Sony honored young filmmakers from around the world during the third annual ceremony of future filmmakers held Thursday evening in the historic building arts on the Sony lot.
The competition attracted more than 11,750 short films submitted by 7,500 filmmakers representing 158 countries. The winners were chosen by a jury made up of director Jason Reitman, writer Minhal Baig, president of Sony 3000, Elizabeth Gabler and actor-director Justin Chadwick.
“Our goal is to fill the world with emotion by the power of creativity and technology,” said Sony Hiroki Totoki president in his introductory remarks. “These prices emphasize our continuous commitment to nourish and raise new voices and defend various perspectives and create revolutionary talent opportunities around the world.”
The Black Tie affair started with a wine reception followed by a surfing and steak and bar surfing dinner. After the guests were well fed, prices were awarded in four different categories: fiction, non-fiction, animation and student. The winners received cash prices and Sony digital imaging equipment.
Non-fiction filmmaker Riah Taipodia in Shillon, India, shared what it meant that her limited film in competition.
“I never imagined that it would go in a place like Sony and would make him shout there. It is such a great opportunity. I am of a very small town in India, and it is a huge honor,” she said to THR. “There are a lot of local filmmakers who have reached out, and they want to collaborate with me and my team. Being recognized by my own people by my state and my country is huge, and that has really helped.”
Before the award ceremony, Sony organized an immersive filmmaker workshop of four days for all the preselected nominees. The programs included a masterclass of cinematography, a scriptwriting seminar and demonstrations of new cinema technology.
While announcing the winner of fiction, Reitman has credited all the filmmakers for having taken up the challenge of telling a striking story in less time than looking at a sitcom.
“Telling a beautiful story in less than 20 minutes is like writing a big novel about a post-it note. Watching these films immediately brought me back to make my own shorts when there was no time to lose,” he said. “Each plan and each line of dialogue and each cup had to count. During my first short film, the cops tried to close us because they thought we were doing a porn. It is true. In addition, I had shingles.”
Muhammed Ashfaque d’Alleppey, India, was selected for his film Ura In the student category. He said THR That his participation in the program was his first time to leave the country.
“I come from a very rural city,” he said. “I have never dreamed of my rare dream to come to America or Los Angeles. Being here is a price for me. When I arrived, I felt like I was in a film. ”
Submissions for next year’s program opens in July.
The winners of the year included:
Fiction: Rossana Montoya (Colombia) for My demon
Non-fiction: Juliet Klottrup (United Kingdom), for Go home
Animation: Santiago O’ryan & José Navarro (Chile) for Hermans Casablanca
Student: Hayden Hoozer (UK) and Franz Böhm (Germany), the National Film & Television School, for Rocky paper scissors
