‘Amplified’ Takes Top Prize at HollyShorts Film Festival

Diana Naser’s Amplified took home the top prize at this year’s Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival (which concluded Sunday) with Anuja, Wander to Wonder, and The Final Copy of Ilon Specht also being honored with prizes. HollyShorts distributed prizes in a large number of categories (all listed below), but Naser’s film now advances Live Action Short consideration status (along with Anuja). Wander could find real contention in the Animated Short category for how it makes us confront death and our own humanity. On the documentary side, can you ever really count out Ben Proudfoot? The two-time Oscar winning director is our current reigning winner of the Documentary Short for his work with Kris Bowers for The Last Repair Shop.

Of the winners in the other categories, I was thrilled to see that A Family Guide to Hunting took home some recognition for how it made me examine my own reactions to it. Portia A. Buckley’s Clodagh is a short that I think we should keep our eyes on. I loved The Cockroach (I caught it at Indy Shorts), so I am glad it’s keeping its name out there and people are responding to its story.

Check out the full list of winners below.

Oscar-qualifying categories:

BEST SHORT FILM GRAND PRIZE: Amplified, Diana Naser
BEST LIVE ACTION: Anuja, Adam J. Graves
BEST ANIMATION: Wander to Wonder, Nina Gantz
BEST DOCUMENTARY: The Final Copy of Ilon Specht, Ben Proudfoot

Other categories:

Best Director: Kate Hollowell, Say Hi After You Die
Best: Motherland, Jasmin Mozaffari
Best Comedy: Deep Tish, Dave Paige
Best Cinematography: Corpse Fishing, Pip White
Script Compass Genre Story Award: A Family Guide to Hunting, Zao Wang
Best Horror: Bill, Emily Dhue
Best Editing: The Cockroach, Patrick Lawrence
Best International: The Masterpiece, Àlex Lora
Latinx Award: The Ballad of Tita and the Machines, Miguel Angel Caballero
Best LGBTQIA+: Sister Wives, Louisa Connolly-Burnham
Best Midnight Madness: Dream Creep, Carlos A.F. Lopez
AAPI Award: Fishtank, Wendi Tang
Best Producer: Tea, Gabriella Piazza
Best SAGINDIE: Azi, Montana Mann
Best Sports: Black Mark, Jaren Hayman
Best Sci-Fi: Paeonia, Pedro Xavier Buson
KODAK Best Shot on Film, 35MM: Clodagh, Portia A. Buckley
KODAK Best Shot on Film, 16MM: Deep in My Heart is a Song, Jonathan Pickett
KODAK  Nest Shot on Film, HONORABLE MENTION: Mort, Giselle Bonilla
Social Impact Award: His Mother, Maia Jo Scalia
Best Thriller: Cameron, Sam Freedman
Best Student Film: Fishmonger, Neil Ferron
Best TV: Loft and Found, Pete O’Hare
Best VFX: Fireline, Robin Takao D’Oench
Best Web Series: Dick Bunny, Katie Locke O’Brien
Best Female Screenplay: Babka, Serena Dykman
HollyShorts Honorable Mention: Play Date, Laura Campbell, Amberlee Colson
Best TV Screenplay: Something Weird About Winston, Wilandrea Blair
Cotrini Rising Director Award: Bella Thorne
Best Short Screenplay Grand Prize: Oops My Dad is a Duck, Shaun Radecki
Best Feature Screenplay: Crabs in a Mother F*cking Bucket, Kari Mote
ISA Story Award: Empty House, Sheida Sheikha
Best Podcast: Gladstone Girls, Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton

Live Action Short Finalists
Amplied, Dina Naser
1UP, Greg Francis
Clodagh, Portia A. Buckley
Corpse Fishing, Jean Liu
The Last Ranger, Cindy Lee
The Fishing Net, Anna Palinkas
Yaya, Leticia Akel Escárate
Anuja, Adam J. Graves
Say Hi After You Die, Kate Hollowell
Motherland, Jasmin Mozaffari