The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The Oscars are widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the film industry.
The Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) is an Academy Award qualifying film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the nonprofit organization Heartland Film, Inc. The festival was first held in 1992, with the goal to "inspire filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of film". HIFF accepts entries of feature-length films at least 40 minutes long, including student submissions. Shorter films are accepted through Heartland Films' spinoff "Indy Shorts International Film Festival", also an Academy Award qualifying festival.
Marshall Curry is an American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).
Toyland is a German 2007 short film directed and co-written by Jochen Alexander Freydank. It won the 2009 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. The 2025 edition will be held April 25-May 1, 2025.
Sahim Omar Kalifa is a Belgian-Kurdish filmmaker based in Belgium.
The Neighbors' Window is a 2019 American short film written and directed by Marshall Curry. It won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2020. The film was inspired by a true story by Diane Weipert, which she recounted on the podcast Love and Radio.
The 33rd European Film Awards was scheduled to be presented in Reykjavík, Iceland on 12 December 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the awards were announced in a virtual event online.
Da Yie is a 2019 short film directed by Anthony Nti.
Nocturne in Black is a 2016 short film written and directed by Jimmy Keyrouz. The film premiered at Telluride Film Festival and won the gold medal at the Student Academy Awards, the Bafta Student Film Awards, the Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards. The BBC has described it as an "immaculately shot, high-energy short drama".
The 34th European Film Awards were presented in Berlin, Germany on 11 December 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the awards went ahead without an in person audience, taking the form of a hybrid event, including pre-produced and live online.
Maria Brendle is a German-Swiss film director and screenwriter based in Zurich. In 2020, she wrote and directed the film Ala Kachuu – Take and Run for which she received a nomination for the Best Live Action Short Film at the 94th Academy Awards.Her debut feature film, Frida's Fall, premiered at the 20th Zurich Film Festival.
Three Songs for Benazir is an Academy Award nominated 2021 Afghan-American documentary short film by Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei.
Black Slide is a 2021 Israeli/British animated short film directed by Uri Lotan. The 11-minute short has been presented in a number of film festivals, including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and the Indy Shorts Film Festival. Black Slide also won the Audience award for Best Short Film at the 2022 British Animation Awards and is now qualified for the 95th Academy Awards in the eligible films under the category Best Animated Short Film.
The 35th European Film Awards, presented by the European Film Academy to recognize achievements in European filmmaking, took place at the Harpa Conference and Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Iceland on 10 December 2022. According to the academy, films eligible for the awards are those that had their first official screening between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2022 and have a European director.
Sideral is a 2021 Brazilian and French short film directed by Carlos Segundo. The fifteen-minute story shot in Black & White is a glimpse into the lives of a Brazilian family impacted by the extraordinary event of rocket launch from a nearby centre. The short has been presented in a number of festivals, including Cannes Film Festival and the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and won several awards, including the Oscar Qualifying award for Best International Short at the 2022 Palm Springs International Shorts Fest.
The 36th European Film Awards, presented by the European Film Academy to recognize achievements in European filmmaking, took place at Arena Berlin in Berlin on 9 December 2023. It was the twenty-second time that the awards ceremony took place in Germany.
Rosemary A.D. is a 2022 animated short film directed by Ethan Barrett. The film was entirely drawn by hand, with coloured crayons. Since its premiere at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival, Rosemary A.D. has been selected in numerous international film festivals, including Indy Shorts Film Festival, Animafest Zagreb and the Austin Film Festival. Most recently, the film won its fourth Oscar-qualifying award at Indy Shorts International Film Festival, making it the short film with the most Oscar-qualifying wins in any category this year.
Our Males and Females is a short film from Jordan directed by Ahmad Alyaseer. It was written by Rana Alyaseer and Ahmad Alyaseer and produced by Mais Salman and Ahmad Alyaseer. The film explores themes of gender identity, societal expectations, and the complexity of human relationships.
