WINNERS

Best Animated Winner

Cielo e Infierno

Belle Douleur tells the story of a woman’s journey of finding happiness as she breaks free from the confines that society puts on women.

Diego Lodeiros

Best Comedy Short Winner

Akram

After a weekend away, Alexander comes home to pick up his "special" shirt for the concert he is scheduled to perform that same evening and is surprised to find his shirt missing. His search for the shirt leads him to Jalal and Akram, two refugees that his roommate housed during the weekend. Faced with the intimacy of the relationship between the two refugees and their hardships, Alexander comes to realize that his own search is trivial in comparison.

Mickey Broothaerts, Adrien Berlandi

Best Director Winner

I'm Listening

In the last hours of the night, Mirja, a Night Radio host, gets a call on the air of a possible end of the world. Soon this unexpected call starts bursting Mirja's bubble in a way she never would have expected.

Katja Korhonen

Best Drama Short Winner

National Boomerang

"National Boomerang" retraces the errance of Loba, a lonely teenage girl, against a backdrop of urban, country and industrial landscapes. In an immersive and contemplative way we follow her way and adventures.

Gaïa Rasnova

Best Feature Documentary Winner

Lovemobil

Beside the dark highway roads of rural Germany, prostitutes from foreign countries work in old VW-Buses in the forest. ln this uncanny world a murder of one of the women takes place, forcing the women to take action.

Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss

Best Feature Film Winner

Family Matters

When Kelly (Jennifer Welts) comes out of jail, she returns to her birthplace Hemelrijken. Although her sister Samantha (Esmée van Kampen) can barely make ends meet herself, she is ready to help. She takes Kelly home and arranges a job for her at a package delivery company. If an old acquaintance (Maarten Heijmans) reclaims a large sum of money from Kelly, the financial problems pile up and she sees no other solution than to go and deal for him. When Samantha hears that, she doesn't want to know anything about her. Until it really goes wrong, because family does not abandon each other, right?

Stanley Kolk

Best Music (in a film) Winner

This Little Land of Mines

80 million unexploded bombs remain in the small Southeast Asian country of Laos from when the United States secretly bombed Laos more than any country on earth. This Little Land of Mines is a nuanced, cinematic, and enlightening expose bringing stories of Lao people, young and old, straight to American audiences. During the Vietnam War, the CIA embarked on their largest covert operation to date in Laos. During over 580,000 bombing missions, the U.S. dropped 270 million bombs on Laos, 80 million of which have yet to explode. Since then, tens of thousands of innocent Laotians have been killed or seriously injured by accidentally detonating a bomb; 40% of victims are children. Despite this horrific reality, the collective will of the Lao people is inspiring. One by one, people like Phetsamay, a mother of two, work to find and destroy the bombs. Phetsamay's spirit and optimism is juxtaposed against this tragic reality: at this rate, it will take 2,500 years to rid Laos of UXO (unexploded ordnance). Due to very few Americans knowing about the war, the U.S. gives very little support and funding to Laos' efforts. This Little Land of Mines is a collection of unbelievable stories Americans need to hear. From Lung Ki, an 87-year-old village man who survived over a million bombs while living in a pitch-black cave with 30 other families for 9 years to Lae, who lives in what is now known as 'crater village' and lost her two sons when they picked up a bomb only a few months ago. Although Laotians have endured the heaviest bombing on earth, and live with a constant terror of the unexploded bombs, they all assure you that life is a beautiful blessing and that they have forgiven America. This documentary will capture this unique sentiment, in the hopes of inspiring a younger American generation to form a catalyst and demand real U.S. support in Laos.

Erin McGoff

Best Music Video Winner

Black Love

"Black Love" is an allegoric moving picture portraying the artist's psyche, using nature's five elements as a visual language.

Dimitris Makaronas

Best Screenplay Winner

Girl Gone Greek

Rachel Hill is single and in her thirties. Since her mother died, she has had an unstoppable wanderlust, 'Dromomania', her father, John, calls it. She is under pressure from Kirsty, her domineering older sister, to conform to Kirsty's idea of family life. Rachel, however, knows her life will never be settled until she discovers what it really means to be Rachel. Rachel arrives for an interview at a Governmental department somewhere in Europe. Thousands have applied for a new post, and the shortlist is down to only a few; Rachel among them. She is asked what she has found in her life that qualifies her for her perfect job. Rachel's story happens in double narrative flashback.

Best Short Documentary Winner

Year of the Robot

At the intersection of art and science, L’année du robot (Year of the robot) depicts the human being and the robot as its artificial counterpart. As a series of archival documents detailing the first contacts and dialogue between a robot gifted with an artificially created autonomy and human beings, it studies cognitive dissonance, a minute, mysterious relational space sitting between the two actors. It involves elderly people sometimes afflicted with Alzheimer's or dementia, or young adults with autism or neurological problems. Once past the surprise phase and aware of the artificial nature of the robot's functioning, the residents try, despite everything, to forge bonds with it.

Yves Gellie

Best Short Film Winner

The Priest

In a lonely desert town a suicidal priest (Patton Oswalt) makes a decision that kicks into motion a series of strange events leading him to an unexpected discovery. Is it coincidence or miraculous?

Michael Vukadinovich

Best Student Director Winner

Dogwatch

After losing his lifelong position at an industrial corporation, Raphael is forced by the Austrian Unemployment Office to take an underwhelming job as a night-time security guard. He recently moved back in with his bedridden mother, who is also cared for by the dedicated Ukrainian nurse Vera. Through her support, Raphael gradually learns to cope with his new life situation, but a tragic incident breaks his world apart once more. A warm-hearted narrative about a part of society, whose basis of existence is increasingly threatened.

Albin Wildner

Special Mention Winner

The Manchador

Mina and Saeed live a stressful life in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Being a woman in Iran is not particularly easy and Mina sees a future for the family elsewhere. She wants to move abroad, but Saeed then invents a device that places the responsibility for the hijab where it belongs – with the men whose gaze women need protection from. The Manchador is a satire about life in modern day Tehran, seeing, our senses, and spirituality.

Kaveh Tehrani