International Competition
GRAND PRIX
5 000 € + Statuette “Kiss”
(City of Tampere)
WANDER TO WONDER
Nina Gantz | The Netherlands, France, Belgium | 2023 | Experimental, Animation | 17 min
With a strange and sinister charm, the film immerses the viewer into a children’s programme gone awry, its characters bereft of their creator. A hugely imaginative, bittersweet work that bristles with originality, attention to detail, narrative range and craftsmanship, and doubles as a moving and playful meditation on the act of storytelling.
Tampere Short Film Candidate For The European Film Awards 2024
WANDER TO WONDER
Nina Gantz | The Netherlands, France, Belgium | 2023 | Experimental, Animation | 17 min
Best animation
1 500 € + Statuette “Kiss”
LA SAISON POURPRE
Clémence Bouchereau | France | 2023 | Animation | 10 min
Masterfully playing with minimal elements, this short pinscreen animation beautifully draws the viewer into a tender, rich and atmospheric world of “lost girls” living on the edge of a mangrove in a state of prepubescent innocence. Carefully crafted, and dialogue-free, the film shimmers with details, impressions, and intangible tensions.
Best fiction
1 500 € + Statuette “Kiss”
(United Parcel Service Finland)
OYU
Atsushi Hirai | France | 2023 | Fiction | 22 min
A sensorial and delicate film that invites the viewer to reflect, Atsushi Hirai’s Oyu represents grief in a fragile, powerful and deeply human way with precise staging and careful sense of detail.
Best documentary
1 500 € + Statuette “Kiss”
SHOTPLAYER
Sam Shainberg | United States | 2023 | Documentary | 22 min
This short, masterfully crafted film takes viewers on a captivating journey through the mental and physical landscapes of a criminal’s past, painting a complex portrait of both the individual and the city. Through a hybrid form of storytelling that playfully riffs off tropes from American indies of the 70s, this reflective journey offers insights into the experience of living on the margins of society.
International competition, special mention
LEILA
Fariba Haidari | Sweden | 2023 | Documentary | 25 min
An intimate portrait of an outsider: a transgender woman who, despite being harassed in her society in Afghanistan, continues to go forward while defending her joy and dignity as a human being.
International competition, audience award
GUAZUVIRÁ
Joaquin Araujo, Nicolás Sequeir | Uruguay | 2023 | Fiction | 20 min
National competition
Under 30 minutes
Main Prize
5 000 €
LASSE KAATUU, VOI EI!
Risto-Pekka Blom | Finland | 2023 | Fiction | 19 min
This film blends fiction and real life to create a cinematic and complete story around the most famous fall in Finnish history. Connecting one of the darkest times in Finnish democracy with an absurd and surprising twist on the iconic 1972 Olympic Games, LASSE KAATUU, VOI EI! evokes emotion, and for this we award it the main prize.
Special Prize
1 500 €
HOW TO PLEASE
Elina Talvensaari | Finland | 2023 | Documentary | 28 min
A creative and sparsely told story about the obstacles of immigration for asylum-seekers, this theatrical depiction is an unfortunate reality for many people, not just in Finland. Empathetically told and visually clever, we follow one man as he navigates a system that is working against him.
Prize of the Youth Jury
HOW TO PLEASE
Elina Talvensaari | Finland | 2023 | Documentary | 28 min
The project was executed in a style that is entirely new and distinct. Its topic is touching and timely and the story it tells is both humane and easy to approach. Its set design is original and works fantastically as a frame for the main character’s story.
The documentary describes strikingly how it feels to be in the clutches of the system and stuck in a limbo of bureaucracy.
Tampere Nominee For The European Short Film Audience Award 2024
NUN OR NEVER!
Heta Jäälinoja | Finland | 2023 | Animation | 11 min
Over 30 minutes
Main Prize
5 000 €
(Finnkino Oy)
HARD TO BREAK
Anna-Maija Heinonen, Krista Moisio | Finland | 2024 | Documentary | 81 min
When we talk about access in documentary filmmaking, these filmmakers manage to show us the lives of their protagonists in equal measure to the young characters themselves. They tell us their story with honesty, vulnerability and with a critical lens on social exclusion. This is a film about longing for love, friendship, security and, in the end, survival.
