The 2007 Worldwide Short Film Festival

The Worldwide Short Film Festival presented thirteen awards and $125, 000 in cash and prizes at the 2007 WSFF Awards Picnic on the beautiful grounds of the Canadian Film Center in the presence of over 300 industry delegates and filmmakers from around the globe. Accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®, these award winners are eligible for the Genie Awards, and winners of the Best Live-Action Short and Best Animated Short are eligible for the Academy Awards . The festival's reputation for programming is doing well due to the five shorts in 2006 that went on to be nominated for Academy Awards® and one winner.

In Toronto Arts & Event's view, the highlight of the Worldwide Short Film Festival is the awards and associated films:

• Best Canadian Short Film Award: Alexis Fortier (Quebec) $10,000 cheque, AFTER ALL (APRÈS TOUT)
• The Jackson-Triggs Award: Director Nicolas Roy received For Best Emerging Canadian Film, SUNDAY - $5,000 cheque
• The C.O.R.E Digital Pictures Award For Best Animated Short: Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Canada) for the fantasy MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI ( $5000 in cash ) and eligibility for the 2008 Academy Awards®
• The C.O.R.E Digital Pictures Award For Best Animated Short An Honourable Mention: Osbert Parker (UK) for YOURS TRULY, an animated reconstruction of film noir icons
• Best Live-Action Short and a Sony Digital Camcorder: director Simon Ellis (UK) for the drama SOFT
• The Best Experimental Short: Christian Laurence (Canada) for THE NAUTICAL EDUCATION
• The Kodak Award for Best Cinematography in a Canadian Short: Director Alexis Fortier Gauthier and Cinematographer Phillipe Roy for AFTER ALL (APRÈS TOUT)
• Best Documentary Short: director Ken Wardrop (Ireland) for FAREWELL PACKETS OF TEN
• Best Documentary Short ( Honourable Mention ) director May Lin Au Yong for BULLET PROOF VEST
• Special Jury Distinction: director Michael Dreher (Germany/Morocco) for hisdrama FAIR TRADE
• Audience Choice Award: Announced at the Awards screening at the Cumberland 4 Cinemas o IT'S MY TURN NOW, directed by Jörgen Hjerdt (Sweden)
• Symposium PITCHer's award: Powys Dewhurst for her project Where Do White Canadians Go?/The Wondrous Mind of Delroy Kincaid and t Elizabeth Lazebnik for her project Belonging
• the Screenplay Giveaway Prize: Lindsey Connell for her script The Bridge ( a package of goods and services worth over $100,000 !! )

The Worldwide Short Film Festival 2007 showed an amazing array of great short films and videos from around the world. It creates difficulty in deciding which films to see! For those with limited time, TorontoArtsandEvents recommends the opening Gala Winners From Around the World which shows ( as you would expect ) short award winners from around the world.

TorontoArtsandEvents had the opportunity to view films from the open gala, the awards and three programs; namely, Slap' n' Tickle, Celebrity Shorts and Fashion Victims. The opening gala films presented a stunning arrary of short films from around the world! Highly recommended! The Academy award winner The Danish Poet ( Canada / Norway ) which tells the animated story of a lovelorn poet was shown along with Imagine This ( Australia / Ireland ) - which was a political satire with strange co-stars Bush and John Lennon. Of the Celebrity Shorts, TorontoArtsandEvents liked Room 10 starring Kris Kristofferson and Robin Wright Penn and it "tells the true story of a nurse who, through caring for a dying patient, gains insight into her martial problems."

In 2006, this festival produced five Academy Award nominees including one which won an award; namely, The Danish Poet. It will be interesting to see what is produced this year! Check back here for the 2008 Worldwide Short Film Festival!

@ Press Conference

@ Press Conference