Good evening, dear ladies and gentlemen, all the in-betweens and arounds. Welcome to the award ceremony of the 8th Linz International Short Film Festival 2025. Thank you very much. thank you very much my name is Michaela Schausberger as Ashkan wrote it up here and I'm gonna be your host for tonight over the last four days you were able to watch 70 short films that means 70 different perspectives, 70 different stories, 70 different ideas, and each one was a very unique piece of work. Yes. Yes. Is there anybody in here who saw all the 70 films? Yeah, really? Well, not the jury. I hope the 70 films. Yeah, really? Well, not the jury. I hope the jury did, but yeah. How many people were that? Can we count them, please? I saw one hand, two? Two, was it two? Okay, big applause for them. Woo, you really did a good job. Maybe you can be in the jury next time then. Very good. So, and as unique as these films were, so are we as filmmakers, as participants, as organizers, as founders, and as hosts, as guests, as audience. And when all these unique people here in the audience tonight get together and celebrate the passion we all share, which is cinema and film, this will be a very encouraging and heartening closure of this year's festival. Let's celebrate. of this year's festival. Let's celebrate! So if you have been here the last years or at the opening ceremony already, you know that I'm a fan of some kind of improvisation and tonight I want to do some ice-breaking game or, I don't know, part with you. And I have some questions to you. Is somebody in the audience tonight who is in this cinema the first time right now, not just the last days? Is somebody in here who is here the first time? Okay, perfect. Very good. Welcome to the City Kino. And so I assume you have not been on this stage here ever before. Would you like to come up to me? And yeah, thank you very much. Great. Perfect. Okay, another question question anybody in the audience who has been to the cinema but not on stage here who hasn't been on stage okay come up come up here please i would love to welcome here you on stage thank you very much is it just two people nobody. You won't be hurt or something like that. Might be a bit strenuous, but nothing else. OK, I don't see anybody else. Is that true? You're not? OK. Don't hold back. You're allowed to come up. OK, well, thank you very much. Hi, nice to meet you. Would you like to introduce yourself? Just a few words about yourself? My name is Anastasia Angelova and I'm here as part of the First Feature Lab Talents. Perfect, thank you. So, I'm Matej, I come from Slovakia. I discovered this festival two years ago and it was already going on so I couldn't come so the last year I well of course I was here and I enjoyed the last year as well as this year it's amazing so I will continue further on thank you hello I am Paweł and I'm from Torrent. I'm a student and I'm on this festival mainly because this guy was here last year and he told me it was cool. Thank you very much. So you already told us a story about how a friendship can grow and how festivals bring people together and that's what we want to do right now everybody is invited just to get up right now we're gonna do a little warm-up in here because i'm already warmed up but probably you are not. I would beg you just to raise up and now the jury member Pyrrhus is gonna do some part with us. Sofia you can come up on stage as well if you want. Come on. Or you can stay down whenever you want. I might stay down because the light is very strong. Because I also want to see you guys. I thought I would be doing this later, so I'm a bit surprised, but... Yeah, sorry. It was not in my mind, it was in your mind. Yes, it was only in my mind. Yeah. So, yeah. I just want to say some words. The idea was... Sorry, sorry. Piros, your part starts in a few seconds. All right. Thank you, thank you all right so the idea was last year there was a festival winner and she sent us a message a video message and there she did a dance in there it was an Iranian dance or a kind of I don't know I'm not sure if it was really an Iranian dance, but it was like she was Iranian and she did a dance. And I thought, oh my God, a dance, like a festival dance, would there be a cool tradition just to do it like regularly? And probably in the ninth edition next year, we all have a kind of choreography we could do again. And now we've got our choreographer here, Piros. And we're going to do a little whatever he's going to teach you. Yeah, we're going to keep it very simple, guys. So in Iran, our dance is a lot about control. So you have to, I mean mean the shoulder is the most important you know shoulder control so you gotta you know you can get faster you can you know start to shake and then that's and then you gotta dance just okay and then you have to keep your shoulders still, and then you gotta shake your, you know, however, yeah, shake your hips. Just move your hips. Okay. You got that? Great. And now we're gonna do it together, okay? We wanted to have music for this part, but I'm sorry. Next year, hopefully we'll have some musicians here who will you know also do live music but thank you. Thank you very much! Okay thank you very much you can take a seat again. Yeah that was lovely and great to see you all kind of dance in here. That was good. And we