“Like the Ones I Used to Know,” “Your Street,” and “Homebird” all win their first qualifying awards
Media Contact: Jessica Chapman
Email: jchapman@heartlandfilm.org
Phone: 317-750-3902
(JULY 23, 2021) INDIANAPOLIS – The 2021 Indy Shorts International Film presented by Heartland Film (Indy Shorts) has announced its list of award winners and more than $31,000 in cash prizes via its virtual Awards Show this evening. The Festival’s three Grand Prize-winning films are all directed by women and have each earned their first Academy Awards®-qualifying honor. “Like the Ones I Used to Know” (Annie St. Pierre, Canada), “Your Street” (Güzin Kar, Switzerland) and “Homebird” (Ewa Smyk, UK) have all won their respective categories and $5,000 each.
“We are thrilled to qualify three amazing films for the first time out of Indy Shorts,” said Heartland Film Artistic Director Greg Sorvig. “Two of our winners are premiere titles: ‘Homebird’ is a world premiere student film from the National Film and Television School in the UK, and “Your Street” is a U.S. premiere after world premiering earlier this year at Berlinale. “Like the Ones I Used to Know” has had great success on the festival circuit, but Indy Shorts is proud to be the first Festival to qualify it for the 94th Academy Awards®. Congratulations to all the winners!”
Indy Shorts is one of only 34 festivals in the world to have earned the special designation of being a qualifying festival for the Annual Academy Awards® for all three Short Film categories: Live Action, Documentary, and Animation. Over the years, 29 films featured at Indy Shorts/HIFF have been nominated with eight going on to win Oscars®.
The Academy Award®-qualifying festival also featured a program that showcased six films by Breakwater Studios including 2021 Oscar® Nominated short, “A Concerto is a Conversation.” Indy Shorts was honored to present “A Concerto is a Conversation” by Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot with the Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award and $1,800 in cash prizes.
Indy Shorts is running now through Sunday, July 25. Festival attendees have been able to enjoy a Short escape into the wonderful world of short films with indoor, outdoor picnic-style and virtual screening options. All of the 201 short films showcased in the 33 themed programs are available to watch virtually at www.IndyShorts.org. This includes the Award Winners program which features all of this year’s award-winning shorts.
Grand Prize Winners & Academy Award® Qualifiers
Academy Award® Qualification | Live Action Short
Grand Prize for Narrative Short | $5,000 Cash Prize
“Like the Ones I Used to Know” by Annie St-Pierre (Canada)
Description: December 24, 1983, 10:50 p.m.; Julie and her cousins ate too much sugar, Santa Claus is late and Denis, alone in his car, is anxious at the idea of setting foot in his ex-in-law's house to pick up his children.
Annie St-Pierre's Reaction Video
“Like the Ones I Used to Know” has had a successful festival run including screenings at Sundance, Aspen ShortsFest, and SXSW, but Indy Shorts is the first festival to qualify Annie St-Pierre's film for the Academy Awards®.
Narrative Short Jury: Rachel Harrison-Gordon (2020 Indy Shorts Directorial Debut Award Winner), Farah Nabulsi (2021 Academy Award® Nominee), Anthony Nti (2020 Indy Shorts Grand Prize Winner, 2021 Academy Award® Shortlist), Doug Roland (2021 Academy Award® Nominee), Tomer Shushan (2021 Academy Award® Nominee)
Academy Award® Qualification | Documentary Short
Grand Prize for Documentary Short | $5,000 Cash Prize
“Your Street” by Güzin Kar (Switzerland)
Description: A street in the industrial area of a German city, faceless, unobtrusive, unfinished. Warehouses, construction sites and car washes dominate. But little by little, the grey present of the street is being charged with its past, which is linked to one of the most tragic episodes in the history of reunified Germany. Are public memorials collective remembrance or collective repression?
Güzin Kar Reaction Video
Indy Shorts is the U.S. Premiere of “Your Street,” the second festival screening after the film’s world premiere at Berlinale earlier this year.
Documentary Short Jury: Anders Hammer (2021 Academy Award® Nominee), Sami Khan (2019 Indy Shorts Grand Prize Winner/2020 Academy Award® Nominee), Kristen Lappas (2020 Indy Shorts Grand Prize Winner), Sheila Nevins (MTV Documentary Films), Carol Nguyen (2020 Indy Shorts Student Documentary Award Winner)
Academy Award® Qualification | Animated Short
Grand Prize for Animated Short | $5,000 Cash Prize
“Homebird” by Ewa Smyk (U.K.)
