The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has unveiled the winners of the 63rd MIFF Shorts Awards. The winners were announced on Saturday at a ceremony at ACMI with A$50,000 in prize money awarded across multiple categories.
Winners were selected from the main 2024 MIFF Shorts program, which this year featured more than 60 works of short-form content selected from some 35 countries and carefully curated into nine packaged presentations across animation, experimental, fiction and documentary.
The 2024 Shorts Awards Jury comprised award-winning screenwriter, director and former TV journalist Beck Cole; COO at Mushroom Studios, entertainment lawyer and producer Bethany Jones; and artist, film director, performance-maker, writer and Artistic Director of Back to Back Theatre Bruce Gladwin.
MIFF 2024 Shorts Awards winners
Click on the links for more information on the films, including ticket information.
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film
‘Filmmaking par excellence … Who holds the titular role in this tightly crafted story about resistance is revealed through a masterclass of writing, performance, cinematography, direction and sound design.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste
VicScreen Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film
‘The performances delivered by the young cast are impressive, and the short film manages to deliver a powerful message about the expectations placed on girls and young women in Australian society today while also offering some hope for change.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
Dylan Ferenc Nyerges – Bőr (Skin)
Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker
Dylan Ferenc Nyerges – Bőr (Skin). Image: MIFF.
‘The cast delivers powerful and understated performances in this beautifully realised film … while the production and sound design add a terrifying sense of isolation, loneliness and hopelessness.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
The Masterpiece
Award for Best Fiction Short Film
‘This clever, thrilling and engaging film uses an innocent interaction to leave the audience unbalanced and wondering who to trust at each turn. [Àlex Lora] Cercós expertly uses tension to grip and subvert audiences’ expectations and reflect our own values back to us.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying
Award for Best Documentary Short Film
‘A complex exploration of memory and identity as a form of resistance. Under [Aylin] Gökmen’s hand, the story and the aesthetics deftly move between trauma and tenderness … to provide audiences with a deeper understanding of the ongoing effects … of persecution and erasure.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
Father’s Letters
Award for Best Animation Short Film
‘Emotional and poetic … Powerfully combines documentary and animation to cultivate an incredibly well-constructed and moving film. It’s a timely reminder of the impacts of war and how small acts of resilience have a legacy.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
Light, Noise, Smoke, and Light, Noise, Smoke
Award for Best Experimental Short Film
‘A choreography of propulsion, combustion, illumination and gravity creates polyrhythms of sequential firework explosions … Tomonari Nishikawa’s film turns a barrage of cannon fire into endless openings and energetic but always fading life force.’ – 2024 Shorts Awards Jury.
