2017 ShortFest Award Winners

Best of the Festival Award
$5,000 courtesy of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau; crystal award....The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration.
Winner | Facing Mecca (Switzerland) directed by Jan-Eric Mack

Grand Jury Award $2,000 and crystal award
Winner | The Head Vanishes (France/Canada) directed by Franck Dion

Panavision Best North American Short Camera Package Valued at $60,000 courtesy of Panavision; crystal award
Winner | Dekalb Elementary (USA) directed by Reed Van Dyk

Best Animation 
$2000 and crystal award.... The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration.
Winner | The Head Vanishes (France/Canada) directed by Franck Dion

Best Live Action Over 15 min.  
$2000 and crystal award.... The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration.  
Winner | Retouch (Iran) directed by Kaveh Mazaheri

Best Live Action 15 min and Under
$2000 and crystal award.... The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration. 
Winner | Great Choice (USA) directed by Robin Comisar

Best Documentary
$2000 and crystal award.... The winner of this award may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar® consideration.
Winner | Edith & Eddie (USA) directed by Laura Checkoway

Future Filmmaker Award 
$2,000 and crystal award
Winner | Where You Found Refuge (France) directed by Guillaume Legrand

Bridging the Borders Award
HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation
Winner | Pantheon (France) directed by Ange-Régis Hounkpatin

Youth Jury Award - Crystal award
Winner | Everybody Else is Taken (New Zealand) directed by Jessica Grace Smith

STUDENT AWARDS

Best Student Animation 
$500 and crystal award
Winner | Sog (Germany) directed by Jonatan Schwenk

Best Student Live Action Over 15 min
$500 and crystal award
Winner | Facing Mecca 9Switzerland) directed by Jan-Eric Mack

Best Student Best Live Action 15 min and Under
$500 and crystal award
Winner | Iron Hands (USA/China) directed by Johnson Cheng

Best Student Documentary
$500 and crystal award
Winner | Searching For Wives (Singapore) directed by Zuki Juno Tobgye

Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker
Final Cut Pro X courtesy of Apple Computer; crystal award
Winner | Chebet (Kenya/USA) directed by Tony Koros

AUDIENCE AWARDS  

Best Live Action- Crystal award
Winner | Red Light (Bulgaria/Croatia) directed by Toma Waszarow

Best Animation - Crystal award
Winner | Coin Operated (USA) directed by Nicholas Arioli

Best Documentary- Crystal award
Winner | Kayayo (Norway) directed by Mari Bakke Riise

ShortFest On-line Audience Award - Crystal award
Winner | Lost Face (Australia/Canada) directed by Sean Meehan

David Ansen was a movie critic for Newsweek from 1977 to 2008.   He was the Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival from 2010 through 2014.   He has written documentaries for TNT, HBO and PBS on Greta Garbo, Groucho Marx, Bette Davis, and Elizabeth Taylor and has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times,  Entertainment Weekly, Interview, Cosmopolitan and other publications.

Lindsey Bahr is a Film Writer for the Associated Press. She previously wrote about movies for Entertainment Weekly.

Kate Bosworth is an American actress and producer perhaps best known for starring in the films Blue Crush (2002), Wonderland (2003), and Superman Returns (2006), the latter in which she portrayed the iconic Lois Lane. She is presently producing Nona & The Row alongside her husband Michael Polish under their production banner, Make Pictures. Bosworth is also starring in BBC's alt-history miniseries SSGB. She will be seen next in MGM's post-apocalyptic drama THE DOMESTICS and National Geographic series THE LONG ROAD HOME. She most recently starred in seasons 1 and 2 of Sony/Crackle's THE ART OF MORE opposite Dennis Quaid.

Ian Durkin is the Senior Curator at Vimeo. Since 2011, Ian has watched hundreds of thousands of films and helped select the world's very best for the Vimeo Staff Picks Channel. Outside of Vimeo, Ian works as a commercial director and editor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

Sam Lansky is the Hollywood Editor at TIME magazine and the author of the memoir 'The Gilded Razor.'

Heidi Zwicker is a Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, focusing on international feature films. She has been contributing to various Sundance Institute programs for over ten years, beginning with the Feature Film Program, International. Heidi was a Programmer at Palm Springs International Shortfest from 2011-2014. Originally from the north shore of Boston, she has a degree in English from University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth and an M.A. in Critical Studies of Film and Television from UCLA.