The Shortlist Film Festival invaded the YouTube Space LA Tuesday, after filmmakers from around the world submitted their projects, TheWrap narrowed the field to 12 finalists.
Gabriel Osorio’s “Bear Story” won TheWrap’s Audience Award and the Jury Prize; Runners-up were Frankie Shaw for her short, “SMILF” and Ian Samuels with “Myrna the Monster.” Pepsi’s first Creators League Award went to Mike and Tim Rauch for “1st Squad, 3rd Platoon.”
Now in its fourth year, the Shortlist added a new category for an original film, titled Pepsi’s Creators League, which chooses one new short, up to five minutes in length.
Read TheWrap’s interviews with the 12 finalists below.
1. “SMILF”
Director Frankie Shaw took inspiration from her own life, in which she struggled as a single mom.
A trip to Berlin changes a man’s preconceived notions about Germans.
Réka Bucsi’s experimental animated short consists of almost four dozen vignettes, most about animals.
4. “Mulignans”
“One of our intentions was to offend,” director Shaka King says.
5. “The Baby”
Director Ali Asgari’s film focuses on women in strict societies who fight for their right to have children unconventionally.
6. “Send”
Director Peter Vack also talks about enlisting friend and costar Julia Garner as the film’s lead.
7. “Bear Story”
In Gabriel Osorio’s short, a bear is a stand-in for his grandfather during the bloody Pinochet regime in Chile.
Voicemail messages from a nosy landlady formed the basis for Brian Bolster’s short documentary.
Nobody was more surprised than director Ben Aston when his film, made in two weekends for 50 pounds, became a festival hit.
Writer-director Ian Samuels combines puppetry, animation and live action for his look at an ultimate outsider.
Director Einar Baldvin took inspiration from wildly disparate sources for his creepy animated short.
12. “Drama”
A young couple having sex in a car realizes that there are no more condoms left.
Creators League Award
The four-minute film traces a day in the life of chefs-to-be as they slice, baste and whisk their way to rehabilitation.
“The thing that really stood out was his resolve to live on,” says director Mike Rauch of Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Williams.
The main character gets mugged, and instead of letting it go, decides to confront her attacker.