Julio O. Ramos’ Behind the Mirror (Detras del espejo) claimed the best of the festival award at the 2012 Palm Springs International ShortFest, which handed out prizes in 20 categories at its awards ceremony Sunday night. The short film, about a man who runs a brothel with his wife, also took the first-place prize in the category of best student live-action short 15 minutes and under.
Andrew Nackman’s Paulie, which recounts how a 9-year-old spelling bee ace deals with a bully, also took home two awards: the Panavision Grandy Jury Award and the second-place prize for best student live-action short 15 minutes and under.
The Future Filmmaker Award was presented to Rajinder Sawhney’s Khaana, which focuses on a pregnant, orthodox Muslin woman living in London.
Related Stories
The festival, which concludes Monday, screened 324 short films, selected from more than 3,000 submissions.
A complete list of 2012 Palm Springs International ShortFest award winners follows:
JURY AWARDS
BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARD
Behind the Mirrors (Detras del espejo)(Peru/USA), Julio O. Ramos
PANAVISION GRAND JURY AWARD
Paulie (USA), Andrew Nackman
FUTURE FILMMAKER AWARD
Khaana (UK), Rajinder Sawhney
AUDIENCE AWARDS
AUDIENCE FAVORITE LIVE ACTION SHORT
A Curious Conjunction of Coincidences (Netherlands), Joost Reijmers
Runner-up – Talking Dog for Sale, 10 Euros (Se vende perroque habla, 10 euros) (France/Spain), Lewis-Martin Soucy
AUDIENCE FAVORITE DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Mr. Christmas (USA), Nick Palmer
Runner-up – The Little Team (L’Equip Petit) (Spain), Robert Gomez
AUDIENCE FAVORITE ANIMATION SHORT
The Boy in the Bubble (Ireland), Kealan O’Rourke
Runner-up – The Gruffalo’s Child (UK), Uwe Heidschötter, Johannes Weiland
THE SHORTFEST ONLINE AUDIENCE AWARD
Lost & Found (UK), Sam Washington
JURY CATEGORY AWARDS
BEST ANIMATION SHORT
First Place – Nuru (Belgium), Michael Palmaers
Second Place – Amen! (Germany), Moritz Mayerhofer
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT OVER 15 MINUTES
First Place – Dura Lex (Belgium), Anke Blondé
Second Place– Light Years (Lichtjahre) (Germany), Florian Knittel
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT 15 MINUTES AND UNDER
First Place – The Devil’s Ballroom (Mannen fra isødet)
Second Place – The Moment (Australia), Troy Bellchambers
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
First Place – The Record Breaker (Denmark), Brian McGinn
Second Place – The Globe Collector (Australia), Summer DeRoche
STUDENT CATEGORIES
BEST STUDENT ANIMATION
First Place – Bear Me (Germany), Katarzyna Wilk
Second Place – Flamingo Pride (Germany), Tomer Eshed
BEST STUDENT LIVE ACTION SHORT OVER 15 MINUTES
First Place – Hatch (Austria/USA), Christoph Kushnig
Second Place – Good Night (UK), Muriel d’Ansembourg
BEST STUDENT LIVE ACTION SHORT 15 MINUTES AND UNDER
First Place – Behind the Mirrors (Detras del Espejo) (Peru/USA), Julio O. Ramos
Second Place – Paulie (USA), Andrew Nackman
BEST STUDENT DOCUMENTARY SHORT
First Place (tie) – The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist (USA), Mark Columbus
First Place (tie) – Julian (USA), Bao Nguyen
BEST STUDENT CINEMATOGRAPHY
Saro Varjabedian (cinematographer), Jesus Loves Youssef (Lebanon)
Second Place – Anand Kishore (cinematographer), Mong (China)
BEST STUDENT FILM AWARD (FROM A U.S. FILM SCHOOL)
First Place – Hatch (Austria/USA), Christoph Kuschnig
ADDITIONAL PRIZES
The Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker
Kiss Me (USA), directed by Jules Nurrish
Bridging the Borders Award
Road to Peshawar (USA), directed by Hammad Rizvi
