NRFF London 2016 Film Winners

We are proud to announce the WINNERS of the New Renaissance Film Festival – London 2016!

Congratulations to everyone who made it into the New Renaissance Film Festival, our inaugural year. All of the following films were screened during the festival on Saturday August 20th, 2016, at the Courthouse Hotel in London’s West End, and received an award – either a Best Category Award or an Award of Merit or Excellence.

Each film has something unique and special.

 

 

Special thanks to our sponsors Ink Tip, GetFilming and Film Inquiry. Winners in each Best of Category  will receive a Winner’s laurel, a free online course from GetFilming.com, and a one-year FREE membership to Film Inquiry magazine.

More award ceremony photos by Dominika Besinska coming soon!

 

Best Film of the Festival

HEAVY WEIGHT (UK)

12 min 45 sec • Drama / LGBTQ theme

When a talented new arrival begins using the local boxing club, Paris, a skilled and confident fighter, is forced to face the truth about his own emotional vulnerability. Director: Jonny Ruff. Writer: Producer: Archie Pearch and Christian Proctor. Actor / Writer: Chuku Modu. Actor / Writer: Jace Moody. Cinematographer / DP: Lee Thomas *NRFF Film of the Week.

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Best Narrative UK Short

MINISTRY OF GUILT

10 min •  Dark / Comedy / Thriller

Sam Smith is woken by the late-night delivery of strange and threatening notes through his letterbox. Each note more disturbing than the last. What did you do, Sam? The clock is ticking. Time to confess. Director: Detsky Graffam. Writer / Producer: Matthew Bartlett. Starring: Alex Beckett (W1A, Twenty Twelve, Youth)  *Film of the Week.

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Best Narrative International Short

LAIKA STARDUST  (IT)

15 min • Drama / Science Fiction

Laika Stardust is an experimental film set in the household of an upper class Italian family, in the not-too-distant future. Each family member is captivated by their use of technology, almost to the point of obsession. When the child becomes seriously ill, his mother begins to unravel and we discover the hidden truth behind her heartbreak… Writer / Director: Antonin Bobò.  Starring: Angelo Del Vecchio, Phil Guastella and Tiziana Bozzacco. Cinematographer /DP:  Debora Vrizzi.  *Film of the Week.

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Best Documentary Short

LONDON LOCKS  (UK)

9 min 17 sec • Documentary / Reality / Subculture

A short documentary that explores an exciting new subculture that is emerging from the creative cracks in London. A subculture that is being driven by some of the most stimulating and expressive thinkers in London’s youth community and it involves hair. Director: Aaron Christian. *Film of the Week.

 

 

Best Young Talent Narrative Short

SCRAP  (AUS)

11 min 34 sec • Drama / Family / Coming-of-age

Raised in a junkyard commune, the arrival of newcomers forces a young girl to question the world her father has created. Writer / Director: Joey Knox. Starring: Eve Gray and and Tom McCathie  *Film of the Week.

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Best Young Talent Documentary Short

SMOKE THAT TRAVELS  (USA)

13 min 03 sec • Documentary / Web / New Media

What happens when a story is forgotten? A personal documentary by 2016 Sundance Film Festival Ignite Fellow Kayla Briët that explores preservation and loss of Native American culture and her own identity as Prairie Band Potawatomi. Writer / Director / Producer: Kayla Briët

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Best Animation Short

THE WALDGEIST  & ME (UK)

10 min •  Animation / Dark

A dark tale of Love & Dismemberment. Director: Joe Bichard.

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Best Music Short

PROVE IT (FR)

4 min 22 sec •  Animation / Music

Official animated music video for ‘Prove It’ by avant garde rapper Kool A.D. (prod. Scoop DeVille). Director: Ronald Grandpey.

 

 

Best Short Short

HYPERZOOMING THROUGH WALTSTATT (AT)

2 min 14 sec  •  Experimental / Web / New Media

As if on the back of an invisible insect we fly around the sites of this wonderful town Hallstatt – a Unesco World Heritage site in Upper Austria, in one continuous journey passing through buildings to emerge in different parts of the town, finally ending up on the new viewpoint from Rudolfsturm perched high above the ancient town square. Director: Geoff Tompkinson.

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Best Director of a UK Short

Eli Hart – PARIS IN THE RAIN

22 min 21 sec • Drama / Comedy

Ike reluctantly attends his father’s funeral, knowing full well that elsewhere, his girlfriend is minutes away from leaving him to pursue a better life in Tokyo. To add insult to injury, he gets lumped with his father’s large, ugly painting of a rainy street in Paris, and spends the rest of the day trying to dump it on someone else. Writer / Director: Eli Hart.  Producer: Zachary Hart. Starring: Alan Grant, Jack Lord and Jane Christie.  *Film of the Week.

