Sundace Film Festival reveals jury prizes in Short Filmmaking

Jury prizes and honorable meritions to short films were announced on Tuesday at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

The awards, which will also be honored at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony on Saturday, were presented at the event held in Park City, Utah.

Trevor Groth, director of programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said: “The explosion of interest in the short form is evidenced by the record number of short films submitted to this year’s Festival. Our shorts programming team as well as audiences at the Festival have been struck by the depth of quality and uncompromised voices present in these stories from around the world. Our esteemed jury selected seven winners from a field of 64 that represent a talented group of artists who are sure to continue pushing the limits of creative filmmaking.”

This year's Short Film program, presented by Yahoo!, was comprised of 64 short films selected from a record 7,675 submissions and the list of winners includes:

“Fishing without Nets”, a story of pirates in Somalia, told from the perspective of the pirates themselves. The film was awarded with the jury prize in short filmmaking.

“The Black Ballon” strays from the herd and experiences what life as an individual is like. He explores New York City in the deepest way, seeing all of its characters. It won the jury prize in U.S. fiction.

“The Return (Kthimi)”, a man comes back from a Serb prison to his wife and son. Much has changed since he was declared missing and continuing where they left off four years ago may not be as easy as it seems. The Kosovian movie was awarded with the jury price in international fiction.

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” tells the story of the survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan's recent tsunami and how they find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins. A visual haiku about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan's most beloved flower. The film won the jury prize in non-fiction.

“A Morning Stroll”, when a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we are left to wonder which one is the real city slicker. The movie got the jury prize in animated short film.

“The Arm”, in an attempt to keep up with social pressure in a technologically advanced world, Chance starts a texting relationship with Genevieve, a girl he meets at a yogurt shop. The film was awarded with the special jury award for comedic storytelling.

“Robots of Brixton”, immerses the spectator into the trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment. The British cinematic tale was presented with the special jury award for animation direction.

This year’s edition runs through January 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

The Festival’s Awards Ceremony will be hosted by Parker Posey on Saturday 28 at 7.00 pm MT and will be live streamed at www.sundance.org/live.

A complete list of film and events is available by clicking here.