Now in its 15th year, the 2017 award will be presented on Thursday, May 25, at the UniFrance Pavilion in Cannes, sponsored notably by UniFrance in association with TitraFilm, Continental Media Assurances, Transpalux, and AFCA - Association Française du Cinéma d'Animation.
Films presented with the UniFrance Short Film Award are selected by a jury of movie industry professionals. The award aims to shine a spotlight on the audacity and talent of new-generation filmmakers and producers. Last year, the Grand Prize was won by Veil of Silence by Julie Gourdain.
The winning film receives a range of cash prizes and equipment, as well as access to theatrical distribution, with the film screened for the period of one week at the Paris theater Le Grand Action prior to a feature film. It will also be shown at the following foreign film festivals which are partners with UniFrance: International Festival of Francophone Film in Acadie (FICFA)—in the case of a French-language film—Tübingen | Stuttgart International French-language Film Festival, and Festival Curta Cinema in Rio de Janeiro.
1/ The UniFrance Grand Prize for a Short Film comes with:
- €2,000 for the film's producer, including €1,000 in promotion aid + free UniFrance membership in 2018
- €500 for the film's director + free UniFrance membership in 2018
- Theatrical release for the period of one week at the Paris theater Le Grand Action, screened prior to a feature film
2/ The UniFrance and TV "Coup de Cœur" (Jury Favorite) Prize:
Acquisition and distribution of the film by foreign television networks who are jury members (applicable to films that have not been broadcast by these networks).
JURY MEMBERS
- Claudia Moreno, Movistar Plus (Spain)
- Sylvie Ballul, arts programmer
- Jacopo Chessa, director of the Italian Short Film Center
- Garance Clavel, actor
- Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy, director of Le Grand Action
- Julie Gourdain, filmmaker, winner of the 2016 Short Film Prize (for Veil of Silence)
- Perrine Quennesson, journalist with Les Ecrans
- Alain Riou, journalist
- Michel Royer, filmmaker
- Paola Ruggieri, RTI (Italy)
- Gabriella Thinsz, UR Sveriges (Sweden)
SHORT LIST
- Enfant chéri by Valérie Mréjen & Bertrand Schefer
- The Gas Station by Djinda Kane
- Delectable You by Axel Courtière
- Marlon by Jessica Palud
- Negative Space by Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata
- Off Path by Julie Jouve & Rida Belghiat
- The Winkles by Alice Vial
- Jungle by Colia Vranici
- Nothing Happens by Michelle Kranot & Uri Kranot
- At Home by François Raffenaud
- A Whole World for a Little World by Fabrice Bracq
- Blue Like the See by Yohann Zveig
- Event Horizon by Joséfa Celestin
- The Red Case by Loran Perrin
- Hear Me by Nicolas Coquet
- Forbidden Fruit by Marion Jhöaner
- Dinner by Nathalia Konchalovsky
- Household Pets by Jean Lecointre
UniFrance has a long-standing commitment to promoting French short films around the world, through a range of initiatives: promotional funding schemes, travel assistance enabling numerous directors to present their films at international film festivals, providing support to distributors, defending and raising the profile of French films with foreign festival programmers, distributors, and broadcasters, developing digital promotional tools such as the Short Film Gallery, and the organization of special short film events for audiences across the globe.