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Best Director of an International Short

Vincenzo Alfieri – THE DARK SIDE (IT) 

20 min • Drama / Thriller / Crime / Horror

Videogames, movies and comic books affect the lives of many children. A fragile mind could be influenced/affected to the point of not recognizing the reality of things. Dr. Stanne, a child psychiatrist, is called to assess a unique and troubled case: a patient accused of murder following some of his ‘Patrols’, during which he dressed as a famous character from a comic book, the executioner ‘Rorshach’ . The psychiatrist, however, still can not seem to find an answer to an apparently/ a seemingly simple question: What turns a man into a monster. Writer / Director: Vincenzo Alfieri. Starring: Vincenzo Alfieri.

 

 

Best Female Filmmaker 

Anna Smirnova – THE PIGEON (RU)

30 min • Drama / Comedy / Fantasy

Based on a story by Patrick Suskind “The Pigeon” is about the fictional character Jonathan Noel, a solitary Parisien bank security guard who undergoes an existential  crisis when a pigeon roosts in front of his one-room apartment’s door, prohibiting him entrance to his private sanctuary. Director /Producer: Anna Smirnova. Writer: Anna Smirnova & Andranik Saatchyan. Starring: Aleksander Sirin.

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Best Actor in a UK Short

 Chuku Modu – HEAVY WEIGHT

12 min 45 sec • Drama / LGBTQ theme

When a talented new arrival begins using the local boxing club, Paris, a skilled and confident fighter, is forced to face the truth about his own emotional vulnerability. Director: Jonny Ruff. Writer: Producer: Archie Pearch and Christian Proctor. Actor / Writer: Chuku Modu. Actor / Writer: Jace Moody. Cinematographer / DP: Lee Thomas *NRFF Film of the Week.

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Best Actor in an International Short

Matthew Devine – SITUATIONAL (USA)

21 min • Drama /  Friendship

After being prescribed his third antidepressant, Charlie returns home only to have his Craigslist roommate Miles toilet flush his pills and kidnap him to see a sunrise over the ocean. Tension mounts as the fast talking road trip drives us to the bottom of Charlie’s pain and to the impending sunrise on the coast, where life could begin or end, literally… And then there are chinchillas. Director: Scott Simonsen. Producer: Alyssa Skoller. Starring: Matthew Devine and Michael Gazin  *Film of the Week.

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Best Actress in a UK Short

Francesca Bailey – ANOTHER LIFE

Another Life

14 min • Drama / Women / Friendship / Love

Jen lives in a world of abuse and finds solace in the stories that she writes. As her final chapter draws near, her perfect character Emma quickly unravels. Director: Javid Rezai (1st time filmmaker). Starring: Francesca Bailey and Sally Paffett.  *NRFF Film of the Week.

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Best Actress in an International Short

Leanna Chea – MINH TÂM (FR)

24 min 59 sec • Drama / Romance

At the age of 33, Minh Tâm has given up on love. Devoted to the education of her autistic son and overwhelmed by a domineering mother, she uses men just to escape briefly from daily life. Until the day she meets Olivier, who causes her to question her certainties. Writer / Director: Vincent Maury. Producer:  Laurence Lascary. Starring: Leanna Chea and Nicolas Giraud.

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Best Cinematography in a UK Short

Jody Whittle-Whyeth   – PARIS IN THE RAIN

22 min 21 sec • Drama / Comedy

Ike reluctantly attends his father’s funeral, knowing full well that elsewhere, his girlfriend is minutes away from leaving him to pursue a better life in Tokyo. To add insult to injury, he gets lumped with his father’s large, ugly painting of a rainy street in Paris, and spends the rest of the day trying to dump it on someone else. Writer / Director: Eli Hart.  Producer: Zachary Hart. Starring: Alan Grant, Jack Lord and Jane Christie.  *Film of the Week.

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Best Cinematography in an International Short

 Jörg Gruber – 3000 (AUS)

19 min 59 sec  • Drama /  Friendship / Love

When Leon’s best friend Ari shares tragic news about his battle with cancer, unemployed and desperate to help, Leon secretly decides to become a criminal to pay for more cancer treatments. Against the backdrop of contemporary Athens, Greece, Leon’s actions to save his best friend have irreversible consequences. Writer / Director: Antonis Tsonis. Producer: Tia Spanos Tsonis, Panagiotis Fafoutis and Wayne Blair. Starring: Panos Natsis, Yiannis Papadopoulos and Daphne Patakia.

*Film of the Week.