can continue then after the award ceremony in the Art University where our dance floor will be open then afterwards. Perfect. Yeah, maybe we can get a tradition out of this. It's not so complicated, was it? No, I don't think so. All right. Just some information for you. We're going to broadcast live. So please turn off your mobile phones or set in flight mode. And the live broadcast will be via Radio Fro and via Dorf TV. I think it works, right? Does it? Yes, I think so. Perfect. So, thank you for joining this improvisation and yeah, I think now it's time to get kind of serious and that's why I beg the co-founder of this festival, Linz International Festival, Parisa Rassemi, here on stage. Please welcome her. Thank you. I'm really thankful that all of you are here this night. I love to welcome you also to our award ceremony. It's really lovely to have all of you here. It was a really lovely day with all of you here it was really lovely day with all of you and we had like i had i cannot talk for everyone but i had really a pleasure with the like having and being with all of you and talking with all of you and yes i wanted to say some thank you to Mishaela who is every year here with us. I'm really thankful. And I really want to thank to our team. They are really, I cannot describe how they are working. Like everyone working for four people, five people. I don't know. Like really multitask. So, and our team, as you have already seen, is really small. And I just want to say a big thank you to all of you. Ashkan Nemation, the other co-director and co-founder of the festival he's the one who is always on the backstage and and I'm on the stage but we really do most of the work together. Sometimes we even do more for the festival as we have the Film Talent Academy since three years and I'm also doing a lot of stuff there. So sometimes we even do more than me, but I'm always on the stage. So I wanted to be really thankful for that and also Clara Schultes and Angelica Sturz the two ladies that you always seen at guest office and we had also this year Ali with us who were doing the photography and he did really great photos I'm really happy for all the photos that you are seeing on the social media is his work and the next one is Matei, the one who was taking your tickets there. Thank you very much. I'm really happy to have you also in our team. And we are a graphic designer who is living in Iran, and we are working remotely with her, Maryam Baradaron. She's not here, but hopefully one will be here. And then I want also to say thank you to Dove TV for the live and also Radio Fogo. For the like many years they are supporting the festival, like with this, is there a problem? I was thinking, yes, okay. So, and, yes, and then I wanted to be thankful to the cinema, the whole team, they were working all these days also so we could watch the films. Thank you for that. And I really want to thank also Art University of Linz and they are also supporting us from the first year and they also the whole people who are working there many of people many other stuff of work our university are helping us and I would also say thank you. I hope I didn't forget anybody. And yes, I forget two really important one. But I have also some list of partners, I want also to read them. But a big thank you to the all filmmaker who sent their films to us and to all filmmakers who we have seen their films and the special thanks to the filmmakers who are here with us so a thank to all of you for being here here. And the next also our great audience, especially the one who was watching all the films. Thank you. But I'm really thankful for it. And also a very special thanks to the jury who were watching all these 70 films and also watching the pitch sessions. Thank you, Sofia and also Bojana. So now I would also read the name of the partners. The partners and patrons, Bundesministerium for Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport. This is the Ministry for Art and Culture in Austria. A really big thank you to them. And Art University Linz, I said it before, and Land Oberösterreich. I would also say a special thanks to the Upper Austrian province. They were really supportive from the first year of the festival. And also always when we talk with them about our needs, they are listening really and they are really supportive and try to do their best so we can improve the festival. So I'm really really thank you for that. Thank you. I would be applause also But I would say every partners I think most of them they are supporting us from the very first year of the festival like also the city of Linz, Stadlinz Direktforderung and VDFS, Verwertungsgesellschaft der Filmschaffenden Österreich, Veranbruder Stadt Linz, WKO, Kupf Oberösterreich and Festival of Nations, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Lights On, Zeitbasierte Medien und Interaktive Medienkunst Bachelor Studium und Zeitbasierte Medien Master Studium, Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur, and the media partner Creative Austria, DorfTV, EPD Film, Info Screen, Kolik Film, DAT Magazine, Radio Fro Film, Dot Magazine, Radio Fogo, Subtex, Lens Tourismus. And our program partner, Fogan Bogodesh.Lens, SFC Rendezvous Industrie Festival, Lokan, and our other sponsors, ADA, Austrian Directors Association, Ambient