Femme Filmmakers Festival 2017: Roll Of Honor

To close this magnificent #FemmeFilmFest I have assembled a small jury of film-lovers to honor a select few of these outstanding new short films. There are 5 of us in the jury, who will contest on the official selection and come to a (very difficult) decision as the top merit in each of the 10 categories. There’s no big ceremony in a swish theater (I don’t think), and no physical, gold plaque – just the immense admiration and gratitude of genuine loves of film.

Obviously not all films features at the Femme Filmmakers Festival are new releases, only those shorts from the last year (2016/17) are chosen for selection here – there 8 of them. I personally want to give a huge, huge shout out to those other short films, some true gems I will not forget, and will continue to scream about. Oscar winner Torill Kove, the unique talents of Mary Neely, Jennifer Reeder, Meghann Artes, Lisa Hammer, Billimarie Robinson, and showcasing today the brilliant Katina Mercadant and Chelsea Christer. And so many I haven’t mentioned. They all deserve a prize.

Here are the 8 short films in competition for the Femme Filmmakers Festival 2017:

Hala (2016) – Minhal Baig – 14 mins

Fangirl (2016) – Liza Mandelup – 5 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNc8Ts8_8E

3-Way (Not Calling) (2016) – Molly McGlynn – 11 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPwUNX_VIO4

Tinder Will Understand (2016) – Sofija Sztepanov – 5 mins

I Just Said That (2017) – Stefanie Davis – 3 mins

After Sophie (2017) – Minhal Baig – 9 mins

Hot Seat (2017) – Anna Kerrigan – 13 mins

Strange Beasts (2017) – Magali Barbe – 6 mins

Total running time: 66 mins

Here are the 10 categories (fiction, animation, non-fiction):

 Outstanding Mixed Media
 Outstanding Visual Design 
 Outstanding Short Film Editing 
 Outstanding Cinematography 
 Outstanding Short Film Writing 
 Outstanding Original Music 
 Outstanding Short Film Directing 
 Outstanding Male Performance 
 Outstanding Female Performance 
 The Maya Deren Innovation For Short Films Prize
 The Dog Tooth (Third Prize)
 Red Lantern (Second Prize)
 The Gold Sovereign (Grand Prize)

And finally, the jury is:

Robin Write – #FemmeFilmFest Founder and Film Writer
Justine Peres Smith – Freelance Film and Culture Writer
Hayley Moss – Film and TV Composer
Bailey Holden – Filmmaker and Writer
Bee Garner – Feminist and Film Nut