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Best London- based Film

DARK LAUGH

12 min 09 sec • Comedy / Action / Adventure / Fantasy / Sci-fi

Egg Man carries a magical, Teleporting YO-YO. Wannabe crook Hunter, Wants it! Caught in the middle is Dominik. All Running through London’s Soho Square! Director: Michael J  McCarthy. Writer: Michael J McCarthy and Craig Mckearney. Producer: Michael J McCarthy. Starring: Masashi Fujimoto, Craig McKearney and Michael J. McCarthy. Director of Photography /DP: Jordi Castan.

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Best Film of the Week

A CONSCIOUS DREAM – International documentary

19 min  26 sec • Documentary / Reality  / Panorama

In March 2014 Photographic Museum of Humanity drove 6,000 km across Chile on the Museum Van. They crossed the Andes, reached the Pacific Ocean and passed through the Atacama Desert. This is a documentary about the people, moments and stories they met on their way. Director: Federico Telerman and Nicolas Uboldi. *Film of the Week.

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Award of Excellence

A CONSCIOUS DREAM – International documentary

19 min  26 sec • Documentary / Reality  / Panorama

In March 2014 Photographic Museum of Humanity drove 6,000 km across Chile on the Museum Van. They crossed the Andes, reached the Pacific Ocean and passed through the Atacama Desert. This is a documentary about the people, moments and stories they met on their way. Director: Federico Telerman and Nicolas Uboldi. *Film of the Week.

Click here for more information.

DAUGTHER OF AN OCEAN – USA animation

2 min 58 sec •  Animation / Children

By remembering the story of a fish told by her mother, Daughter ‘Suni’ realizes that the story was not just about little fish who wanted to live freely, but was meant for her to understand that she should live her life with freedom, as her mother never did. Director: Kintan Chauhan.

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DIEMBE – UK short

5 min 17 sec • Drama / Family / Friendship / Coming-of-age

A Kenyan teenager moves to the UK with high hopes only to be welcomed by bad weather, ignorant pupils and even worse, touchy girls. As he struggles to fit in at school, one unlikely friendship with a curious classmate is going to change everything. Director: Anderson West.  *NRFF Film of the Week.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN – USA short short

1 min 11 sec  • Comedy / Coming-of-age

At 15, Kevin risks it all for a shot at greatness. Director: John Psathas.

HEAVENKID: TIME SPACE DOOR – Chinese animation

10 min 58 sec •  Animation / Children

ToTo by accident opened a device that transformed a chessboard into a Space Door. So, he and Ahya could become anything they wanted, going anywhere they wished. They fought with each other while playing out many different roles. This means they would be locked within, unable to escape. HeavenKid used his magic to awaken them teaching them the book Di-Zi-Gui. Finally, they having learnt their wrongs, corrected their ways, averting the crisis. Director: Derrick Wu.

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STAY – UK short

20 min 28 sec • Drama / Mystery

Julian is struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife. He has shut down and cut himself off from the people in his life. One day, whilst sitting in his Chesterfield chair he is transported through memories from his life that spans all four seasons. Julian’s story is about love, hope and regret. Director: Ben Hyland.

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SUBSTRATAE – Canadian animation

4 min 37 sec •  Animation / Experimental

Substratae provides the audience a glimpse of mythical lives glowing, under the eternal flux, with energies hidden deep within the earth. There is mystery here, and a sense of the otherworldly tempered with a dash of humour. A colourful array of characters interacts with metaphorical electronic components to present vignettes of activity and emotion in a rugged terrain not unlike that found in Iceland. Director: Margie Kelk.

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THE FLAVOR OF THE MOON – Chinese short

21 min 10 sec • Drama / Romance / Comedy

A man whose marriage proposal is rejected, decides to unveil the unsolved legend of the moon in the little town where he is from, to win back his lover’s heart. Director: Yan Zhang

WEST SIDE SWORDY – USA music short

8 min  •  Music / Fantasy / Dance / Adventure

The Jets chase the Sharks through an alleyway and up over a tall fence, when suddenly they find themselves in another world, magically transported into an abandoned warehouse. Where they are controlled by the electronic beat of world-renowned disc jockey, Deamau5. This is an LA West Side Story. A satirical action fantasy inspired by the music of Birnstein, Deadmau5 and Skrillex.  Director: Dan Liu. Writer / Producer: McKay Stewart. *Film of the Week.