Recording, FADFS, Epidifilm, Colicfilm, and our sponsors Global Print, Freistete, Front Food, Makawa, and Pedacola. Thank you. Yeah, I think without all of the people and the brands that I said it couldn't be possible that we do this festival. So thank you for that. I can. So, yes, of course you can stay here. I think it's time to start with our awards. And if we, so we don't have any trailers or something like that, we don't have any music as Piros already said. So I was asking myself, did anybody bring by occasion kind of instrument or something like that? Is there like a xylophone or a flute or a guitar or something here in the audience? No? Nobody? A bell? The clap is very good. Okay. Okay, so yeah, I tried to invent something by myself. Does anybody want to host here and do something like a jingle or something like that? No? Maybe? Yes? No. All right. Okay, good. So, okay, this did not work like I wanted to have it working. So, no. We're going to award 11 prizes this evening, and we got 11 categories. We got Best Fiction, Best Documentary, Best Animation, Best Directing, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design, Best Acting, Best Austrian Film and Queer Feminist Film Award, Masa Sheena Amini Grant. And then we also got some Film Talent Academy, 2000 Euro Co-Production Fund. And yeah, as we start with our award, to give away all the awards, we need our jury. And please welcome Sophia Hochedlinger and Piros Nemati here on stage. Bojana Breger is the third jury member, but she is unfortunately not able to be here in person. She had a little accident. And yeah, we just wish her a speedy recovery and thank you for continuing to support the festival from afar. And some words for those who weren't here at the opening ceremony about Sophia and Pyrrhus. Sophia Hochedlinger, she's a screenwriter, a director and editor. Her short films have been shown at film festivals around the world. She studies arts and media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. And she's the co-director of Yuki International Youth Media Festival. Big applause for Sophia Hof-Edlinger, please. Thank you very much for your work. And Piros Nemati is an Iranian Canadian actor, filmmaker and writer based in Montreal, best known for co-writing and starring in Universal Language, which won the Cannes Director's Fortnite Audience Award and was Canada's official Oscar submission. Congrats and also thank you very much for your work as a jury member. And some words about Bojana Brega who is not here with us tonight. She's a Slovenian film critic, writer and curator, active in the European short film scene for over a decade. She's a member of the Vienna Shorts programming team and co-founder of Kraken Short Film Society and a contributor to Ekran magazine. Thank you and applause for her. Greetings from here. Thank you and applause for her. Greetings from here. So, do you want to say something first or do we directly start? I think we have to share one microphone. I'm sorry because there is some noise in that one as far as I know. So I... Yes, sure. So it was really an honor to not only watch 70 films, but also watch so, so many amazing pitches yesterday and today. And it was an honor, but also a really, really hard time we had because we had to make choices together with Parisa, Ashkan and Martina. But yeah, we're excited to announce all the awards and winning pitches. Perfect. Thank you for starting. I'm sorry, I'm sorry if you're... What? You shouldn't start. Okay, so then... Yeah, we're ready for starting. Do you still want to do the dance thing again? Are you warmed up? What about you? Yeah, okay. Some of them want... Probably those who want to do, you can do it for yourself, and the others just stay calm in their seats. Okay, Aschkahn, we're going to start with the awards, and we're going to start with the first award of this evening. The first award will be Best Austrian Film, and therefore we got Viktor Perdula as well here in the audience. He's a board member of the Austrian Directors Association. And yeah, this is one of the sponsors of this prize. And so, yeah, he will hand you then over your prizes. I think we start with the Turi then maybe you can do some words or do you want to do some words before maybe you can so tell us something about the ADA the ADA is Austrian Directors Association and I'm happy to be a board member there and I'm happy also that on behalf of ADA we are able to be a board member there and I'm happy also that on behalf of Ada we are able to help you with the festival it's great that you're doing what you're doing also Ashka and the team it's been great to be here for the last few days and thanks to all the filmmakers from around the world bringing those great stories thanks for curating the program thanks for the hard work and the jury it's always interesting in a very compressed time to see a lot of movies and then also make decisions. So, chapeau to that. And yeah, with the other, we're one of the Austrian Directors Association. There are more there. We are open to directors from all genres, all formats, all media. And yeah, we hold director screenings in Vienna every month and sometimes organize workshops where we try to bring in also international filmmakers for our members and also non-members to learn more about directing and to collaborate on