The Unifrance Short Film Awards ceremony took place this Tuesday, May 20 on the Unifrance Terrace.
Vultures, by South African director Dian Weys, co-produced for France by Insolence Productions (Émilie Dubois and Anaïs Bertrand) was awarded the Unifrance Grand Prix 2025. The film is also in the short film competition at the Cannes Film Festival,
The film
In the minutes following a car accident, before the police arrive on the scene, a tow truck driver desperately tries to salvage the wrecked vehicle, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.
Co-production France – South Africa
French producer: Insolence Productions (Émilie Dubois – Anaïs Bertrand)
Foreign producer: Electronic Roof Films (Le Roux Fourie)
The context
South Africa has one of the highest road accident rates in the world. Tow truck drivers wait for accidents to happen so they can rush to the scene, tow the wrecks, and get paid by the insurance companies.
With over a third of the population unemployed and inflation rising, these drivers try to make ends meet in what has become a ruthless and territorial towing industry.
Ambitiously staged and perfectly controlled, in the style of a psychological thriller, Vultures raises the question of our relationship with others in a brutal, competitive world, and questions our responsibility towards those who suffer such precariousness.
The director
Dian Weys holds an MA in Film Studies with honors from the University of Cape Town and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). His first three short films have been screened at over a hundred international festivals, including Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs ShortFest, Message to Man (Saint Petersburg), Tampere, and Bilbao Zinebi.
Filmography
- Vultures (2025)
- Bergie (2022) – Tanit d’argent at the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage
- Plaashuis (Farmhouse) (2021)
- Versnel (Accelerate) (2017)
The 2025 selection (153 films received in pre-selection) included 23 titles (including 14 first works) by 15 female and 11 male directors, divided into four programs featuring fiction, animation, and documentary.
The selected films can be found here.
The jury
Violette Gitton – Unifrance Grand Prix 2024 (Changing Rooms)
Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy – Le Grand Action cinema
Matilda Tavelli – Animatou Festival (Switzerland)
Carla Vulpiani – Venice Film Festival (Italy)
Gilles Reunis – Be TV (Belgium)
All the awards
Daniela Elstner (Executive Director of Unifrance) and Gilles Pélisson (President of Unifrance) attended the ceremony and congratulate not only the winners, but also the filmmakers and producers who submitted their films. This year, Unifrance has created a new award to honor a first film steered professionally, in order to give a fresh boost to its support for emerging talent.
Grand Prix
- Co-production France – South Africa
- French producer: Insolence Productions (Émilie Dubois – Anaïs Bertrand)
- Foreing producer: Electronic Roof Films (Le Roux Fourie)
Special Jury Prize
A South Facing Window by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
- Co-production France – Mongolia
- French producer: Aurora Films (Katia Khazak – Charlotte Vincent)
- Foreign producer: Guru Media (Oyundari Khurelbaatar)
- Distributor: Shortcuts
Best First Film Award
A Time to Cherish by Fiorella Basdereff
- Producers: Topshot Films (Clément Bancel) – Les Films du Crabe (Eugénie Varela De Casa)
- Distributor: Manifest
Best Actor Award
Adèle Journeaux for her role in Whispers by Pauline Broulis and Zoé Labasse
- Producers: Kalpa Films (Tristan Bergé) – Avenue B Productions (Caroline Bonmarchand)
- Distributor: Fløw
Grand Action Award and Be TV Award (Belgium)
Gioia by Nixon Singa
- Producer: Caïmans Productions (Marie-Mars Prieur, Jérôme Barthélemy, Daniel Sauvage)
- Distributor: L'Agence du court métrage
Distributor Award
The Unifrance Short Film Awards ceremony is also an opportunity to pay tribute to a distributor's international distribution work.
Unifrance and La Fête du court métrage have joined forces for the seventh year running to promote French creation on the international scene, enhance the value of the short film format, and throw a spotlight on young talent. The aim is to highlight, accompany, and support the artistic approach of a distribution structure, both in the way it promotes works at festivals abroad, and in the way it increases their visibility in commercial circuits.
Following a call for entries, the jury, made up of Aurore Auguste, Film and Series Project Manager at the Institut français, Lucie Canistro, Head of Marketing and Short Film Acquisitions at Universciné, and Emmanuel Pisarra, Head of Acquisitions at mk2 films, announced the Distributor Award 2025: Manifest (Anaïs Colpin and Andréa Goncalves).
The jury's statement: “The jury salutes a masterful year for the organization, crowned by a short film Palme d'or at Cannes. The fruit of ten years' committed and consistent work.”
A Special Mention went to Fløw for “the singularity of Juliette Louchart's approach to running her company and her persipicacious vision of her profession. Ambitious choices which, in three years of existence, are already bearing fruit."
