The European Film Awards are the European equivalent to the American Oscars. Every year, the European Film Academy awards a prize for the best short film. 29 festivals (including Berlinale, the Venice IFF, the Locarno Film Festival, and – since 2020 – Kurzfilmtage) submit the choices of their respective juries to the Academy. We are excited to showcase some of the most remarkable works in European short filmmaking with a selection of films that were shortlisted in 2021.
Displaced
Samir Karahoda / Kosovo 2021 / 15' / DCP / colour / Turkish/Albanian / Fic/Doc
In post-war Kosovo, driven by the ambition of keeping their beloved sport alive, two local players wander from one obscure location to another, carrying with them their club’s only possession: their ping-pong tables.
Dustin
Naïla Guiguet / France 2020 / 20' / DCP / colour / French / Fic
In an abandoned warehouse, a crowd is dancing as one to techno music at 145 bpm. Among them is Dustin, a young transgender man, and his crew: Felix, Raya, and Juan. As the night drags on, collective hysteria morphs into sweet melancholy, euphoria into yearning for tenderness.
The Natural Death of a Mouse
Katharina Huber / Germany 2020 / 21'34" / DCP / colour / English/German / Ani/Fic
Some days, she imagines that by sheer willpower she can make body parts fall off people who seem vicious to her. On other days, everyone around her looks beautiful. And when she was little, she wished that flowers would grow out of her footprints.
Armadila
Gorana Jovanović / Serbia 2020 / 10'50" / DCP / colour / Serbian / Fic
Sanja is a tough thirteen year old girl who likes to be in control of her emotions, not letting any weakness show. Even when her troublesome but beloved dog goes missing, she refuses to worry. At the same time, she struggles with jealousy when it comes to her friend Darko. She tries hard to shut out all these unwanted feelings, until she realizes that they are eating her on the inside.
My Uncle Tudor
Olga Lucovnicova / Hungary/Portugal/Belgium 2020 / 20'4" / DCP / colour / Russian/Romanian / Doc
After 20 years of silence, the filmmaker travels back to the house of her great-grandparents, where she was subjected to abuse. She meets her family. Old aunts talk about the past. Little by little, she confronts her uncle with her trauma, for which he is responsible.
