Bachelorette Party by Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier received the Grand Prize of the 20th edition of the Unifrance Short Film Awards, announced on May 26, 2022 on the Unifrance Terrace at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Unifrance Short Film Awards were conceived twenty years ago in Cannes out of Unifrance's desire to introduce professionals, festivals, and buyers from all over the world to a vast array of French short film productions. Over the course of two decades, the Unifrance Short Film Awards have become established and won over those who are passionate about a format that is a noble and necessary cinematographic art form, rich in promise.
Unifrance has always shown its support and attachment to the short film format, to new generation filmmakers, and to emerging talents, with an aim to make filmmakers' works known to the greatest number of people, and to offer them a tenfold visibility.
The 2022 selection comprised 22 titles, six of which were debut films, by 15 female directors and 12 male directors, in a diversity of styles, tones, and themes which captured the attention of the jury who came together in Paris on May 2 for this anniversary edition.
- Guadalupe Arensburg Caellas – Movistar Plus+ (Spain)
- Bénédicte Bourgois – RTBF (Belgium)
- Caroline Brami – Director – Associate professor of arts
- Caroline Cherrier – Director
- Frédéric Corvez – Exporter – Urbain Sales
- Michelle Couttolenc – Sound engineer (Mexico) – 2021 Oscar for Best Sound for Sound of Metal
- Francis Gavelle – Fillm critic – Coordinator of the André Martin Award
- Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy – Director of Le Grand Action movie theater
- Jacques Kermabon – Editor in chief of Blink Blank magazine
- Jonathan Koulavsky – Director and winner of the Unifrance Grand Prize 2021 for Solarium
- Gilles Reunis – Be TV (Belgium)
- Hasan Ugur – Tübingen-Stuttgart Film Festival (Germany)
After an intense day of screenings, the jury announced the awards that we were proud to reveal during the 75th Cannes Film Festival, in the presence of Daniela Elstner (Executive Director) – Axel Scoffier (General Secretaryl) – Anaïs Bertrand (President of the Short Film Commission) – Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy, Frédéric Corvez, Jacques Kermabon, and Hasan Ugur (members of the Jury).
The awards
Grand Prize
Bachelorette Party by Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier
Producer: Alta Rocca Films – Réalviscéralisme
Listen to the interview with the two winners below
Special Jury Prize
Expecting by Alice Douard
Producer: Les Films de June
Grand Action Prize
Freedom Swimmer by Olivia Martin-McGuire
Producer: Sacrebleu Productions– ARTE France – No Thing Productions
Best Actress Prize
Laurence Côte in Breackpoint by Nicolas Panay
Producer: Les Films Norfolk – Bagan Films
Best Actor Prize
Idir Azougli in All the Pretty Little Horses by Vincent Tricon
Producer: Barney Production
Exhibitors' Prizes
- Be TV Prize (Belgium): Expecting by Alice Douard – Producer: Les Films de June
- Movistar+ Prize (Spain): Seniors 3000 by Julien David – Producer: Melting Productions – EJT-labo
- RTBF Prize (Belgium): Breackpoint by Nicolas Panay – Producer: Les Films Norfolk – Bagan Films
Jury Special Mentions
- Skinned by Joachim Hérissé – Producer: Komadoli studio
- Little Smasher by Gilles Cuvelier – Producer: Papy3D Productions – Pictanovo – ARTE France
This award ceremony is also an opportunity to recognize the international distribution work of a distributor. In their common desire to promote French productions internationally, to enhance the value of the short film format, and to highlight new generation talent, Unifrance and La Fête du court métrage joined forces for the fourth consecutive year to accompany and support the work of a distribution company, not only for the way it promotes its works at foreign film festivals, but also for its efforts to increase the visibility of these works in commercial circuits. For its excellent export results, Unifrance and La Fête du court métrage awarded the 2022 Distributor Prize to Salaud Morisset.
Unifrance wishes to express our particular thanks to our partners for their loyal support:
TitraFilm – Grand Action – shortfilmdepot – Courant3D – La Fête du court métrage
Our warm thanks also go to Caroline Cherrier, for the visuals that illustrates this 20th edition of the Unifrance Short Film Awards.