projects and projects. Thank you. Okay, so first we want to announce a special mention for Best Austrian Film. A special mention for Best Austrian Film goes to a dynamic family portrait with a calm and observing visual style. The very believable and unruffled acting and well-paced montage pulls us into a warm summer day in Turkey filled with shared meals, ocean views, lawn chairs and complicated decisions. The special mention for Best Austrian Film goes to Gul by Lydia Rukie-Kuntas. Please come to the stage if you're here. What did you do the long? What did I do? I'm basically Canadian, just Denver. Congratulations. Congratulations. Pyrrhus said whoever wins has to dance, so now you know. So we move on to the Best Austrian Film Award. This award goes to a film that takes us to the world of an Austrian inn. The story of this work is told by people who know what they're talking about with a convincing cast, authentic dialogues, humor and just enough weirdness. The Best Austrian Film Award goes to a film that skillfully discusses everyday situations in a specific community, cultures of belonging, the realities of teenagers in the Austrian countryside, and being stranded on the way home from a family vacation in the middle of the night in a foreign place. The award for Best Austrian Film goes to The Singers by Fabian Rausch and Zohra Berghammer. Congrats. Congrats! Congrats! Yeah. Very good. Okay. Perfect. Okay. Yeah, yeah. I am very drunk. Thank you. Bussi to the Fabian. Bussi to the Fabian. Bussi to all the people who helped us. Bussi. Thank you. Congrats. Congrats. Thank you, Victor, as well. Goodbye. Thank you very much. Okay, let's continue because it's 11 awards and we need some time. The next category is sound design. The sound design takes center stage in this intriguing experimental film. Wefting rattling structures morph into images of landscapes and strangely intimate but warped views of places in nature that alternate between alluring beauty and a nightmarish feeling. These images move with an immersive composition of rattling, roaring, swirling sounds and subtle but ominous melodies that give this work a dramatic arc and a wavering feeling of suspense. The award for best sound design goes to Im Dickicht by Katharina Pichler. Thank you. She cannot be here tonight, so we received a video message. Please. you Thank you. We continue with the category Best Editing. It is said that the best editors are the ones you most forget about while watching a film. And perhaps the hardest films to edit are documentaries. For best editing in a film we chose a film that managed to tell such a complex story in such a short amount of time. Never did we feel we missed or overstayed on something and we enjoyed watching this world come together and move us deeply. world come together and move us deeply. The award for best editing goes to Della Ram Shamirani for her work on A Move. Thank you. We also received a video message. MBC 뉴스 김성현입니다. you you you Tanya Cushman Reviewer Reviewer Beautiful. We continue, as you all can see, with the best acting. Whose part is it? Yours? No, I'm doing a special mention for a very young talent who I don't believe is with us, but we wanted to recognize his wonderful work and talent his name is i think i believe it's isa karatash for the role as the best little brother in the world in the film almost Guten Liebhaus. Now it's good. It's a special mention. We don't have it here because... Okay, so... So we move on to Best Acting Award. There is nothing stereotypical about the character this actor portrays, yet it is instantly recognizable to us. The total casualness, even mundaneness of the acting that suggests a well-known world wariness reaches beyond superficial appearances and brings a smile on our face as it takes on comical proportions. What is more, it touches us inside, right in that spot that we reserve for the familiar, for the comfortable, for that which is safe. As a mother, she might be a martyr, but she also is a lioness with a big, beautiful heart who will protect her son's childhood for what it's worth to grant him innocence for at least another day. The award for best acting goes to Claudia Jardim in A Mother Goes to the Beach by Pedro Hasuni. Congratulations. Unfortunately, she can't not be here and there is no video message. So we just continue with the next category and this is Best Cinematography. All right. The hypnotic, gorgeous, grainy photography in this film thoroughly complements the vision of the film that submerges us into the mysterious world ruled by contrasts, between the dark sunlight of the days and the balmy, starry nights, between childhood and adulthood, friendship and love, between what is said and what is only imagined. love between what is said and what is only imagined. The images grant the same importance to these elements and tie them together in a truly visceral experience of that cosmic transcendence that is first love. We award the film 400 cassettes by director Thalia Petraki and the DOP Tudor Vladimir Panduro. Petr Raki and the DOP Tudor Vladimir Handuro. High five for Nessim Kaviki. Congratulations. And also, you see, it's a very international festival and it's not possible for many of the filmmakers to be in here tonight. And there is also, unfortunately, not a video. So what about best screenplay? Alright. A