Sony Future Filmmaker Awards Shortlist Announced

Contest

by Francesco AndreolaJanuary 27^th, 2023

Sony has just announced the 30 shortlisted short films that made it to the final stage of the first-ever Sony Future Filmmaker Awards. Final winners will be announced on February 22, 2023 during an exclusive award ceremony in Los Angeles.

In July last year, Sony launched the first edition of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, an online filmmaking contest that is destined to become an annual appointment to pay homage to the work of some of the most talented storytellers in the world. The initiative achieved resounding success, gathering 3,000 entries submitted by filmmakers from 140 countries competing in 6 different categories.

Their creative effort was carefully judged by the attentive eyes of a one-of-a-kind jury, comprised of big names such as award-winning director Justin Chadwick, Nicole Brown (President of TriStar Pictures), Jeremy Barber (Partner in the Motion Picture Literary and Talent Departments at UTA) and, last but definitely not least, Oscar-winning cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC.

Sony Future Filmmaker Awards: 30 shortlisted films

Among the 4,000 films that were submitted, the prestigious judges were asked to select 30 short films for the final round of the competition. All 30 trailers are available to watch on the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards’ website. So without any further ado, here’s the full list of names you’d better keep an eye on, sorted by category.

FILMMAKER

Fiction

• Saul Abraham (UK) – ENJOY
• Dumas Haddad (UK) – Flowers
• Dan Thorburn (UK) – Salt Water Town
• Joy Webster (Canada) – Menace
• Ka Ki Wong (Hong Kong) – Fire Room

Non-Fiction

• Alfie Barker (UK) – Hanging On 
• Horacio Cabilla (Spain) – This Is My Reason 
• Juan Vicente Manrique Gomez (Venezuela) – No Te Agüites (Don’t Worry)
• Julianna Jimreivat (USA) – Letting Go of the Grade 
• Daniela Lucato (Italy) – The Things You Don’t Know About Me, Mom

Environment

• Pedro Furtado (Brazil) – The Good Dolphins
• Austin Smock (USA) – The Beauty Between
• Alexander Sworik (Canada) – Seawolf
• Joaquín Ezequiel Tucci (Argentina) – Despertólogo Ambiental
• Thanh Tran (Vietnam) – The Voice of the Wind

STUDENT FILMMAKER

Fiction

• Theo-Ziny Joel (Nigeria), National Film Institute, Nigeria – Read My Body
• Alisha Mehra (Australia), Swinburne University of Technology, Australia – Match Point
• Juan Pablo Daranas Molina (Cuba), New York University Tisch School of the Arts, USA – The Confirmation
• Mateo Salas (Colombia), Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia – The Sun of the River
• Pietro Venier (Italy), University of West London, UK – The Hook

Non-fiction

• Catalina Fonseca Arango (Colombia), Corporación Universitaria Taller 5, Colombia – Stories of a Dancing Mind
• Shiao-ya (Maggie) Huang (Taiwan), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore – Farewell Chang Chun
• Seonghoon Eric Park (Republic of Korea), Boston University, USA – In Cod We Trust
• Lubeera Saphina (Uganda), Kampala University, Uganda – Ghetto Fist
• Ishan Vaidya (India), The University of Salford, UK – Puffin Island 

FUTURE FORMAT

• Jose Jacob (India) – My India
• Ria Nalavade (India) – Magic Eraser
  Ginna Parra (Colombia) – Filtros (Filters)
• Jacob Redman (UK) – Subversive 
• Pan Tianhong (China Mainland) – Homework for Winter Vacation

Awards ceremony in February

An exclusive award ceremony will take place on February 22, 2023 at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, California. All shortlisted filmmakers will be flown to Los Angeles to be gifted with a 3-day educational experience accompanied by Sony Pictures executives. My colleague Nino Leitner will attend the event in LA to report from there for CineD as well.

Moreover, the 6 final winners will be rewarded with cash prizes of up to $5,000 and spanking new filmmaking gear. And eventually, they will benefit from hard-earned credit and resonance.

What do you think of this annual awards program from Sony? Have you watched the trailers for some of the selected works already? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!