2017 Fine Cut Winning Films
After a call for submissions in December 2016, over 3,000 shorts were received from 112 countries eligible for awards in the competition ranging from cutting-edge animation to the best in documentary cinema. All short films selected as finalists in the Fine Cut Film Festival will be included in a series of one-hour broadcast episodes on KCET.
Top films were judged by an industry expert panel that included Must See Movies host Pete Hammond, the International Documentary Association's Exec. Director Simon Kilmurry, "Bloodline" actress Linda Cardellini, former CAA partner and Arsenal founder John Ptak, "Project Greenlight" Producer Effie T. Brown, IndieWire reporter Steve Greene, Peruvian director Javier Fuentes-Leon and Academy Award® winning short filmmakers Corinne Marrinan and Chris Tashima.
The winning films are as follows:
STUDENT FILMMAKER AWARD
DOOR TO FREEDOM (TUR ZUR FREIHEIT)
2016, 20 min., Austria, Drama, Subtitles, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences
Writer/Director: Jeremias Bayerl
Logline: What if the deepest issue of the refugee crisis is packed into the moral of a bedtime story? A drama, in which a boy has to escape from war and overcome several barriers in order to reach his goal, a wooden door, his only chance to freedom. A paradox world that is truly sad, finally revealing a bizarre surprise.
VIEWERS CHOICE AWARD
THE OUTCAST
2015, 16:33 min., USA, Drama, Subtitles, Columbia College Chicago
Director: Bucher Almzain
Writer: J. Scott Sibley, Bucher Almzain
Logline: After escaping a war torn country, a young woman is now torn herself when her husband is denied entry into the U.S. Alone and with little money, she struggles to get him in before he is deported. Surrounded by a foreign culture, she must learn to quickly adapt while feeling like a true outcast.
EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARD
HIDE AND SEEK (GRAND HUIT)
2015, 23:48 min., Drama, Subtitles, France
Writer/Director: Camille Fleury
Logline: Alice is in the hospital. Here, she does not invite: she gets visitors.
THE JACK LARSON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STUDENT FILMMAKER AWARD
HUM
2015, 8:30 sec, USA, Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and MediaWriter/Director: Tom Teller
Writer/Director: Tom Teller
Logline: A solitary dish-washing robot living out his life in the back room of a restaurant is enlightened to the world that exists beyond his four walls when, with the help of a small friend, he breaks free of confinement to pursue his dream of exploration.
Funding for Fine Cut is generously provided by The Bridges/Larson Foundation