screenplay is not only the dialogue... A screenplay is not only a dialogue written on a piece of paper. What makes cinema are the revealing moments as we watch the characters interact with their surroundings and each other. Truly, cinema is not what is written, but what is seen. For that, we want to applaud a film that depicts a mother-child relationship by their shared moments of the everyday and the catharsis that we come to as the pressure of the outside world tips their world into the water. The award for best screenplay goes to Pedro Hasrouni for A Mother Goes to the Beach. Here we got some video message. Tanya Cushman Reviewer Reviewer Tanya Cushman You really do a good workout, sitting down and getting up here always. I think you just can stand if you want but you don't have to okay seventh category is best directing what is the directors role to set the mood the mood, the scene, the acting, the pace, the music? It is how everything is synthesized and connected together. So we have to consider everything. This delicate story was told with so much play and realness. A female protagonist whose pain we can feel without ever having to pity her or be scared for her and a very believable sibling dynamic where each struggling in their own way but nevertheless are there for each other in their own intricate and specific way their emotional world really opens us through the outstanding acting camera work montage and production design. The award for Best Direction goes to Kanzu Baider for Almost Certain Thoughts. And there we have a video message. message Perfect. Okay, the next one will be Best Documentary. Is it you again? Wow. Perfect. Is it me again? Did we divide this up right? Okay. Are we doing the special mention documentary? I believe so, right? We have a special mention, yes. So for a special mention, this film made us wonder, is it real life or is it fiction? We learned that it doesn't really matter because the simple categories are not anything to worry about when your life is a constant stream of social media posts. For being a whimsical, well-crafted meditation on the very nature of our social fabric, and at the same time bringing us down to earth, we want to give a special mention to Project Nika by Tajida Tadpich. Let's continue, Kili. Thank you. I can take that. Perfect. You want to say some words? Thank you. Perfect. You usually, you know, say that in advance. I didn't expect it. Thanks. Very good. You get it. Very good. Would you like to do some photo over here with that one? Probably. Yes. Thank you. Congrats. Thank you very much. And we continue with the winner. Yes, there's a winner also. Okay, there it is. For Best Documentary, we chose a brave film that not only delves deep into the difficult and intimate realities of family and society, but also challenges it, deeply affecting it and also us, the viewers. This film is a reminder of how the camera can become a mirror that reflects the subjects to themselves if we hold space for them. And there is room for change if we hold space for them. And there is room for change if we hold love for them. This film is a moving voice and image of resistance and that of change. It is a blooming flower of hope for women, for life, and for freedom. The best documentary is awarded to A Move by by Elohe Esmaid. Thank you. And from her we received a video message. you Transcription by CastingWords Thank you, Elahi. You heard her. We have to do a very special party then afterwards. I think the stakes are high. Okay, so we continue with the category Best Animation. Hello, I'm back. We also have a special mention for this one. A special mention for Best Animation goes to a film that beautifully portrays the love for a grandparent through the eyes of a child. This film tenderly discusses how scary it can feel to see a loved one change. With remarkable voice acting and sound design, this work shows us glimpses of the inner world of a child processing memories of their grandmother, being haunted by memories, and finding refuge in a pear garden. The special mention for best animation goes to Pear Garden by Shadab Shahyagan. Let's watch the video message. you Thank you. And we also got a winner in Best Animation. Who is it, Sophia? Yes, so as a jury, we deliberated long on the award in this category, partly because we had to choose from so many amazing animations and partly as we tried to pinpoint that elusive mark, what makes an animation great. Our final choice went to a film that we found to exhibit the magic of the animated films, that of being poems and pictures, greatly economic in terms of time, but delivering that decisive punch to the gut. For punching us in the gut and tearing out our hearts and making us laugh at it, we award Best Animation to Taco Zubo by Eva Pedrosa and Fanny Solbro. Congrats, and let's see the video message. you Okay, it's, yeah, for the awards, it's just two more awards to give away. And now we have the category Queer Feminist, Masha Sheena Amini Grant. Yes, we also have a special mention for this one. A special mention for the best queer feminist film goes to a film that pushes the boundaries with its original storytelling and its simple yet unexpected montage the film discusses borders between the private and the political it shows bodies without any shameful reservations and