‘We Were Meant To’ Soars as Big Winner at HollyShorts Film Festival

The 19th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival has ended, and the winners were announced in a ceremony hosted by Meredith Thomas. Among them were the Oscar-qualifying shorts. This year, the Academy granted a fourth category to the festival. The Grand Prix Best Short winner, which is the top prize, also received $60k from Panavision. 

The top four winners display a fantastic range of talent and creativity, sharing stories of relevance and inspiration. The Grand Prix Best Short award goes to Tari Wareibi’s We Were Meant To; Best Live Action goes to Misan Harriman’s The After; Best Animation goes to Rita Basulto’s Humo (Smoke); and Best Documentary to Elisa Gambino’s Every Day After.

Other notable winners include Best Director for Christina Yoon’s Motherland; Best Comedy for Call Me Mommy, directed by Hayley Alea Erickson and Taylor Erickson; Best Cinematography for Aurelien Achache’s Separation; Best Drama for Daniel Bdeir’s Warsha; and Best Editing for Michael Spiccia for I’m On Fire. 

Here are more winners from this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival.

Best Genre Category Presented by Hot Pot Productions – Tim Webber’s Flite

Best Horror – Nuhash Humayun’s Foreigners Only

Best International – Mauricio Sierra’s Ciela

Latinx Award – Duván Duque Vargas’s All Inclusive

Best LGBTQIA+ – Niki Ang’s Maxine

Best Midnight Madness – Will Suen and Sejon Im’s Sweet Juices

Best Music Video – KAJO | Evelyn Lee’s Rem Koolhaus’

Best Music Video Film – Alexandre Moors’s Love Sick

Best Producer – Lloyd Lee Choi’s Closing Dynasty

Best SAGIndie – Logan Vaughn’s Benny and James

Hawk Films Screenplay Award – Joaquin Palma’s Eggplant

Best Sci-Fi – James A. Sims’s D.A.D.

Script Compass Screenplay Award – Nick Perry’s The Gifting

Kodak Best Shot on Film, 35MM – Maegan Houang’s Astonishing Little Feet

Kodak Best Shot on Film, 16MM – Joe Zakko’s Subway Stops

Kodak Best Shot on Film, 8MM – Alan Richard Halls’ Who The F**K Is Jacky Bumpers? 

Kodak Best Shot on Film, Honorable Mention – Alden Ehrenreich’s Shadow Brother Sunday

Social Impact Award – Sterling Hampton IV’s Merman

Best Thriller – Rita Borodiyanski’s Time Out

Best Student Film – Marta Szymanek’s Eden

Best TV – Arden Grier and Kirsten Knisely’s Earth Girl

Best VFX – James A. Sims’ D.A.D. 

Best Web Series – Stacey Maltin’s Mashed 

Best Female Screenplay Presented By BeCine – K.D. Chalk’s Survived By

HollyShorts Honorable Mention – Raul Sanchez and Pasqual Gutierrez Shut Up And Fish

Best TV Screenplay – Ari Donnelly’s Power Couple

Best Screenplay Presented by The Seattle Film Summit – Sara Robin’s  Switch

Best Screenplay 2nd place – Anjini Taneja Azhar – Who Are You, Nani?

Best Screenplay 3rd place – Harrison Demchick – Shipping And Handling

Select films and panels will be available on bitpixtv.com through August 27, 2023.