Press Release

Fujifilm Shorts competition winners announced

The winners of the 2010 Fujifilm Shorts competition have been unveiled at a ceremony in London's Soho.

The Business Trip (Voyage D'Affaires) collected the Best Film award, while DP Yoliswa Gärtig's work on Native Son won the Best Cinematography prize.

The Business Trip tells the story of Jean Paul, who learns he has been dumped by his girlfriend while away on business. He finds an unexpected proposition waiting for him in his hotel room. The film was nominated for a BAFTA in 2009 and is soon to be screened on French television.

Joe Bateman paid tribute to The Business Trip, when he presented Sean Ellis, director of the film with his award: "The shortlist was very strong and all 12 films had their merits, but the judges felt The Business Trip really stood out as the winner of Best Film. It has everything - a great script, it's entertaining, the camera work and lighting are excellent and it's brilliantly acted."

Native Son is the tale of John, a young man struggling with life in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. At times brutal, Native Son deals with humanity and loneliness. Flemming Jetmar made this comment on the film when he presented Yoliswa Gärtig with her prize for Best Cinematography: "Native Son is a truly outstanding film - it draws you in from the first frame, and all the judges were instantly hooked. The light has been handled superbly by Yoliswa and it has the feel of a feature - the whole thing looks fabulous."

The judging panel was: Tim Pope - Director, Danny Cohen BSC - Director of Photography, Trevor Forrest - Director of Photography, Robin Vidgeon BSC - Director of Photography, Nigel Walters BSC - Director of Photography, Flemming Jetmar - Director of Photography & Born Shorts, Matt Adams - Technicolor, Jesse Vile - Future Shorts, Joe Bateman - Rushes Soho Shorts and Jerry Deeney - Fujifilm Motion Picture.

"This is second year we have run Fujifilm Shorts and, as with 2009, the standard of entries was very high," explains Jerry Deeney, Marketing Manager Motion Picture Film. "The two winners couldn't be more different in terms of subject matter and style and this perfectly illustrates the diversity of the submissions we received."

Nearly 100 submissions were received, each shot by UK based filmmakers and entirely on Fujifilm Motion Picture film stock. From these initial entries, the judges selected 12 final nominations, from where the overall winners were chosen.

Fujifilm Shorts Best Film winner The Business Trip (Voyage D'Affaires) was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8573 ; Best Cinematography winner Native Son was shot on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 400T 8583.

The two winners can now look forward to receiving some great prizes courtesy of the competition's sponsors. Each prize package includes:

  • £2,000 worth of Fujifilm Motion Picture stock plus an expenses paid trip to the Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, in Poland, December 2010 as guests of Fujifilm.
  • A 'Rushes Processing Package' from Technicolor.
  • A 35mm print of the winning films from Technicolor Creative Services.
  • Five-day lighting hire package courtesy of Panalux.
  • Panavision is supplying a 35mm or 16mm Camera and Dolly hire package.
  • A 'Three-Day Weekend' studio hire package from Island Studios.
  • Free subscriptions and editorial support from British Cinematographer Magazine,
  • Moviescope Magazine and Film & Festivals Magazine.
  • An invitation from The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) to all BSC social and technical events for the next year.
  • The two winning films will also be automatically entered into the competition at the Born Shorts International Short Film Festival in Bornholm, Denmark and will be screened as part of the festival programme at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival.
  • Each film will also be considered for a worldwide distribution deal with Future Shorts.
  • The two winning films, plus a selection of nominated films, will be chosen for a 90 minute programme for Fujifilm Shorts at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival in July 2010.

The 2011 Shorts competition will launch this autumn, further details will be posted on www.fujifilmshorts.com

Ends