 Days of Lockdown

Best International: Once I Passed

Highly Commended

Demi-Gods

The One Who Went South

Earthquake without Richter

2-Minute Film

Best National: Kudzu

Best International: Leo

Best Canberra: How to do Laundry

Highly Commended

Lucky Dumplings

Defy the Odds

Strictly Bathroom

Methane: An Underdog Villain of Global Warming

Schools/Under 18

Best film: The Rock Pool Waltz

Highly Commended

Faithful Street

The Multigrain Murders

Pandemonium

The Call

Spiritus Awards

The Sanctuary

Mourning Country

The Rock Pool Waltz (Junior Award)