without any need for these bodies to be looked at with a desiring gaze this unadorned work with its dry humor and wit left us feeling freed and refreshed. The special mention for best queer feminist film goes to Mother is a Natural Sinner by Hoda Tahiri and Boris Arzah. Ashkan, let us see the video. Thank you very much. And the winner? We as a jury felt extremely lucky to be able to choose a film from a program that was so refreshingly rich with more than suitable candidates ones we could recognize for their bravery for their contributions to visibility of many different struggles or for celebrating everything that makes us free and strong and happy and to be able to express ourselves truly and authentically the film we chose is not the most obvious choice as it is deceptively unassuming. But one never knows. One perfectly boring swimming practice can turn so many things around. Our protagonist does not enter a swimming pool in order to discover herself. Yet this is exactly what will transpire in the short time we have with her. Whether she is willing or not. Life doesn't wait to teach us lessons and it doesn't have perfect timing. We are never prepared to learn some things. And this film does a beautiful job of illustrating this. Our Best Queer Feminist Film Award goes to The One Who Knows by Egle Davida Dutche. Perfect! Very good! Video, please! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you you Beautiful words. And yeah, we will award now Best Fiction. and yeah, we will award now Best Fiction. You also have a special mention, I think, for fiction. We wanted to take a moment to recognize an important film for our time, a film that depicts the contemporary male struggle to find connection through technology and the gradual loss of meaning of life he once knew. The reality of the simple man collapses in this whimsical satire, acting as a real reflection of our time. For its subtle and absurd sense of humor, wonderful direction, acting and pacing, we would like to give a special mention to the film SOS by Anita Marina. Perfect. Bravo! Do you like to say something? You get your reward. Okay. Well, no, thank you. Thank you, the jury. And thank you, everyone who was here and watched the film. SOS started at Linz. And I'm so happy to have a full circle. Yeah, let's keep making films. Thank you. Congratulations. And please continue over here. Ah, Very good. Beautiful. Thank you very much and congratulations. I'm the winner. This was a hard one. It's the last one, right? Great. We can party after? No, there's other. Sorry guys. If I gave you hope. Great. We can party after? Oh, no, no, there's other. Okay, there's... All right. Sorry, guys, if I gave you hope. So, gotta wait. Yes, yes. Perfect. So, for best fiction. The two young protagonists of this exquisite film are facing a world that doesn't want or need them, a hostile and inhospitable place that doesn't seem to bother too much about their wellbeing. Being a testament to their ability to thrive despite this, the film presents us a story of resilience, driven by obstinance, youth, and a strong and righteous belief that one has the right to their hopes and dreams, and most importantly, their dignity. Not because one is allowed to, but by simply the fact that they exist as human beings. We award Almost Certainly False by Kansu Baidar as the Test Kitchen Prize. Thank you. Yes, thank you very much. So, dear jury, I think you might sit down for another second. Yeah, thank you very much for your work and everything you did. I assume that it was a very hard job. And also the talents had a very hard job, and the jury and Parisa and so on, you had to decide a lot. So now we continue with all the talent programs. Your part. Thank you. lot so now we continue with all the talent programs your part thank you so thank you um i would a little bit talk about what is this film talent academy we started at like started it at 22 and with the hope to helping filmmakers also in developing and making their films because i know it is really really hard and the tough thing is i always say it's like we are walking and in muds like every step that we are going it's like so small and so hard and for filmmaking it is the feeling that I have and when we have some support and some mentorship or this kind of support it makes it a little bit easier so I thought maybe with this we could also make it easier for some filmmakers at least and then the program was at the first it wasn't this two phase it has I think the first year we only had the online mentoring program and then in the second years like we had just a short film not just but we had the short film lab where the short film maker could apply with their project and then we have we had online mentorship and then the next year we thought we have a very great experience as we participated in the can film festival and i think it is the level up for any filmmaker when they participate in the big festival with markets so we thought it would be a good value when we are going to Cannes we bring also these filmmakers with with us and and then it started with this residency in Cannes. And like till last year, we did it the same. And we had also first feature lab last year. And we had a pitch in Marché Dauphine in Cannes, also in collaboration with the SFC Rendezvous Industry of Festival de