The award-winning films at the eleventh annual Glasgow Short Film Festival were announced last night at the festival’s closing party at festival hub Civic House.
The awards celebrate the best in Scottish and international filmmaking talent at Scotland’s largest annual celebration of short film.
The prestigious Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film – named after one of Scotland’s greatest filmmakers- carries a cash prize of £1,000 and was won by Shalimar Preuss’s striking story of three generations of a French Basque family Strange Says The Angel (Etrange dit I’ange). Special mentions were also given to three films that deeply affected the jury- Final Stage, Mirage My Bros and Stay Ups.
The GSFF Scottish Short Film Award honours inspiration and innovation in new Scottish filmmaking and is generously sponsored by independent production company Blazing Griffin, with a cash prize of £1,500. The 2018 winner is Alia Ghafar’s coming-of-age drama Salt & Sauce. Special mention was also given to Tony & The Bull by John McFarlane.
The GSFF audience had their say too, voting Swedish director Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s darkly existentialist animated musical The Burden the International Audience Award winner. John McFarlane’s documentary about an unusual and moving relationship between man and beast, Tony & The Bull, was named the Scottish Audience Award winner. John will be commissioned to create the trailer for Glasgow Short Film Festival 2019.
Other awards given out at the closing ceremony were the Hilton Earl Memorial Award- chosen by audiences at screening series Blueprint: Scottish Independent Shorts – which went to Daniel Cook’s documentary about an eccentric Edinburgh socialite The King & I and the Production Attic Short Film Pitch, which gave emerging filmmakers the chance to pitch for seven day’s free equipment hire and a cash bursary to complete their short film. The 2018 pitch winner was Jack Goessens for his project Bouba and Kiki.
Matt Lloyd, Director Glasgow Short Film Festival said:
It’s been an exhilarating few days at GSFF, welcoming guests from every continent and battling the snowy aftershocks of the Beast from the East. We’ve spent eight hours in a cinema with Kevin Jerome Everson and drifted off to the mysterious visions of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Our jury and audience have made their decisions – I’m thrilled that three of our four top award winners are women this year, and that the winning films exemplify the curious experimental spirit that we embrace in our selection. Thanks to everyone who has made GSFF such a joy this year.
Lauren Lamarr, Associate Producer at Blazing Griffin said:
Congratulations to Alia Ghafar, winner of this year’s Scottish Short Film Award. We wish you the best of luck with the next steps in your filmmaking career and are delighted to support such an exciting talent.