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WHAT YOU NEED – Belgian music short

14 min  •  Music / Reality

The title is the first track released from  Goose’s new album ‘What You Need’. The film is shot in ‘Safari Studios’ used by the band to record their albums. This old building used to be a hotel in the early 1900s, where freak shows were held and others lived a decadent lifestyle. You could say it’s GOOSE’s personal Chateau Marmont. The film is a way of getting deeper into what makes them GOOSE and the essence of their new album. There are Flemish influences, combined with the nightly aesthetics of Downtown Los Angeles.  Director: Willy Vanderperre. *Film of the Week.

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Award of Merit

ALETHEIA – USA short

14 min 46 sec • Drama

A conversation between father and daughter leads to a philosophical discussion about the paradoxical nature of existence and humanity. Director: Nithin Muraleedharan.

AN ACCIDENT – UK Short Short

2 min  •   Film Noir /  Dark / Drama

A woman on her way to buy fish and chips thinks about a past accident. Director: Rafael Bujosa (First time filmmaker).

BACKSEAT – UK short

9 min 39 sec • Drama / Romance / Comedy

Two people meet, in unusual circumstances, never to learn each others name. Writer / Director: Dann Emmons. Producer: Dann Emmons and Nathan Neuman. Starring: Georgia Maskery and Matt Wright. Cinematography / DP: Jake Martin

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BANDE DE JEUNES – USA short short

2 min 11 sec  •  Film Noir / Dark / Comedy

An aging and lonely man comes up with an idea one evening on how to cope with his own sense of fading beauty. Has he found an ingenious solution to his body image issues, or will this temporary solution just make things worse? Director: Devin Doyle.

CHICAGO TOCCATA & FUGUE – International short short

1 min 29 sec  •  Experimental / Web / New Media / Music

The City of Chicago becomes a light show to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Toccata and fugue in D-minor. Director: Geoff Tompkinson.

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HUGO – UK young talent

11 min 47 sec • Drama / Fantasy / Romance

Born with unusually long fingers, HUGO lives a solitary existence in an abandoned theatre fearing the mockery of others. Then one day he falls in love with a beautiful young woman working in a diner. Overcoming adversity and turning around what appears as a shortcoming into a gift is the theme of this film. Director: Theo Pavlou.

LADIES FIRST – UK short

4 min 50 sec • Period Drama / Romance

A short period drama set in 1919, focusing on a young couple challenging gender inequality as a social norm. Director: Matthew Steggles.

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LA PROMESA – UK young talent

10 min • Drama / Friendship / Family

A singer and a neglected child forge an unlikely bond through a shared love of music. The film was inspired by a Spanish song (performed by the leading actress, Gloria Garcia) and has references to Hispanic culture, migration and adoption. Director: Aron Randhawa.

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LETTERS – UK short

4 min 53 sec • Film Noir / Dark

Become a part of the forest in this solo project, as you follow the harrowing story of ‘Letters.’A poignant story of emotion, devastation & regret.  Director: Oliver Dawes (1st time filmmaker).

LOST IN SPRING – UK short

12 min 07 sec • Drama / Family

A confidence stricken seven year old, embarks upon a journey to self belief. Director: Fred Leao Prado Wall.

MARGARET – USA short

13 min 03 sec • Drama / Romance

After dealing with a series of extreme characters during a speed-dating event for senior citizens, an elderly woman meets a charming, exotic gentleman.  Director: Manan Singh Katohora.

RINSE – USA short short

3 min 30 sec • Film Noir / Dark / Crime

A poetic visual experience about a cult. Director: Yuki Tokunaga.

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TADARERU/BECOMES SORE – Japanese short

17 min • Drama / Suspense

Kazuya and Miyuki Matsuhashi’s May-December marriage has lost its spark. It’s already been four days since Miyuki’s younger sister, Chiharu, showed up on their doorstep. Living each day in frustration, Miyuki can’t bear Chiharu’s reckless abandon, nor her husband’s favourable treatment of Chiharu any longer. One day on her way home, Miyuki spots Kazuya and Chiharu holding hands, and her suspicion grows… Director: Keishi Suenaga. *Film of the Week.

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THE EXPLORER – UK young talent

7 min 24 sec •  Sci-fi / Drama

A man repeats his daily routine until he discovers colour when removed from the machine that controls him.Director: Noah Ottersen Parker. *Film of the Week.

THE INFORMATION – UK short

15 min • Drama / Mystery / Thriller

A sound man who gathers information for the police, gets drawn into a high profile case involving a government minister but when he is spotted following them, they start to take interest in him and what information he has gathered on them. Director: Robert Shannon

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THE LAST THING WE KNEW – USA short

6 min 22 sec • Drama / Suspense/ Thriller / Mystery

While spending an afternoon in the woods, a group of teenagers are forced to try and make sense of a string of mysterious events that have been plaguing their small town. Director: Brent Ryan Green.

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