In – Short Film festival 2012, a short film festival organized by the International Film and broadcast academy (with Victor Okhai at the helm of affairs), in partnership with Goethe Institute, was held last month. A statement from the Chairman of the jury Shaibu Husseini, captures the three days film screening process with the emergence of the winners thus :

“… We looked through over 40 entries comprising short films, short documentaries and a couple of infomercials that aptly captured the theme of this year’s festival, which is ‘Simple Idea…Great movies’. The unprecedented number of entries, in all categories and from different countries of the world, can lead only to this conclusion: that the IN-SHORT film festival has, indeed, become a truly international event. I served on the jury last year, and comparably I would like to report that this year witnessed a remarkable increase in the quality of the films submitted.

From their technical qualities to the acting and directing, the 2012 film slate is most impressive. We saw films that were well shot and whose stories were dramatically imaginative with diverse thematic concerns and narrative techniques. The competition in most categories was very strong and our decisions reflect much thought and debate.

In all, the Jury is impressed by the quality and diversity of the storylines of the films presented. We saw films that told real and uplifting stories: films that were compelling, films that were visually stylish, films that took full advantage of the power of the lenses to explore the world, and films that signaled the emergence of a whole crop of young and ambitious filmmakers who are determined to keep cinema alive and well.

In fact it took us longer time to agree on the eventual winner in the different categories because of the unarguably high standard and convincing styles clearly evident in the nominated films.But we saw films that left us with sour tastes as though we tasted burnt bread. Not only were their stories implausible, it was spurious and their scripts did not match their visual sophistication. The Jury also wishes to highlight that the documentaries entered this year were of very low quality compared to the maiden edition. Indeed the Jury didn’t find their examination of the relationship between subject and the filmmaker, fascinating. Therefore we found that improvement was needed in the documentary film category. The Jury therefore had to take the painful decision not to give an award in that category because of shortcomings, especially the perceivable low artistic level. So there will be no award for the documentary category this time around. But we have included two categories this year and that is the music and special effect category. We observed efforts by some filmmakers to make these elements count in their films.

We commend the advances being made by these directors and producers and specifically single out these short movies- Loop, Silver Lining, The Birth and To Live Again for Honourable mention. We applaud Loop for its bold innovation; Silver Lining for offering a refreshing insight into autism, a condition of which parents and the general public need to be aware of, The Birth for its treatment of the Jos crisis and To Live Again for offering a non-stereotypical insight into the issue of HIV/AIDS. We are, therefore, unanimous in our decision to honour these four films with a Honourable Mention from the Jury…”

Shaibu Husseini as stated earlier was the Jury chair, with these notable members: DR. BOLA ADEMESO (Senior Lecturer at the Department of Theatre Arts, Lagos State University), DR. BECKY ANGYUR (Visiting Research Fellow/film and media scholar), AUGUSTA OKON (published writer, lawyer, event manager, film critic and blogger), YEMI OLADEINDE (Journalist, film critic, programmer and PR/Media Consultant).

NOMINEES AND WINNERS FOR IN-SHORT FESTival 2012

1. BEST SCREEN PLAY
1. BIG DADDY
2. NATIONAL CAKE
3. SILVERLINING
4. TILL DEATH DO US PART
5. TO LIVE AGAIN

WINNER: NATIONAL CAKE

2. BEST SOUND
1. MIND TRIP
2. BIG DADDY
3. TO LIVE AGAIN
4. TILL DEATH DO US PART
5. LOOP

WINNER: LOOP... read more on http://9aijabooksandmovies./2012/11/01/till-death-do-us-part-shines-at-in-short-international-film-festival-2012-view-list-of-nominees-and-winners/

I saw Big Daddy on Youtube and it was pretty good. Any idea where we can find the other shorts?