Glasgow Short Film Festival celebrates winning films
Taking place between 13 and 16 Feb, this year's Glasgow Short Film Festival has been celebrating the diversity and creativity of filmmakers working in the medium, and yesterday they announced the winners of four prestigious awards.
The Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film is presented to a filmmaker who can truly reflect the values and qualities found in Douglas’ work, which the GSFF describe as "honesty, innovation and the supremacy of image and sound in cinematic storytelling." The award for 2014 was given to Zhu Rikun, a Chinese filmmaker whose short documentary Cha Fang (The Questioning) impressed judges with its examination of China's attitudes to human rights and activism, telling the story of Rilkun's own encounter with state police. The GSFF's jury commented on Rikun's film: "In limited space we witness a dense confrontation building to an almost unbearable point. In observing a specific event, this work questions the universal power of authorities." A special mention for this award category went to Robin McKay for How To Abandon Ship.
A Chinese filmmaker also took home the International Audience Award – Beijing-born, Paris-based Hu Wei's Yak Butter Lamp tells the story of a photographer and his assistant taking portraits of a Tibetan family. The award was voted for by audience members from this year's GSFF.
This year, Glasgow Film Festival also participated in the Euroshort competition, a collaboration between an international network of film festivals – each festival nominates a short film by a filmmaker under 29-years-old for inclusion on a special DVD for circulation at the big film festivals and markets. GSFF's nomination was Pandas by animator Matus Vizar.
The biggest accolade of the Festival, the Scottish Short Film Award, went to Getting On, by Ewan Stewart. The jury included Lucas Leyva of Miami, Florida filmmaking collective The Borscht Corporation, who we interviewed in our February issue – read the interview here. Stewart's film played with the conventions of the 'kitchen sink drama', offering a window into the life of a downtrodden housewife and her sullen family. The jury commented: "Getting On blends the mundane and the unexpected with humour, sensitivity and a sophisticated, minimalist visual style. The filmmaker creates a balanced piece where the real and the implausible effortlessly and convincingly come together to recount a day in the life of a woman whose routines are gently interrupted by a rather extraordinary visitor."
A special mention in this category went to singer-songwriter and filmmaker Adam Stafford, for his film No Hope for Men Below, which retells the story of the Redding Pit Disaster, which claimed the lives of 40 men near Falkirk in 1923. Filmmaker and musician Stafford collaborated with Falkirk writer Janet Paisley on the film. Stafford's film was praised for using "extraordinary sound design, stark imagery, and poetry to create a unique cinematic experience." Stafford spoke to The Skinny about his film, and his latest album Imaginary Walls Collapse, back in June last year – read the interview here.
The Scottish Short Film Award category received so many films of quality for consideration this year, the competition was expanded. GSFF Director Matt Lloyd commented: "At a time when Scottish film producers are forecasting an extremely bleak future for indigenous production, we can at least demonstrate that there is no shortage of emerging talent. We couldn’t contain our selection within the usual four programmes – this year a mighty thirty two films screened across five programmes of new Scottish work."
The Scottish Audience Award went to Cara Connolly and Martin Clark for their Ewen Bremner-starring short film, Exchange & Mart. As the winners, Connolly and Clark will be commissioned to make the trailer for next year's Glasgow Short Film Festival.