Description: Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.
Ewa Smyk's Reaction Video
Indy Shorts is the world premiere of “Homebird,” and Ewa Smyk is a student filmmaker from the National Film and Television School in the U.K.
Animated Short Jury: Jon Gann, Michael Govier (2021 Academy Award® Winner), Dean Hamer (2021 Academy Award® Shortlist), Helena Hilario (2020 Indy Shorts Audience Choice Award Winner), Sophie Tavert Macian (2020 Indy Shorts Grand Prize Winner/2021 Academy Award® Shortlist)
Full List of 2021 Indy Shorts International Film Festival Award Winners:
Academy Award® Qualification | Live Action Short
Grand Prize for Narrative Short
$5,000 Cash Prize
“Like the Ones I Used to Know” by Annie St-Pierre (Canada)
Academy Award® Qualification | Documentary Short
Grand Prize for Documentary Short
$5,000 Cash Prize
“Your Street” by Güzin Kar (Switzerland)
Academy Award® Qualification | Animated Short
Grand Prize for Animated Short
$5,000 Cash Prize
“Homebird” by Ewa Smyk (U.K.)
Indiana Spotlight Award
$1,500 Cash Prize
“Cutters” by Matt Dillman (U.S.)
Comedy Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“Close Ties to Home Country” by Akanksha Cruczynski (U.S.)
Heartland Horror Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“The Thing That Ate the Birds” by Sophie Mair, Dan Gitsham (England)
Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award
$1,800 Cash Prize
“A Concerto is a Conversation” by Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot (U.S.)
Summer White Lynch Memorial Award - High School Film Competition Grand Prize
$2,000 Cash Prize
“Sophie and Jacob” by Max Shoham (Etobicoke School of the Arts, Toronto, Canada)
Directorial Debut Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“Bruiser” by Miles Warren (U.S.)
Narrative Student Short Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“Plaisir” by Molly Gillis (New York University, New York, U.S.)
Documentary Student Short Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“Seahorse” by Nele Dehnenkamp (The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany)
Animated Student Short Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“Love is Just a Death Away” by Bára Anna Stejskalová (FAMU, Czech Republic)
Indiana Spotlight Student Short Award
$1,000 Cash Prize
“MTXE: Mental Toughness Xtra Effort” by Emmanuel Terrell (Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, U.S.)
High School Film Competition Narrative Winner
$500 Cash Prize
“Beth” by Ava Bounds (St. Peter’s School, Yorkshire, U.K.)
High School Film Competition Winner
$500 Cash Prize
“5 Years from Water” by Thao Nguyen (Blair Academy, Blairstown, New Jersey, U.S.)
High School Film Competition Animated Winner
$500 Cash Prize
“Sophie and Jacob” by Max Shoham (Etobicoke School of the Arts, Toronto, Canada)
High School Film Competition Indiana Winner
$500 Cash Prize
“No Human Being is Illegal” by Samuel Villagra-Stanton (John Adams High School, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.)
Audience Choice Award Winners
$250 Cash Prize
The 2021 Audience Choice Award Winners in categories of Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Horror, Indiana Spotlight and High School Film Competition will be announced on Monday, July 26.
“With more than 3,300 film submissions – the most in Indy Shorts history – it is a real testament to these award winners who caught the eye of our acclaimed jury members. Bravo to all the winning filmmakers. Heartland Film will be cheering for you all the way to an Oscar!” said Heartland Film President Craig Prater.
This year’s Indy Shorts features 201 feature films with 23 World and 18 U.S. Premieres. All of the 33 themed programs can be viewed virtually until Sunday, July 25, at midnight EDT at www.IndyShorts.org.
About Heartland Film, Inc.
Heartland Film is a nonprofit arts organization that runs the 11-day Heartland International Film Festival in October, the Academy Award®-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival in July, the Truly Moving Picture Award and other year-round programs. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Heartland Film was founded in 1991 with the mission to curate, promote and celebrate thoughtful and engaging films from diverse perspectives. Over the years, Heartland Film has presented $3.5 million in cash prize – the largest total amount awarded by any film festival in North America – presented 200+ studio films with the Truly Moving Picture Award, and showcased more than 1,800 feature and short films, including seven Oscar®-winning titles. The 30th Anniversary of the Heartland International Film Festival is running October 7-17, 2021. For more information, visit HeartlandFilm.org.
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