We present the list of winners of the 65th Melbourne International Film Festival that took place from July 28th – August 14th in Melbourne, Australia.

City of Melbourne Grand Prix – Best Short Film

Mrs. Metro by Aggelos Papantoniou – Australia | 2016 – 4 min.

Nobody likes a crying baby on board a train, least of all the lady who makes the announcements.

Jury Statement: In just over four minutes Aggelos Papantoniou elicits a wide range of feelings and reactions. He makes us laugh, shocks us, and leaves us breathless with the thrilling inventiveness and creativity of Mrs. Metro. We’ve all taken public transport and can instantly recognise the characters on screen, but they’re made larger – or smaller – than real life with skewed angles and distorted bodies. An outstanding film that marks Papantoniou as an exciting new voice in Australian animation.

Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award – Best Australian Short Film

Trespass by Mirrah Foulkes – Australia | 2016 – 12 min.

A woman walking her dog alone in the bush has a strange encounter.

Jury Statement: Trespass is a superb example of the power of cinema to examine the strange motivations of human character. The performances are evocative and authentic – without any exposition the viewer creates their own story around both characters. Mirrah Foulkes has made a beautiful and moving film that resonates deeply, one that seamlessly combines moments of levity and darkness with maturity and elegance. Watching Trespass is a deceptively emotional experience.

Swinburne Award – Emerging Australian Filmmaker

Luci Schroder for the film Slapper – Australia | 2016 – 15 min.

Taylah is broke, angry and on a mission to get an urgently needed morning-after pill.

Jury Statement: Slapper is a film of high ambition and confident execution. Luci Schroder has deftly created a visually striking story of the everyday battles of a young working-class woman, but its real brilliance lies in the twists and turns of human interaction. Slapper leaves you gasping in shock. Schroder is clearly a filmmaker with a shrewd understanding of character and story. It is the mark of a real talent to surprise and move an audience as this film does.

Cinema Nova Award – Best Fiction Short Film

In the year of monkey by Wregas Bhanuteja – Indonesia | 2016 – 12 min.

A woman who urgently needs to raise money presents her co-worker with an unconventional proposition.

Jury Statement: In The Year of Monkey explores power, poverty and colonisation through the simple plot device of a sexual game played for high stakes. It is to be commended on its superb casting of native Indonesian faces, its disturbing but always on point display of nudity, and its carefully crafted mix of tension and humour, all culminating in an unexpected and powerful ending. This is a deceptively simple yet brilliant plotted film that remains in the memory long after viewing.

SAE Award – Best Animation Short Film

Deer Flower by Kangmin Kim – US, South Korea | 2016 – 8 min.

A boy’s parents bring him to a deer farm, hoping to give him a treatment that will strengthen his body.

Jury Statement: A rite of passage like no other, Kangmin Kim’s beautiful design and stop-motion animation marries perfectly with intricate sound design and music delivering a hypnotic tale of a family’s trip to boost the health of their son. With the young boy as our point of view, we are as uncertain and trepidatious as he is of the destination, but with the intrepid and assured hand of Kim we are taken on a bold cinematic journey of the senses.

RMIT University – Best Documentary Short Film

Fairy Tales by Rongfei Guo – China, US | 2015 – 29 min.

After sharing her clothing designs on social media, working-class country girl Fairy Wang becomes an internet sensation. She soon discovers that fame isn’t always a good thing.

Jury Statement: Fairy Tales deals with media and the fashion industry’s commodification of that rarest of talents – a true original working in isolation, producing outsider art. Yet it does this with great nuance, depth and genuine heart; and without being didactic or saccharine. While the narrative impetus of the film is character-driven (focusing on the charming ‘Fairy’) it also encompasses wider issues of class, culture, race, gender, the role of social media and the value of creativity in a contemporary society driven by market values.

Melbourne International Film Festival Award – Best Experimental Short Film

Nightlife by Cyprien Gaillard – Germany, US | 2015 – 15 min.

Multidisciplinary artist Cyprien Gaillard blends Cleveland, Los Angeles and Berlin to create a 3D nocturnal wonderland of wild winds and exploding fireworks.

Jury Statement: Illuminating, hypnotising and electrifying, Nightlife sticks in the brain for days. The stunning visuals brilliantly evolve before our eyes, transforming from the everyday to the alien and back again and the filmmaker demonstrates an impeccable understanding of sonic and visual craft as they seamlessly bring the viewer to see the world through fresh eyes. Nightlife is the unforgettable realisation of the extraordinary ordinariness of ‘still’ life around us.

To know more about the festival you can see the FESTIVAL PROFILE or visit the official website HERE.