/previous editions/2020
/press release 2020
The 2020 Boston Short Film Festival featured a great selection of 46 short films – hailing from the United States and all over the world. Unfortunately, this year's edition didn't pan out exactly as foreseen. With COVID-19 still keeping us in its grip, a physical event was not on the table this summer. However, the BSFF team is very happy to confirm that the entire 2020 selection is set to be screened for the public in the summer of 2021, alongside next year's official selection.
In the meantime, the jury members have not been sitting still, but have been viewing each film and casting their votes. The Boston Short Film Festival is delighted to announce the award winners for the 2020 edition.
The award for the Best Narrative Film went to TATTOO (Iran) by Farhad Delaram. A young Iranian woman wants to renew her driver's license, but ends up being subjected to an examination when the officials notice a scar on her wrist and a tattoo. Suddenly she is trapped, forced to answer personal questions and exposed to insinuations. The camera captures the growing uneasiness with clinical precision.
THE UNDOCUMENTED LAWYER (U.S.) by Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci was awarded as Best Documentary Film. Lizbeth Mateo is an attorney in Los Angeles—one who started a law practice, hired employees, and took an oath to uphold the U.S. constitution. She also has no legal right to be in the country. Lizbeth is undocumented. Frustrated by a broken system, she draws from her own experiences to fight for immigrant rights in the streets and in the courts. Lizbeth teaches to fight back—because sometimes you need to ignore the law in order to change it.
The Best Animated Film award went to HOUNDS (Israel) by Ido Shapira and Amit Cohen. The life of a dog, trained to act as human, changes when a pack of Hounds gathers around his house.
OBSCURE DESIRE (U.S.) by Kunlin Wang was awarded as Best Experimental Film. Obscure Desire is a coming-of-age journey of a teenage boy who sexually awakens after discovering the sexual relationship between his father figure and sister figure. The sibling love and companionship, which once served to counterbalance familial strangeness, is now disturbed and gradually develops into a sexual attraction and desire.
Best Underground Film went to ARTEMIO'S LONELINESS VOL. 1 (Mexico) by Juan Carlos R. Larrondo. Sex, city lights and daydreaming. Artemio embarks on regular nocturnal escapades to a porn theater and clandestine gay spots downtown. Along the way, he describes his voyeuristic experiences. This is his life. Until he meets Octavio.
And last but not least, SIZE 22 (U.S.) by Xintian Wang and Julia Kim was given the award for Best Boston Film. Constance Smith is an Afro Latina plus size model from Boston, MA. She is an advocate for anyone struggling to love and accept their bodies. The documentary 'Size 22' features how Constance Smith breaks the stereotypical beauty standard that idealizes thinness and pushes the idea that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
BSFF believes in short films! Recognizing the important role shorts have in cinema, storytelling, and culture, BSFF wants to help empower the next generation of artists. The Boston Short Film Festival is an annual event showcasing shorts films with an edge. The BSFF focuses on the unconventional, the unusual, the underground, the intuitive, the innovative, the minimalistic and the true artists of our time.
We hope very much to see you all at next year's festival, for twice as many short film gems!
/official selection 2020
Speed (U.S.) by Nicholas Stachurski
Displacement (United Kingdom) by Guli Silberstein
Tattoo (Iran) by Farhad Delaram (Best Narrative Short Film)
Size 22 (U.S.) by Xintian Wang, Julia Kim (Best Boston Short Film)
On (Australia) by Jelena Sinik
Dare! (Sweden) by Gustav Olsson
Spike (Canada) by Steven Griffin
Tears need rest (Norway) by Halvor Nitteberg
Disconnected (China) by Iris Xu
Park Avenue (U.S.) by Jordan Brown
Betula (U.S.) by Jenni Nelson
The Five Minutes (China) by Shange Zhang
Birth of a Poet (U.S.) by James Franco, Pedro Gómez Millán, Zachary Kerschberg
The Divine Way (Germany) by Ilaria Di Carlo
Fracture (U.S.) by Cynical Smile (Karl Richter)
Hounds (Israel) by Ido Shapira, Amit Cohen (Best Animated Short Film)
Decorum (Australia) by Lorenzo Monti
Re-Education of the Senses (U.S.) by Erinn E. Hagerty & Adam Savje
Fragile Machines (U.S.) by Derek Johnson, Luke Smithers
Serendipity (U.S.) by Maximillian Aguiar
Pigeon (U.S.) by Raphael Halloran
Artemio's Loneliness Vol. 1 (Mexico) by Juan Carlos R. Larrondo (Best Underground Short Film)
Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa (U.S.) by Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, Mike Attie
noonwraith blues (United Kingdom) by Kamila Kuc
Freedom Prep (U.S.) by Elle Ginter
The Undocumented Lawyer (U.S.) by Chris Temple, Zach Ingrasci (Best Documentary Short Film)
Pacific (Lebanon) by Angie Obeid
Ashes to Ashes (U.S.) by Taylor Rees, Renan Ozturk
Dear Hearing World (United Kingdom) by Adam Docker
An Apartment In New York (U.S.) by Chad Knuth
Scalpers (U.S.) by Eric Gheorghe
Bad Furniture (U.S.) by Randall Maxwell
Grandpa's Ranch (Brazil) by Gustavo Rosa
Deternity (Austria) by Mersolis Schöne, Evi Jägle
Schmetterling (United Kingdom) by Ella Scanlon
Flood (Germany) by Malte Stein
Gum (U.S.) by Jacob Reed
F For Freaks (Germany) by Sabine Ehrl
We are all on the same bus (Portugal) by Nuno Serrão
Game (Iran) by Ali Haddadi
Fifteen (United Kingdom) by Peiman Zekavat
Pandemia (Hong Kong) by Yiannis Biliris
Aranay (Cuba) by Rudolf Fitzgerald-Leonard
Kaxa Marca (Peru) by Mariel Sosa
Obscure Desire (U.S.) by Kunlin Wang (Best Experimental Short Film)