Lions by Beru Tessema received both the Grand Prize and the Be TV Prize of the 21st edition of the Unifrance Short Film Awards, presented on May 25, 2023 at the Unifrance Terrace during the Cannes Film Festival.
The Unifrance Short Film Prize arose from our desire to help festivals, broadcasters, and audiences around the world discover the rich palette of French short film production. Over the years, the Unifrance Short Film Awards have established a strong foothold that today gives them a legitimacy recognized well beyond our borders.
Unifrance has always shown its support and attachment to the short film format, to new generation filmmakers, and to emerging talents - filmmakers and producers alike - with an aim to make filmmakers' works known to the greatest number of people, and to offer them a tenfold visibility.
The 2023 selection comprised 26 titles, including 10 debut works, directed by 14 women and 15 men, in an astonishing diversity of styles and worlds. 26 films, 10 of which are the result of co-productions with Belgium, the USA, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
The winners of the 21st Unifrance Short Film Awards were announced yesterday by Daniela Elstner during the 76th Cannes Film Festival, following the deliberations of the jury which met on May 5 at Unifrance's offices in Paris.
The Jury:
- Guadalupe Arensburg Caellas – Movistar+ (Spain)
- Bénédicte Bourgois – RTBF (Belgium)
- Lola Cambourieu – Co-director of the Unifrance Grand Prix Unifrance 2022 (Bachelorette Party)
- Patrice Carré – Le Film Français
- Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy – Le Grand Action
- Sani Elhadj Magori – Centre national de la cinématographie (Niger)
- Anna Mitéran – Institut français de Prague (Czech Republic)
- Gilles Reunis – Be TV (Belgium)
- Hasan Ugur – Tübingen | Stuttgart International French-language Film Festival (Germany)
The awards
Grand Prize
- Lions by Beru Tessema
Production co.: KG Productions – Saturday Films (United Kingdom) – Préludes
Special Jury Prize
- Here Ends the World We've Known by Anne-Sophie Nanki
Production co.: Vertical Production – Black Moon Films
Grand Action Prize
- Concrete Heart by Enrika Panero
Production co: Takami Productions
Best Actress Prize
- Lou Deleuze in Sweet Tooth by Joséphine Darcy Hopkins
Production co.: To Be Continued (TBC) – Need Productions (Belgium) – Le Lapin Blanc Production
Best Actor Prize
- Théo Augier in Roadtripper by Christophe Granger
Production co.: Haïku Films
Broadcasters' Prizes
Be TV Prize (Belgium):
- Lions, de Beru Tessema
Production co.: KG Productions – Saturday Films (United Kingdom) – Préludes
Movistar+ Prize (Spain):
- Ghosts by (LA) HORDE : BRUTTI/DEBROUWER/HAREL
Production co.: Ballet national de Marseille – MJZ (USA) – Henry – Toni Films
RTBF Prize (Belgium) :
- Sweet Tooth by Joséphine Darcy Hopkins
Production co.: To Be Continued (TBC) – Need Productions (Belgium) – Le Lapin Blanc Production
Jury Special Mentions
- Salvation Has No Name by Joseph Wallace
Production co.: Delaval Film (United Kingdom) – Autour de Minuit – Animation People (Czech Republic) - The Purple Season by Clémence Bouchereau
Production co.: Bandini Films – ARTE France
Distributor Prize
This award ceremony is also an opportunity to recognize the international distribution work of a distributor. Unifrance and La Fête du court métrage are keen to support the artistic approach of a distribution structure, both in the way it promotes works within the network of foreign festivals, and in the way it reinforces their exposure in commercial circuits. For its excellent export results, Unifrance and La Fête du court métrage awarded the 2023 Distributor Prize to Autour de Minuit.
Unifrance would like to warmly thank its partners for their unwavering support and commitment to a genre like no other, with a vitality and uniqueness unmatched in France.
Historically present at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the undisputed cradle of short film, Unifrance has always been able to rely on this world-class event to keep its finger on the pulse of French creation and spot the works most likely to seduce the international market. Hence, over the decades, we've built up a strong relationship of trust, and worked hand in hand to promote French short films in all their facets, beyond our borders.
This is why, at a time when this festival is facing challenges, Unifrance would like to express its full solidarity with the teams at Clermont-Ferrand, who each year carry out work that is more than indispensable to discovering and revealing the best of these works and bringing them to all audiences; indispensable to carrying forward the noble ambition that we accord to culture in France and in Europe; indispensable to keeping alive our democratic ideal, of which cultural diversity is one of the major foundations.
Partners:
TitraFilm – Grand Action – Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival – shortfilmdepot – Courant3D – La Fête du court métrage, and Bref Cinéma.
TitraFilm – Cinéma Grand Action – Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand – Shortfilmdepot – Sauve qui peut le court métrage – Courant3D – Bref Cinema
Our warm thanks also go to Bastien Dubois, for the visuals that illustrate this 21st edition of the Unifrance Short Film Awards.
Media Gallery
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