A shepherd’s efforts to save his animals from the snow is the story told in what jurors declared the best short film at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
The French-Moroccan film “So What If the Goats Die,” a 23-minute drama with supernatural elements written and directed by Sofia Alaoui, won the Grand Jury Prize for short films, festival organizers announced Tuesday night.
The jury — made up of “Fleabag” actress Sian Clifford, Strand Releasing co-founder Marcus Hu, and artist and filmmaker Cindy Sherman — watched 74 short films, which were selected by festival programmers from a record 10,397 submissions.
[Read more: Two made-in-Utah movies wow audiences at their Sundance premieres]
The award-winning short films will be screened together at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2, the festival’s final day.
Besides “So What If the Goats Die,” the award winners are:
(Kristin Kouke | Courtesy of Sundance Institute) Antonio Watson appears in "-Ship: A Visual Poem," directed by Terrance Daye, which won the Short Film Jury Prize for U.S. Fiction at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
• The Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction went to writer-director Terrence Daye’s “-Ship: A Visual Poem,” which follows a black boy on the day of his cousin’s funeral, as he learns contradictory lessons about masculinity.
(Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute) An image from "The Devil’s Harmony," directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, winner of the Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
• The Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction went to director Dylan Holmes Williams’ “The Devil’s Harmony,” from the United Kingdom. It shows a bullied teen girl leading an a cappella club “on a trail of destruction against her high school enemies,” according to the festival’s program notes.
(John Shepherd | Courtesy of Sundance Institute) An image from "John Was Trying to Contact Aliens," directed by Matthew Killip, which won the Short Film Jury Prize for Non-Fiction at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
• The Short Film Jury Award for Non-Fiction went to American director Matthew Kilip’s “John Was Trying to Control Aliens,” about a man whose 30-year quest to broadcast music into space led him to make a different connection on Earth.
(Image courtesy of Sundance Institute) An image from "Daughter," directed by Daria Kascheeva, which won the Short Film Jury Award for Animation at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
• The Short Film Jury Award for Animation went to “Daughter,” a Czech film by Daria Kashcheeva, about a girl in a hospital room trying to recall a childhood moment with her father. The film is also nominated for an Academy Award in the animated short film category.
(Alireza Barazandeh | Courtesy of Sundance Institute) Sadaf Asgari won the Short Film Jury Award for Acting for her role in director Sonia K. Hadad's film "Exam" at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
• The Short Film Jury Award for Acting went to Sadaf Asgari, who appears in director Sonia K. Hadad’s film from Iran, “Exam.” Asgari plays a teen girl who gets stuck in a weird cycle of events when she tries to deliver a packet of cocaine to a client.
(Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute) Michael Arcos won the Short Film Jury Prize for Directing, for his work on "Valerio's Day Out," at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
• The Short Film Jury Prize for Directing goes to Michael Arcos, for the U.S./Colombian film “Valerio’s Day Out,” in which a jaguar escapes from the zoo, goes on a killing spree, gets captured, is sedated and relocated — then records a video diary for his significant other, Lula.
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