Best short
ANNA
Directed by Dekel Berenson
Living in war-torn Eastern Ukraine, Anna is an aging single mother who is desperate for a change. Lured by a radio advertisement, she goes to party with a group of American men who are touring the country, searching for love.
Best feature
THE DARKEST SORROWS
Directed by Brandon Gotto
Following a family tragedy, Iris and her father move to the countryside in their old holiday home.
Their mourning will quickly lead them to bitterness and violence between father and daughter...
best documentary
THE NORMANS
Directed by Maurice Micallef
Ferocious and devout.
And victorious colonizers.
The Normans with their unbridled desire for power and Christian fervor used every weapon in their arsenal to reshape Northern France, the British Isles, Southern Italy and Sicily as far as the Holy Land.
They were powerful rulers and state builders
Their legacy, is unmistakably still evident.
Best experimental
INTO THE ABYSS
Directed by Waleed Sokkar
A visual expression film about mental health. It takes a look at the turbulent mind of a mentally depressed young man on the verge of committing suicide and the endless struggles he has trying to find peace within himself while living in a world that has lost track of what's important. But Is there any hope left for him?
Best SCI-FI
The Conspiracy of Dark Falls
Directed by Flynn Moores
There are many small towns and villages hidden in the mountains but only one hides a very dark secret. Nicholas Thorn is about to discover why people who ask too many questions in the town of Dark Falls don't stick around to find out the answers. Together with Agent Alex Fletcher the two embark on a mysterious journey to unravel the conspiracy that has taken over this town since the late eighties, but what they don't know is how deep the events of 1987 really go.
Best DEBUT FEATURE
DEATH BY WATER (JALASAMADHI)
Directed by VENU NAIR
Jalasamadhi deals with a disturbing issue plaguing the contemporary society - treatment of the 'unwanted elders'. It seems that in certain areas of the Kerala-Tamilnadu border (south India) there is still a practice of eliminating such elders as a secret ‘ritual’. Jalasamadhi opens with the murder of Muthu, a friend of Muniswami the protagonist, to protect his son’s vested interest in getting his father’s job in the pretext of this age-old ‘ritual’ or killing.
Best DEBUT DOCUMENTARY
RANGER
Directed by Michael Winfield
A documentary about the population management challenges on a private game reserve in South Africa.
Best student
MUSYA
Directed by Maria Markina
Students from a Russian school in Toronto re-enact life stories of Maria Blagoveshchensky, a living witness to Stalin’s Reign of Terror for whom “life under the Soviets was worse than under the Germans during the war”. When the truth about millions of violently repressed prisoners of war comes out, their pride in the Soviet military triumph in WWII gets shaken.
