The film selection for the UniFrance Short Film Awards is eagerly awaited every year, and the 2021 edition of the event once again brings its share of surprises and out-of-the-ordinary cinematic journeys. We have high hopes that these titles will achieve success at upcoming international film festival, following in the footsteps of Genius Loci by Adrien Merigeau (a recent nominee at the Oscars 2021 in the Best Animated Short Film category and winner of the 2020 UniFrance Grand Prize), which has enjoyed an outstanding international career.
The 2021 lineup comprises 26 titles (including 6 debut films), with works by 16 male directors and 17 women directors, 12 fictions, 9 animations, 2 experimental films, and 3 multi-genre films—representing as many short stories that bear witness to the talent and inventiveness of new generation French filmmakers and confirm the vibrant dynamism of the sector at this time.
In addition to the Official Jury, we have decided to renew last year's rewarding experience by once again organizing a Jury of Young Foreign Industry Professionals this year. We would like to express our thanks to our international contacts who assisted us in appointing the jury members. This jury will give 18 up-and-coming industry professionals under the age of thirty the chance to enjoy an exceptional shared experience in which they will be able to present their views on the unique world of promising talents.
The winners of the awards attributed by these two juries will be announced early July, with the awards ceremony to be held July 15 on the Terrasse UniFrance at Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival.
The films selected
Program 1:
- Keep it Friendly by Martin Soudan – First film / Producer: Les Films du Hardi
- The Awakening of the Insects by Stéphanie Lansaque & François Leroy / Producer: offshore – Arte France
- Listen to the Beat of Our Images by Audrey Jean-Baptiste & Maxime Jean-Baptiste / Producer: Observatoire de l’Espace du CNES
- Magnetic Fields by Romain Daudet-Jahan / Producer: Films Grand Huit
- The Bath by Anissa Daoud / Producer: La Luna Productions – A.P.A - Artistes Producteurs Associés (Tunisia)
Program 2
- Mondo Domino by Suki / Producer: UTOPI – Arte France
- The Nightwalk by Adriano Valerio / Producer: Films Grand Huit – Sayonara Film (Italy)
- Our Own Land by Simon Helloco / Producer: Mood Films Production
- What Resonates in Silence by Marine Blin / Producer: Papy3D Productions – Pictanovo
- Free Fall by Emmanuel Tenenbaum / Producer: Bien ou Bien Productions
- Chin Up by Adrian Moyse Dullin – First film / Producer: Punchline Cinéma
Program 3:
- The Night Watch by Julien Regnard / Producer: Autour de Minuit – Squarefish (Belgium)
- Love Hurts by Elsa Rysto / Producer: Yggdrasil Pictures
- State of Elevation by Isabelle Prim / Producer: Observatoire de l’Espace du CNES
- Midwife Man by Juliette Denis – First film / Producer: Yukunkun Productions
- Horacio by Caroline Cherrier / Producer: Ikki Films – Innervision
Program 4:
- Solarium by Jonathan Koulavsky – First film / Producer: Marianne Productions
- The Hangman at Home by Michelle Kranot & Uri Kranot / Producer: Late Love Production (Denmark) – Miyu Productions – Floréal – ONF - Office National du Film du Canada (Canada)
- Hum Drum by Patrick Bokanowski / Producer: Kira BM Films
- Naughty by Flora Molinié & Emma Degoutte / Producer: Easy Tiger
- The World Within by Sandrine Stoïanov & Jean-Charles Finck / Producer: Caïmans Productions – ARTE France
Program 5:
- You’re Dead Helen by Michiel Blanchart / Producer: Formosa Productions – Daylight Films (Belgium)
- Jean by Marion Auvin / Producer: Doncvoilà Productions
- Journalist(s) by Caroline Proust & Étienne Saldés – First film / Producer: ZANDoLI
- Self Scratch by Chenghua Yang / Producer: Lardux Films
- Inspection by Caroline Brami & Frédéric Bas – Premier film / Producer: GoGoGo Films – de films en aiguille
Official Jury & Awards
- Guadalupe Arensburg Caellas – Movistar+ (Spain)
