The Sundance Institute announced jury prizes in short filmmaking Tuesday night (January 24), honoring the best films to emerge from over 7,500 submissions. Here’s a full list of the short filmmaking winners as selected by Sundance jurors Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butt-Head), Dee Rees (writer/director of Pariah), and Shane Smith (director of public programs at TIFF Bell Lightbox).
Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking: Fishing Without Nets
“A story of pirates in Somalia—told from the perspective of the pirates.”
Jury Prize in Short Film, U.S. Fiction: The Black Balloon
“While moving 40 kids, all by himself, across six New York City blocks, a stressed man accidentally loses a bouquet of a hundred balloons. A lone black balloon in the bunch learns that humans are complicated creatures with extreme highs and lows, but full of life.”
Jury prize in Short film, International Fiction: The Return
“Everyone thought he died during the war. Their family has grown by one child. Explaining is not easy.”
Jury Prize in Short Film, Non-Fiction: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
“Survivors in the hardest-hit areas of Japan's recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins in this stunning visual haiku about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan's most beloved flower.”
Jury Prize in Animated Short Film: 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.”
Special Jury Award for Comedic Storytelling: The Arm
“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. But tragedy forces Chance to realize that he was never in a relationship at all.”
Special Jury Award for Animation Direction: Robots of Brixton
“When the police invade the one space that the robots can call their own, the fierce and strained relationship between the two sides explodes into violence.”
Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Sundance Film Festival