GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF SHORT FILMMAKING TALENT HONOURED IN WINNERS CIRCLE AT 2022 SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS CEREMONY
A video-blogger’s desperate attempt to maintain his YouTube content in the face of an alien invasion has taken the coveted Best International Short Film at the Sydney Science Fiction Festival closing ceremony on Sunday night.
From left: Best International Short, viewers:1; Best Australian Short, Erased; Best Actor Graham Dickson, from The Operator; and, Best Actress Klaudia García-Guerrero from Golem
Daigo Hariya and Yosuke Kobayashi’s often hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking Viewers: 1, a Japanese ‘DIY-scifi’ masterwork, was judged the best of the fest in a hotly-contested race; no film doubled-up on awards win.
Gabriela Loza’s Erased added to its collection of laurels by taking out the Best Australian Short Film, with the director on hand to collect the honour and reflect upon the film’s long journey to hometown glory. A Special Jury Prize was awarded Nik Kacevski’s Mongrel, a film that exhibits both technical prowess and intellectual rigour.
Graham Dickson, who single-handedly fronts Matt Riley’s deep-space dramatic thriller The Operator, was named Best Actor, while Best Actress honours went to Klaudia García-Guerrero as the actress forced into line-readings with an android in Rafael Macazaga’s Golem. The Best Director prize was awarded to Arati Kadav, whose The Astronaut and His Parrot looks set for a strong festival life after similar success at Fantasia Fest in July.
The breadth of international short film prowess in the 2022 line-up is best summed up in the Best Animation and Best Student Film categories. From Iran, Farnoosh Abedi to animation honours with his powerful anti-fascist dystopian vision, The Sparayer, while Estonian Alesja Suzdaltseva took out the young filmmaker category for her stunning student effort, The Rise (which also earned child star Leene Vugts a Best Actress nomination).
The full list of winners and nominees in the Short Film categories are:
BEST LIVE SHORT FILM (INTERNATIONAL):
Viewers: 1 (Japan) **WINNER** (Producers: Daigo Hariya, Yosuke Kobayashi)
THE OPERATOR (UK); TEACHER (China); GOLEM (Mexico); THE ASTRONAUT AND HIS PARROT (India); FIELD TRIP (UK)
BEST LIVE SHORT FILM (AUSTRALIA):
ERASED **WINNER** (Producers: Gabriela Loza, Ruth Sligo, Harriett McKern)
MONGREL; THREE STORY TOUR; STARLINGS OF THE HYPERREAL; THE EMPYREAN; EVIE
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE for Technical Prowess and Intellectual Rigour
MONGREL (Producer: Jennifer van Gessell)
BEST ACTOR Short Film:
Graham Dickson for THE OPERATOR **WINNER**; Crisóforo Ricaño/Isaí Flores for GOLEM; Dash Kruck for COME WITH ME; Yuki Hashiguchi for viewers:1; Stefo Nantsou for MONGREL; Ali Fazal for THE ASTRONAUT & THE PARROT
BEST ACTRESS Short Film:
Klaudia García-Guerrero for GOLEM **WINNER**; Melanie Smith for BYGONE'; Lucinda Keating for STARLINGS OF THE HYPERREAL; Leene Vugts for THE RISE; Megan Clancy for TECH SUPPORT; Maddy Leane for PEOPLE HOLES
BEST DIRECTOR Short Film:
Arati Kadav for THE ASTRONAUT & THE PARROT **WINNER**; Daigo Hariya/Yosuke Kobayashi for viewers: 1; Trevor Clarence for COME WITH ME; Rafael Macazaga for GOLEM; Soren Bendt, Paul Arion for FIELD TRIP; Mickey Tetrov for BYGONE
BEST ANIMATION SHORT:
THE SPRAYER (Iran) **WINNER**; CAMOUFLAGE (Netherlands); EL VIAJERO (Spain); RED GAIA (South Africa); COSMIC ODYSSEY (Australia); DRIFTER (Belgium)
BEST STUDENT SHORT:
THE RISE (Estonia) **WINNER**; MADELEINE (France); LEFT BEHIND (Australia); ARNI & DANA (Australia); FUSION (Australia); MEET DR WILSON (Australia)