The international short film and animation festival PÖFF Shorts has announced the winners of its 2021 edition.
The winner of the Best Live Action Short "Sunrise in My Mind" (dir. Danech San, Cambodia 2020) is now joining the list of films eligible for the short film Academy Award nomination.
The PÖFF Shorts European Film Academy candidate for the Best Short Film and the Rebels With A Cause winner will be announced on Saturday, November 27 at the Black Nights Film Festival closing ceremony.
Presented by: High Voltage
Jury: Jozsef Fülöp, Carla Vulpiani, Aleksander Tsapov
BEST SHORT FILM
"The King" (Estonia, 2021)
Director: Teresa Juksaar
Jury Commentary: "The King is beautifully crafted movie about existence and temporality. Sandy, humorous and with strong touch of absurd, it creates its own dreamy vortex of repetitions and time-spaces. "Welcome to the esto-magical-realism," the director seems to whisper. "
JURY MENTION
"A Most Exquisite Man" (Estonia, 2021)
Director: Jonas Taul
Jury Commentary: "For the calmly and peacefully lead inside a major topic such as the purpose of life, opposed to its external appearances, and for the exquisite visual treatment, masterfully executed in animation."
"The King" by Teresa Juksaar.
Jury: Paul Mas, Sabīne Andersone, Helen Unt
BEST SHORT ANIMATION
Award 1000€ presented by Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF)
"Bestia" (Chile, 2021)
Director: Hugo Covarrubias
Jury Commentary: "With the help of elegant animation, a beautifully designed set and cleverly meaningful use of the material for the puppet, the author throws the spectator into the chilling world of the main character, revealing the horror of the murderous regime from an unexpected angle of a perpetrator."
JURY MENTION
"Night Bus" (France, 2020)
Director: Joe Hsieh
Jury Commentary: "The night bus drives us deeply into the passions and dark sides of human nature. The impressive graphical style, sound design and the tension leaves a long lasting aftertaste."
BEST CHILDREN'S ANIMATION
"Vanille" (France/Switzerland, 2020)
Director: Guillaume Lorin
Jury Commentary: "An original story with fantastic elements brings us on a journey of discovering a girl’s native roots. This film uses the possibilities that animation has to cleverly approach its topic."
CHILDREN'S ANIMATION JURY MENTION
"Landing" (Finland, 2021)
Director: Kaisa Penttilä
Jury Commentary: "A film that is both original and disturbing, using stop motion-animation in a clever and efficient way to tackle a currently important topic. Are we really happy to be locked up as the people in the film?!"
"Bestia" by Hugo Covarrubias.
BEST STUDENT SHORT ANIMATION - NEW TALENTS: ANIMATION
Presented by: Estonian Academy of Arts
"Love, Dad" (Czechia/Slovakia, 2020)
Director: Diana Cam Van Nguyen
Jury Commentary: "Bravely experimenting with different unexpected techniques, the young author tells her personal painful story. The result once again proves that an artwork can be healing."
NEW TALENTS: ANIMATION JURY MENTION
"Coffin" (France, 2020)
Directors: Yuanqing CAI, Nathan CRABOT, Houzhi HUANG, Mikolaj JANIW, Mandimby LEBON, Théo TRAN NGOC
Jury Commentary: "By masterfully using their skills of directing, the authors allow the spectator to enter the troubled mind of a man trying to fall asleep in a noisy environment. The film in a concise way spotlights one the most challenging problems of the modern world - the social inequality."
Jury: Hossein Eidizadeh, Sushma Khadepaun, Tiina Savi
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Award 1000€ presented by PÖFF
"Sunrise in My Mind” (Cambodia, 2020)
Director: Danech San
Jury Commentary: “We were touched with this simple love story transforming into a layered romantic comedy with spices of fantasy and aesthetic choices. The director manages to tell a very familiar story with meticulous attention to details."
JURY MENTION
"The Colonel Cries for The Red-Haired Woman" (Hungary, 2020)
Director: Gergő V. Nagy
Jury Commentary: "Through the norms of a genre, the director manages to recall memories of a long-lost love. In a peculiar and unpredictable way, they remind us to seize the moment, especially when dealing with love."
"Sunrise in My Mind" directed by Danech San.
BEST STUDENT SHORT FILM - NEW TALENTS: LIVE ACTION
Presented by TLÜ Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communications School
"Thinking About The Weather” (United Kingdom, 2020)
Director: Garðar Þór Þorkelsson
Jury Commentary: “For its original directorial vision and boldly confident approach. We are inspired by the charming, humorous and poetic way the film is documenting the environmental crisis that is part of our everyday lives. We support Gardar with great enthusiasm and are looking forward to his future works."
NEW TALENTS: LIVE-ACTION JURY MENTION
“Vyraj” (Poland, 2020)
Director: Agnieszka Nowosielska
Jury Commentary: “A mysterious biblical story with magic running through all its veins. The jury found the film professional, poignant, engaging and mesmerizing."
The short film and animation festival PÖFF Shorts runs until November 26th. A selection of the winning films can be seen on