AWARD WINNERS 2022
BEST FILM AWARD 2022: RUTHLESS / MATTHEW MCGUIGAN
BEST ANIMATED FILM AWARD 2022: THE AWAKENING OF THE INSECTS / STEPHANIE LANSAQUE & FRANCOIS LEROY
BEST SCOTTISH SHORT FILM AWARD 2022: TOO ROUGH / SEAN LIONADH
*JURY SPECIAL MENTION: GO HOME / RAZAN MADHOON
AWARDS 2023
We’re offering a clutch of new awards and prizes for film-makers from the films selected for exhibition at our 2023 edition including cash prizes, industry opportunities, trophies, film festival invitations and one of our rather lovely trophies in association with our partners for 2023:Puppet Animation Scotland
BEST FILM AWARD
To be awarded to the director of the overall best film exhibited at the 2023 Edinburgh Short Film Festival.
Eligibility: Any director(s) will be eligible from the films selected for exhibition at the 2023 Edinburgh Short Film Festival.
Prizes: £400 Cash award, film festival invitations, inclusion on curated programmes for our film festival partnerships and the Best Film trophy.
Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you’ll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film. Winners will also receive a free funding session with Greenlit – UK-based crowdfunding site designed specifically for creatives working in film, music or theatre to successfully find backing for their projects.
Judges: The winner will be selected by guest judges from international film festivals.
BEST ANIMATED FILM AWARD
To be awarded to the director(s) of the best animated film selected for exhibition at the 2023 Edinburgh Short Film Festival.
The award will aim to recognise and celebrate significant creative and technical innovation and control.
Eligibility: Any director(s) of an animated short film selected for exhibition at the 2023 Edinburgh Short Film Festival will be eligible.
Prizes: £250 Cash Prize, film festival invitations, invitation to attend the manipulate visual theatre and animation festival, inclusion on curated programmes for our film festival partnerships and the Best Film trophy.
Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you’ll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film. Winners will also receive a free funding session with Greenlit – UK-based crowdfunding site designed specifically for creatives working in film, music or theatre to successfully find backing for their projects.
Judges: The winner will be selected by a panel of industry judges headed by Simon Hart, director of Puppet Animation Scotland.
BEST SCOTTISH SHORT FILM AWARD
To be awarded to the director of the overall best film produced and shot in Scotland, exhibited at the 2023 Edinburgh Short Film Festival.
Eligibility: Any director(s) will be eligible from the films selected for exhibition at the 2022 Edinburgh Short Film Festival, whose film was produced and shot in Scotland,
Prize: £200 Cash award, international film festival showcase invitations, inclusion on curated programmes for our festival partnerships and the Best Film trophy. Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you’ll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film. Winners will also receive a free funding session with Greenlit – UK-based crowdfunding site designed specifically for creatives working in film, music or theatre to successfully find backing for their projects.
Judges: The winner will be selected by the ESFF Festival selection committee by secret ballot, as well as film festival jury members from our international partnerships.
2022 JURY PANEL
Amanda Rogers
Filmmaker & Creative Producer
Amanda Rogers, Filmmaker and Creative Producer, has been a documentary filmmaker, creative producer, videographer, and editor for over a decade. She has worked on documentary films and creative projects with organisations such as Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Scottish Council on Archives, and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay. In 2020, Amanda created ‘Cinescapes’, an outdoor touring film festival and is the founder of Cinetopia, a radio show/podcast as well networking events for local industry professionals and is currently building a virtual hub for the local film community, Cinetopia Connect, as part of the Creative Informatics Resident Entrepreneur programme.
Aidan Stanley
Producer, Former Chair Fastnet Film Festival
Aidan Stanley is the former chair of the Fastnet Film Festival and producer of feature documentaries including ‘Why Is There Something Instead of Nothing’ and a founder member of the Triskel Arts Centre. He was the award-winning producer of Enda Walsh’s ‘Four Big Days in the Life of Dessie Banks’, featuring Cillian Murphy in 2001.
Jamie Robson
Actor
Jamie Robson is an award winning Scottish actor and the ESFF patron. His work spans an eclectic range of projects, collaborating with prominent figures including Cannes winner Charlotte Wells, BAFTA winner Tim Courtney and Oscar nominee Robbie Ryan. Robson’s performances have drawn praise from renowned filmmakers such as Mark Cousins and Aki Kaurismäki. His reputation for quality over quantity has gained respect from creative peers. Jamie is accredited with helping spearhead the ‘British Weird Wave’.
Alexa Rodrigues
Co-Founder/Co-Director, Shortcutz Amsterdam
Alexa Rodrigues is the co-founder of Shortcutz Amsterdam, a platform for emerging Dutch film talents. Through Shortcutz, filmmakers can showcase their work, engage with an audience at a national and international level and connect with other professionals in the industry.
Dawn Taylor
Artistic Director of Puppet Animation Scotland
Formerly the producer for the You Are Here programme at Edinburgh International Festival, Dawn has extensive experience and expertise in artistic development, festival programming and management, cross-sector collaboration and socially engaged work. As one of Scotland’s
leading younger cultural leaders, Dawn has worked on a wide range of large and complex projects with leading organisations – the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the National Theatre of Scotland, Imaginate, the Almeida Theatre and Roundhouse..
Roozebeh Misaghi
Filmmaker / Film Programmer
Roozbeh is an Iranian Filmmaker / Film Programmer based in London. He’s been working as film programmer for different TV Channels and Festivals specialised with underground cinema in the middle east. He is also launching a new platform called “Curated Shorts”.
Rebecca Selby-Heard
Programmer/Screenwriter
Rebecca is an emerging queer screenwriter and festival programmer based in Edinburgh. After graduating from her Masters in Film, Exhibition and Curation at the University of Edinburgh she has gone on to collaborate with multiple film festivals including the Edinburgh International Film Festival. As the newly appointed Head Programmer for Edinburgh Short Film Festival she is currently working towards co-curating this year’s programme.
Fabiana Pernisco
Documentary Filmmaker/Festival Events Co-Ordinator
Fabiana has a degree in Communication and Performing Arts in Pisa and a Master’s degree in Visual Art and Multimedia in Valencia and has worked for festivals across Europe. After living in London she moved to Edinburgh where she continues to produce short documentary film, film essays and video art.
Melanie Toutakova
Filmmaker/Screenwriter
Melanie is an Edinburgh-based French-Russian feminist filmmaker and writer. She has created the Feminist Film Gaze blog to examine and critique
today’s film culture through a modern feminist lens. She is currently working on her next project ‘(You Went To) Inverleith Park’ – an immersive feminist short film where she explores the gender dynamics and what it takes for women to free themselves from the ‘damsel in distress’ trope.
Ciara Roe
Programmer/Writer
During her undergraduate degree in Film and Media at the University of Stirling, Ciara won the Research Based Learning Prize,
as well as the BBC Scotland Best Radio Drama award. She went on to complete a masters degree in Film, Exhibition and Curation at the University of Edinburgh. Since then, she has collaboratively curated a photographic exhibition in St. Andrews, on the theme of social, economic and political stagnation, and is currently collaborating on a forthcoming exhibition on heroin use in post-industrial Scotland.
Ewan McCorry
Film Programmer
Ewan works with the Grassmarket Community Project in its Community Picture House as a programmer and coordinator, as well as developing a regular film discussion group for members during the pandemic.
Inktip Where everyone goes for scripts and writers.
Greenlit work exclusively with creatives (filmmakers, theatremakers, musicians) and their mission is to connect artists with their audiences and raise the funds that will enable them to build the foundation for a sustainable career.