For The 20th Time
On the evening of 7 September, the 20th BuSho International Short Film Festival awards were presented in the Verdi Hall of the Italian Cultural Institute.
This year, 48 short films out of around 1000 entries were included in the competition programme and were screened at the Pushkin Cinema and the P’art Cinema in Szentendre.
After the 13-member pre-jury, the festival again had two separate juries, the International Jury and the Student Jury. The members of the student jury were: Ádám Stampf (METU), Tibor Kapás (ELTE), Karim Hema (SZFE) and Lazin Damján (MOME).
Zsuzsanna Bak, Prima Prize-winning writer, director, dramaturg and university lecturer, has again been invited to join the international jury. Another lady was Alexa Rodrigues, a former Portuguese actress who has moved to the Netherlands to direct the Shortcutz Amsterdam Festival. Paul Bruce from Edinburgh, Scotland, is the founding director of the local short film festival has also been part of the jury. Last but not least, the last member of the 20th BuSho festival jury, Wolfgang Leis. In the evenings, they were the ones to talk to during the public jury consultations and of course they decided on the 3 main prizes, 6 category prizes and the special prize of 500.000 HUF, which was awarded three times this year!
First, the members of the Student Jury were called to the stage to announce their decision with a short evaluation.
“The film proves how two very different human beings can inspire each other.” The Student Jury’s Best Fiction Award went to the Swiss duo Paul Jousselin and Maria-Lola Terver for their film “The Mysterious Adventures of Claude Conseil”.
The Student Jury’s Best Animated Selection is the French film “A Kind of Testament” by Stephen Vuillemin:
“The most innovative cinematic language. We have never seen such a film.”
“Energy has been used the most appropriate way…” according to the students in “3MWh” by Marie-Magdalena Kochová from the Czech Republic, which won the Best Experimental Film award.
Finally, a special prize was awarded for “The most grown-up children’s film.” and the Australian
Pernell Marsden’s “The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste”.
Next came the International Jury Awards, first listing the winners who unfortunately could not attend the ceremony. The best comedy was the interesting Norwegian film “Superdupermegagigasingle” by Håkon Anton Olavsen. The best screenplay is “The Mysterious Adventures of Claude Conseil” by the Swiss duo, which was also awarded by the students, so this film was the first double winner. Best Actor was Riccardo De Filippis in “Gasoline” by the Italian Daniel Daquino. Two Dutch films were also honoured, and jury member Alexa Rodrigues was asked to accept the awards. Best experimental film was awarded to Ruwan Suresh Heggelman’s “Gnomes”. This year’s special jury prize went to Isis Cabolet’s short film “Jammed”.
The winners who were able to receive their prizes in person were Laurent Poulain for Best Cinematography for the Spanish film “The Companions”, directed by José María Flores.
A special prize followed, a weekly Sziget Festival ticket for a 3-member mini crew with a filming permit for the 2025 edition, awarded to German director Eva Matz for her film “I Don’t Want to Have to Be Loud”.
Before the presentation of the special prize, which would be awarded in the framework of a revitalised cooperation, a message from Dr András Koltay, President of the NMHH, was read out, in which he said: “…All the films screened at the 20th anniversary festival are value-creating works in this respect and contribute to the development of a culture of informed consumer decision-making in the field of cinema. The NMHH is pleased to participate in the awarding of the best films…” The special prize of 500,000 HUF was awarded to the Hungarian film “The Other Side of the Street”, which was chosen as the best film on the subject of child protection and was received by one of the main actors, Zsolt Nagy, in the absence of the director Kálmán Nagy.
Before the announcement of the main prizes, Zsuzsanna Bak took the stage on behalf of the international jury to summarise the events of the past week, thank the organisers and announce the main prizes.
The special prize of the BuSho Festival was awarded to the best Hungarian short film of the competition with a prize of 500,000 HUF, which was also chosen as the best animated film: „a highly stylised and creative 2D animation that is both charming, very original, and combines folkloric elements with a strong colour palette and a powerful ecological mention.” Julia Tudisco’s film “Children of the Bird”.
“A dryily humorous road movie with excellent cinematography that explores familial conflict and celebrates cultural connections.” The Bronze BuSho Award went to “Road tot he Sky” by Russian/Uzbeg Ivan Sosnin.
The Silver BuSho Award was given to a film that was “Expressive cinematography with confident and mature direction, both touching and evocative, and an original and well-executed concept”. The Spanish “Not By Myself”, directed by Doriam Alonso.
“A thoroughly engaging film with strong storyline development, dialogue and impressive performances”. The BuSho Festival’s 500,000 HUF prize for Best International Film and the Gold BuSho went to: “My Night at Flore’s” by French director Louis Douillez.
Before the screening of the winners, everyone was invited on stage for a group photo and thanked the sponsors of the 20th edition of the event, namely the National Film Institute, the National Media and Communications Authority, the Hungarian Academy of Arts, the National Cooperation Fund, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Camoes Portuguese Institute, the Embassy of Spain. 2.8 Rental, Sárospatak Ceramics Manufactory, Sziget Kft., Magyarhang as media sponsor, and BME Kármán Studio provided the event technology. See you in 2025 at the 21st BuSho International Short Film Festival!
- BUSHO PRIZES 2024
STUDENT JURY PRIZES:
Best Fiction: The Mysterious Adventures of Claude Conseil – Paul Jousselin & Maria-Lola Terver (Switzerland)
Best Animation: A Kind of Testament – Stephen Vuillemin
Best Experimental: 3MWh – Marie-Magdalena Kochová (Czech Republic)
Special Mention: The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste – Pernell Marsden (Australia)
INTERNATIONAL JURY PRIZES:
Best Experimental: Gnomes Ruwan Suresh Heggelman
Best Cinematography: Laurent Poulain in the short The Companions – José María Flores (Spain)
Best Screenplay: The Mysterious Adventures of Claude Conseil –
Paul Jousselin & Maria-Lola Terver (Switzerland)
Best Comedy: Superdupermegagigasingle – Håkon Anton Olavsen (Norway)
Best Performance: Riccardo De Filippis in the short Gasoline – Daniel Daquino (Italy)
Special Prize of Sziget: I Don’t Want to Have to Be Loud – Eva Matz (Germany)
Special Mention: Jammed – Isis Cabolet
MAIN PRIZES:
NMHH Special Prize (500.000 HUF): The Other End of the Street – Nagy Kálmán (Hungary)
Best Animation & Best Hungarian Film (500.000 HUF): Children of the Bird – Tudisco Júlia (Hungary)
Bronze BuSho: Road to the Sky – Ivan Sosnin (Russia/Uzbekistan)
Silver BuSho: Not by Myself – Doriam Alonso (Spain)
Gold BuSho & Best International Film (500.000 HUF): My Night at Flore’s – Louis Douillez (France)