Special Prize
1 500 €
(The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture AVEK)
EILA BABUSHKA – MUMMONI ON TOISTA MAATA
Matti Elo | Finland | 2024 | Documentary | 41 min
This touching, intimate portrait of rootlessness and identity explores how deeply entwined we are with our past. Told through different generations of Ingrian Finns, this straightforward yet layered film offers universal themes about oppression and propaganda.
Both Series
Risto Jarva Prize
10 000 €
(The Finnish Film Foundation)
HOW TO PLEASE
Elina Talvensaari | Finland | 2023 | Documentary | 28 min
This strong and topical film provides a humane depiction of an inhumane system. The protagonist’s resilience within the wheels of unjust and faceless bureaucracy is touching. The simplified mise-en-scène gives space for Wed’s relatable story.
The Church Media Foundation Prize
1 500 €
(The Church Media Foundation)
DO NO HARM
Satu Majava, Joel Tainio | Finland | 2024 | Documentary | 59 min
Compassion is the superpower of humanity, and now it is needed more than it has been in a long time. The protagonist of the film chosen by the Church Media Foundation experiences deep compassion and a sense of duty to help. As the brutal Russian attack on Ukraine begins, relief efforts are launched even before humanitarian chains have been established.
The video camera circulates on the front lines of aid work, echoing the unpredictable rhythm of war and successfully capturing the conflicts and uncertainties experienced by the helpers. However, what remains foremost in the viewer’s memory is a quiet understanding that hope strengthens through action.
Sustainability Award Verso
2 000 €
(Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, City of Tampere, Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI, Tampere Film Festival)
NUN OR NEVER!
Böhle Studios | Heta Jäälinoja | Finland | 2023 | Animation | 11 min
The crew of this film had a systematic and comprehensive approach to environmental sustainability, taking into account an umbrella of beneficial actions, all the way from pre-production and using renewables to traveling by land for the premiere abroad. The film is Albert certified, meaning that it is officially proved by a third party that good deeds were made. All of this makes it an inspiring example for us all.
Golden Shade Equipment Rental Prize For Cinematographer
20 000 €
(Valofirma – The Light House, Kamerafirma – The Camera House)
MÁHCCAN – KOTIINPALUU
Anssi Kömi | Finland | 2023 | Documentary | 75 min
The camerawork in this documentary is essential to the narrative which respectfully reflects themes of land, history and artifacts of the Saami People.
Tampere Film Festival Student Award
1 500€
(The Union of Film and Media Employees Finland SET)
ISÄN MÄYRÄ
Sameli Muurimäki | Finland | 2024 | Fiction | 20 min
National Competition, Audience Award
EN SALAA SINULTA MITÄÄN
Veikko Aaltonen | Finland | 2024 | Documentary | 84 min
Generation XYZ
Best Genre Film
2 000 €
(Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI)
SE DIT D’UN CERF QUI QUITTE SON BOIS
Salomé Crickx | Belgium | 2023 | Fiction | 20 min
We would like to award a film that starts with a girl peeing in the woods and an elderly woman being shot in the face with a shotgun. What can possibly go wrong after such a beginning? Not much, in Salome Crickx’s impressively rhythmically accomplished short film Said of a Deer That Sheds Its Antlers.
With a firm grip on directing and editing, the film poses a drastic and entertaining solution to the issues with an increasingly older population. Full of surprising twists and turns, the film combines great ensemble acting and an innovative approach to an actual societal issue – all conceived within a distinct genre setting.
Generation XYZ, Special Mention
WILDMEN OF THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
Solmund MacPherson | Canada | 2023 | Fiction | 13 min
We’d like to give a special mention for the scriptwriting in the film Wildmen of the Greater Toronto area. It is an entertaining critique on late stage capitalism and how we’re prisoners of a consumerist system that makes us turn against our fellow human beings.
Generation XYZ, Audience Award
BANNKORB
Vincent Ercolani, Julius Schulze Farwick, Nicholas Dues | Germany | 2024 | Fiction | 18 min
Sylvi prize
Sylvi Prize for the Best TV Series Script
EROJA JA SOVINTOJA
Paula Mononen, Kaarle Aho | Finland | 2023 | Fiction | 2 x 22 min
Sylvi Prize for the Best Film Script
JE’VIDA
Katja Gauriloff, Niillas Holmberg | Finland | 2023 | Fiction | 103 min