- Öktem Başol – Script advise (Turkey)
- Benoît Berthe Siward – The Animation Showcase (UK)
- Bénédicte Bourgois – RTBF (Belgium)
- Holger Carlsson – Program director (USA)
- Souleymane Cissé – Filmmaker (Mali)
- Alice Douard – Author – Director (France)
- Claude Duty – Filmmaker (France)
- Pascale Faure – Cinema consultant (France)
- Jean-Raymond Garcia – Writer – Filmmaker (France)
- Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy – Grand Action Cinéma (Paris)
- Hasan Ugur – Tübingen-Stuttgart Film Festival (Germany)
- Canelle Kieffer – Production manager (France)
- Adrien Merigeau – Filmmaker, winner of the 2020 UniFrance Grand Prize
- Angèle Paulino – TV5 Monde
- Regina Pessoa – Filmmaker– Illustrator (Portugal)
- Gilles Reunis – Be TV (Belgium)
- Jean-Marc Selva – Cinematographer (France)
Grand Prize (Sponsored by UniFrance – TITRAFILM – Courant 3D – Shortfilmdepot)
- UniFrance: €3,500 and membership in 2022 awarded to the production company; €2,000 and membership in 2022 awarded to the film's director
- TITRAFILM: €1,500 in technical services awarded to the production company to be used for an upcoming film
- Courant3D: Relief smartphone including the winning French 3D Short Film, awarded to the film's director
- Shortfilmdepot: 50 prepaid stamps for festival registrations awarded to the production company
Special Jury Prize (Sponsored by UniFrance – Courant3D – Shortfilmdepot)
- UniFrance: €1,500 and membership in 2022 awarded to the production company; €1,000 and membership in 2022 awarded to the film's director
- Courant3D: Relief smartphone including the winning French 3D Short Film, awarded to the film's director
- Shortfilmdepot: 50 prepaid stamps for festival registrations awarded to the production company
Grand Action Prize (Sponsored by UniFrance – Courant3D – Shortfilmdepot)
- Grand Action: screening of the film prior to a programmed feature film for the period of one week
- UniFrance: €500 and membership in 2022 awarded to the production company; €500 and membership in 2022 awarded to the film's director
- Courant3D: Relief smartphone including the winning French 3D Short Film, awarded to the film's director
- Shortfilmdepot:50 prepaid stamps for festival registrations awarded to the production company
Special Mentions (Sponsored by UniFrance)
- €300: awarded to each director awarded a Special Mention
TV Broadcasters' Prize
- The foreign television networks represented in the jury commit to acquire and broadcast one film from the selection.
Jury of Young Foreign Industry Professionals & Awards
- Mia Isabelle Carvalho-Brailsford (UK) Coordinator of the Edinburgh Film Festival
- Andreia De Sousa (Portugal) Assistant, Casa Museu de Vilar
- Giulia Delsanto (Italy) International Promotion, Italian Short Film Center
- Mansour Diallo (Senegal) Filmmaker – Producer at Circle Studio
- Léa Eigenmann (Switzerland) Programming assistant, Neuchâtel Film Festival
- Sajida Hamdi (Tunisia) Actor
- Éva Kabuya (Canada) Filmmaker
- Murat Kilinc (Turkey) Actor
- Emma Mitéran (Czech Republic) Student at the CVUT Prague
- Daria Mitiuk (Ukraine) Independent producer
- Simon Natowitz (Belgium) Assistant at Wallonie-Bruxelles Images
- Sao Mai Nguyen Ngoc (Vietnam) Filmmaker
- Lendis Shkalla (Albania) Filmmaker
- Julia Skala (Germany) Student at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
- Xenia Skvortsova (Russia) Student at the UCLA
- Moïse Togo (Mali) Filmmaker
- Marco Tulio Pires (Brazil) Producer at Utopie Films
- Shea Vassar (USA) Journalist – Film critic
Youth Jury Award (Sponsored by UniFrance)
- €1,000 awarded to the director of the winning film
UniFrance wishes to express our particular thanks to Regina Pessoa, member of the Official Jury, for the stunning illustration that has created the visual identity for this 19th edition of the event.
UniFrance also wishes to thank our loyal partners in the UniFrance Short Film Awards: Shortfilmdepot – Sauve qui peut le court métrage, Courant3D.
