Awards of the 26 International Film Schools Festival

On Friday, August 21, the 26 International Film Schools Festival (FIEC) —organized by the Uruguayan Film School (ECU) and Cinemateca Uruguaya— came to a close at Sala Zitarrosa. The closing ceremony saw awards and honorable mentions go to 18 short films from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, India, Mexico, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, the United States, Venezuela, and Uruguay.

The Festival’s professional jury —comprising Clarisa Navas (Argentina), Diego Fernández Pujol (Uruguay), and Marcus Vetter (Germany)— selected the following as the best short films in their respective categories: the animated film Our Walls, directed by Živa Divjak from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Czech Republic); the documentary Whispers Around a Womb, directed by Shivam Anand from the Film and Television Institute of India; and the fiction film Dad’s Not Home, directed by Jan Saczek from the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland).

Among the Latin American short films, the winner selected was Última vez, hace mucho tiempo (Last Seen, Long Time Ago), directed by Santiago Martín from Venezuela’s National Film School. As for the Uruguayan short films, the jury’s vote went to Las películas de mi pueblo (My hometown movies), a documentary directed by Fernando Bottari and Damián Mollajoli—students at the Catholic University of Uruguay—who received the Musitelli, La Mayor, and Don Obdulio awards.

The Professional Jury also awarded special mentions to the animated film Max, directed by Emilien Pichon (La Fémis, France); the non-fiction work Total Life Forever, directed by Mexican filmmaker Sebastián Molina Ruiz as part of a program at the LUCA School of Arts (Belgium); and the fiction films Under Her Skin, directed by Shihan Tan of the New York University (USA/China), and Furia (Rage), by Fran Moreno Blanco and Santi Pujol Amat (ESCAC, Spain).

In the Latin American section, a special mention was awarded to Abraços, João (Best regards, João) by Fernanda Méndez and Narella Correa, students at the Faculty of Arts of the University of the Republic (Uruguay). A special mention also went to the Uruguayan short film Ver el mar (Meet the sea), directed by Victoria de Souza from the Faculty of Information and Communication at the University of the Republic.

View the full report of the Professional Jury

The Student Jury —comprising Álvaro Bogliacino (UTU Audiovisual Technician Program), Julieta Charlone (ORT University), and Mauro Maquioli (Uruguayan Film School)— shared some points of agreement with the Professional Jury, but also had its differences. For Best Animation, they selected TV Entreaberta, directed by Mateus Compart from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil); for Best Non-Fiction, they chose the Uruguayan short Abraços, João (Best regards, João) by Fernanda Méndez and Narella Correa (students at the University of the Republic’s Faculty of Arts); and for Best Fiction, they picked Furia (Rage) by Fran Moreno Blanco and Santi Pujol Amat (ESCAC, Spain).

For the jury of film and audiovisual students, the best Latin American short film was Benteveo, directed by Bianca Bazán Zárate from the National University of Córdoba (Argentina), while the best Uruguayan short film was Musik Maravillosa (mArvelous_mUsik), directed by Antuan La Rocca from the Uruguayan Film School. The latter won the El Mar Film Sound, Artemisa Lab, and Don Obdulio awards.

Special mentions were also awarded in each category: to the Uruguayan animated film La Gran Fakie (The Big Fakie) by M. Rodríguez and Sofia Rivero (ORT University); to the documentary Las películas de mi pueblo (My hometown movies), directed by Fernando Bottari and Damián Mollajoli from the Catholic University of Uruguay; and —as with the professional jury— to the fiction film Under Her Skin by Shihan Tan, produced at the New York University (USA). Additionally, a mention for Best Latin American Short Film went to Mexican filmmaker María del Cueto for Todos a mi alrededor parecen estar bien (Everyone around me seems to be doing fine), from the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica; while another went to Ver el mar (Meet the sea) by Victoria de Souza (Faculty of Information and Communication at the University of the Republic) in the Uruguayan short film competition.

View the full report of the Students Jury

The audience also voted for their favorite short films; at the conclusion of the festival, the voting yielded the following results: the Audience Award for Best International Short Film went to Two Souls, a documentary directed by Cécili Matureli and Avril Poirier (INSAS, Belgium), while the award for Best Uruguayan Short Film went to Canicas (Marbles) by Sofía Giménez (Uruguayan Film School).

In total, the festival awarded approximately $9,000 in prizes.

Festival Summary

The 26 FIEC took place from August 18 to 21 in Montevideo at the Cinemateca and Sala Zitarrosa, with screenings almost always playing to full houses. The selection included 49 short films made by students from 44 film schools across 28 countries. Ten of these short films represented six film training institutions from Uruguay—both public and private.

As every year, the international call for entries was issued through the International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT) and the Federation of Latin American Schools of Image and Sound (FEISAL) —organizations in which ECU holds the distinction of being the sole Uruguayan member— though participation is also open to non-member film schools. The pre-selection of short films for the competition was handled by a team of 20 ECU students, a task that involved several months of viewing sessions alongside the festival’s programming team.

The Festival aims to bring together a selection of work produced by students from some of the world’s best film schools, seeking to reflect the diversity of genres, backgrounds, themes, and styles found in these productions. At the same time, the Festival seeks to discover distinctive, original voices—emerging filmmakers whose potential is still developing but who show promise of continuing to garner attention in the future.

Among this year’s parallel activities, the festival featured two masterclasses led by filmmakers Clarisa Navas (Argentina) and Marcus Vetter (Germany), as well as a roundtable discussion on artificial intelligence and its impact on the audiovisual industry, featuring Javier Mazza (Director of the Department of Humanities and Communication at the Catholic University of Uruguay), Diego Fernández Pujol (director, screenwriter, producer, and teacher at ORT University), and Daff Schneydher (post-production specialist, senior colorist, teacher, and co-founder of ColoUr by Mediapro).

All FIEC screenings and activities were, as always, free of charge.

This new edition of the Festival was posible thanks to the support of: ACAU, Montevideo Audiovisual, Sala Zitarrosa, FIC.UBA, ANTEL, MIEM-DINATEL, Musitelli, El Mar Film Sound, La Mayor, SinSol, Artemisa Lab, Don Obdulio, Programa Cinescope, FNC Patricia, Dante Robino, Acuaria, Lokotas, Tazú Bar Cultural, Taxi 141, Puertovideo, La Diaria, TV Ciudad, CILECT, FEISAL and FilmFreeway.

More information: www.ecu.edu.uy / festival@ecu.edu.uy