The winners of the 2021 Palm Springs International ShortFest were announced on Sunday night. They were picked out of a total of 295 films that have been screened at the festival. The awards include cash prizes worth $25,000. In addition, five Academy award-qualifying awards were presented from amongst the winners.
The Greater Palm Springs CVB Best of the Festival Award was presented to Marlén Viñayo’s Unforgivable from El Salvador while Alexe Poukine’s film Palma from France received a Special Mention. The winner of the Best Animated Short was Step Into The River directed by Weijia Ma. The film examines the repercussions of patriarchy and China’s one-child policy on the lives of two young girls. Reza Riahi’s exploration of a young musician and the love of his life in Navozande, The Musician, won Special Mention.
Queen Of Basketball by Ben Proudfoot won the award for the Best Documentary Short. The film looks at the lack of awareness about the greatest American female basketball player of all time, Lusia Harris. The Interview, directed by Jon Miller and Zach Russo, won Special Mention.
Other winners include Serhat Karaaslan’s The Criminals, which won the Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes, the Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under winner The Mohel, directed by Charles Wahl. The Riz Ahmed-starrer The Long Goodbye directed by Aneil Karia won Special Mention in the category.
Love Is Just A Death Away, directed by Bára Anna Stejskalová, was the Student Animated Short Winner, and the Student Documentary Short Winner was The Void Inside directed by Julian Dieterich. The award for Best Student International Short was presented to Her Dance directed by Bar Cohen.
Winners have been announced in eighteen award categories. The winners will be eligible to submit their shorts to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the Oscars. The festival concluded on 28 June.