Following up from the success of 2010 and the introduction of the jury prize, in 2011 we created a second award to give the audience a say. The inaugural audience award was won by Scotland’s own Stuart Elliott, who later would become a valuable member of the GSFF programming team.
The 2011 programme displayed the rich variety of short film practices around the world. Naomi Kawase’s simple and lyrical autobiographical shorts were happily displayed alongside the frenetic, punk-inspired works of the New York No Wave scene. The festival was dedicated to acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi, whose film The Accordion had already been selected for competition when we heard the news of his arrest and imprisonment.
I really enjoyed being introduced to New York No Wave Cinema during the 2011 festival. I’ve encountered this work multiple times since, but nothing sticks in mind as much as seeing these films on a large screen in 16mm at the CCA.
Jule Rozite, GSFF Assistant 2011, now Associate Programmer at Tribeca Film Festival.
Award Winners
Best International Short Film Award
The Cage (Colivia) – Adrian Sitaru | Romania/Netherlands | 2009
Audience Award
The Pedestrian – Stuart Elliott | UK | 2010
Jury
Frank Moens – Programme Director, Leuven International Short Film Festival
Miranda Pennell – Moving image artist
Richard Raskin – Associate Professor, Aarhus University (Department of Information and Media Studies)