Cannes. And last year, we had our very first pitch session there. And it was really great. And afterwards, this year, and the short filmmakers, they didn't have their pitch in Cannes. And they had their pitch today. So they pitched the project that they were working with mentoring and then with visiting the Cannes, and they pitched it today. And we had a really hard time to decide about the winner with the jury, as Pirus and Sofia said. They were in the selection committee me and we also try to take some because Martina Petrovich would be also in the selection committee so we also talked with her a little bit about because she was also there in the whole process and she has also seen the progress that filmmakers were making and also Ashkan so we also had their opinion because it was really hard decision it was good that we were five people to talk about the winners. And after we will know the winner of this part, but then we have also this year, we created this two phase film lab that filmmakers in short film lab and first feature lab, and they are developing the film there. But the first phase was some master class and maybe one feedback session and then they pitched their project yesterday and today here and from these very great filmmakers we also had to choose about half of them it was the idea to choose a half of them for the next phase and as it was hard we tried to a little bit make it higher so to to select some more filmmakers because like it was the most heartbreaking part for me because I had a history with everyone because we had some masterclass before and then I visited everyone and I really love every project so I really would continue supporting every project I really love to do that. And also the other juries, maybe in a way we could somehow support you to connect with somebody or help in any way we could. Yeah, so let's see who are the winners and for these two different programs. I think we can go to the first part yes this is the award for the short film lab from the last year they had their pitch session today and the award is sponsored by Close Film and also Creative Europe Media Croatia. And I should tell, as I said, it was really hard. We never split the award before because we thought it would be good that one filmmaker has the money and maybe it could help them more to make their film real. But this time it was really hard because we had really great features so we decided this time to split it and I would say then which who is the winner. The first one. I am not there to tell. It's really hard. So I would tell the first one. I say only the first name for everybody till then because it's a long list. Więc powiem tylko najpierw, bo to jest długa lista. Więc VHS Love! Gratuluję. Будь ласка! Дякую, Паріса, і фестивалю. Я люблю цей фестиваль. Я був тут останній рік. Для мене ви становилися родиною, тому я буду радий прийти тут кожного року. Дякую, Паріса, Шкан, Клара, Анжеліка. Я не можу сподіватися, що я був у Пічі, Clara, scuze, Angelica. Nu mă înțeleg cum am fost pe cea cea care a făcut proiectul meu, cel care a făcut Universel Language, care a fost parte din filmul acesta, cel mai bun film din anul 2024. Mulțumesc mult! Mulțumesc, Sofia, mulțumesc, toți, și la festivalul! E foarte important! Și Saita Sosu! Suntem mai bine! Și poate vă văd în același loc. You find the better. And maybe you will be in the other one. Good. It would be lovely to meet you. Thank you so much. Maybe we can take a photo also from both of you. And the next winner is Mikis. Congratulations. Thank you to Parisa and the team and Sofia Pirus, the jury. I was super nervous when I pitched, but I'm glad the story is where it is now. And thank you. And Vyacheslav, let's, yeah. Okay. Thank you, Edlin. I forgot to thank all my beloved talents. Yes, sorry that we were participating. Thank you very much. It was a great journey to be with you. And I hope to develop some projects in future with all of you guys. Really, it was amazing to be with you. So, thanks. Sorry, yes. Can take a photo together. Then first, the first one's happened and then together. Or first together. Helps. Yes, of course. Mic prone. Good assistant. Well done. Perfect. Thank you. Okay, please be careful. So, thank you very much. A congratulation to all of you. I mean, you all were really great. And we just had to make a decision. It was really hard. So. Because it was so hard. Yeah, so I should read this, the next part from my phone, because there are several names. Really, today I couldn't look at the face of some of you. It was so hard. So let's start with the first one. And I call you and you join me on the stage. Pablo. Pablo. Would you tell us the name of your project? Thank you. My name is Pablo Saura and my project that I pitched this year is called Bernardo. Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing how the project develops on the second phase. Yeah, just to say that I was really, really inspired to just want to keep on making this film by everyone else who pitched alongside me. So thank you for that. Thank you. And then you can stay. And Sheyda Sheikha. The next. The name of your team. Okay. Hi, everyone. I'm Sheida Sheikha. And my project is Empty House. And yeah, I'm also, as Pablo said, very inspired by everybody here. Thank you all also for the feedback and everything. So yeah, excited to develop this project further. Thank you. Thank you. So the next one is Eva Sayanova. Okay, hello, thank you. My film is called She Just Walked Into The Room and she doesn't know why she be beat. So the next one is Maria Felenko. Yes, I'm Maria Favenko, my project Plouzhak, and yes, it was amazing several days, I think we just should stay one more maybe, but first of all, yes, because yeah, it's like really happy to be here. Thank you. And next one is Andrit Karoli. Yeah, hello. I'm Andrit Karoli. My project was Spring 81. I'm so glad to have met all of you and everyone here. I made a lot of good friends. I think that was the best part. So thank you so much. It's so hard for me. The next one is EJ Kakuy. EJ Kakuy. Oh, okay. Then Nurlan also, but you can join. Yeah. Yeah, Bosam, there you go. Thank you very much I'm very thankful for all organizers organizers that already parties that said the names thank you for inspiration and I see you in con yeah that's the award yeah thank you hello hello my name is EJ from the Philippines and my project here is the Birds Noir language. It is so funny because I came here, I'm very shy and I don't know how to pitch so I think it worked. Thank you. Yes, there should be a room also for shy people. So next one, Dipanshu. Thank you. I'm shy as well. My project is Shinku at 21. Yeah, I'm really excited to see how it develops. To be honest, it only developed because of all the participants. When I saw how good everyone was doing. Thank you to all the participants and Parisa and all the team. Thank you. And I should say, we wanted to select 10 filmmakers. There is not an order. There is no order for our selection. And then we decided to select 12 if we make it just to so next one is katarina payda Thank you so much. And I'd like to say that Mantras is working. So just pray for it. Thank you. Great. I think it really works out maybe because as we just made the decision about her participation, I was coming out from the room and then I seen her really happy face, just the first one that I've seen and she was really happy. Maybe you were like sending some energy or you felt it, but it was really happy. Maybe you were like sending some energy or you felt it, but it was really nice. I really felt she knew it in her energy. It was interesting. And so the next one is not here with us. Walter Gabriel Busulwa. for the film Zona and Neda. He was here for the pitch, but he had to go to Prague, I guess. Yes. If you want to follow him, he's in Prague. So, and the next one is Cynthia Lin hi um I'm Cynthia Lin um I pitched a funeral procession of fireflies and this was my first pitch so thank you Parisa thank you Piros, thank you Sofia and thank you for your team thank you so the last one is Mateusz Malber Matheus Malberg. Oh, foi difícil ser o último. Estou muito feliz de conhecer todos vocês do programa. Foi muito legal estar com vocês naqueles dias. E foi muito legal ver todos chocando a cabeça onde coloquei o meu chifre. Então, muito obrigado. Obrigado a todos vocês por organizarem o festival. Obrigada, Cícero! Obrigada! Então talvez possamos tirar algumas fotos e depois... Você pode tirar? ok, oui. Je ne sais pas. Ok. Ah non, non, non, non, non. Non. Ah, ok. C'est pas bon. Je voulais juste parler de la première composition d'Ali. Frut, quoi. Qui l'a pris? Ali, actually. Yeah. Second? Ah, yes, I am. What? Rain. What comes in the sun? Thank you. Thank you. You can go. You can go from the other side. So I would say we really love to keep support the other one and it wasn't like it was the hardest decision I made in my life for this really like in the when I was in jury and in some doing this kind of jury I mean and for deciding some winners it was really heartbreaking for for me to say goodbye somehow to filmmakers who were already, I think, for about two months with us. And it's really heartbreaking for me. But as I said, I will really try to continue support. And the next pitch session that we had was the first feature lab. And here we also decided there were 11 filmmakers there and we decided even to take seven filmmakers. So, first one, Anastasia Angelova. Hi, my name is Anastasia Angelova, and I was pitching here my feature project, Ave Maria. I want to thank you, Parisa, for this amazing opportunity and of course our judges. Thank you so much. And yeah, thank you. You're welcome. Next one, Costa Caracasian. Thank you for all of this support and for believing in our projects. It was really special, everything we shared so far. Thank you to you, thank you to the jury and to all the talents for really inspiring us and I hope we all can keep working together. Thank you. And the next one is Milda. Thank you, Parisa. Thank you for giving us the platform. Thank you for everyone for listening to our pitches, for the judges. It would be really nice to have a chat with you. I think it's been a few days of full of chatting with so many new people so hopefully we can take everyone else off in the party. Thanks. And the next one is Fei Xu. Thank you. I cannot believe it. That's what I should say. Thank you. to say, yeah. Thank you. Your project name is Heart of a Conqueror, yeah. So, and the next one is Abdullah Haroon Ilhan. Well, I didn't expect that. I don't know what to say. I want to thank everybody who helped all this organization, the festival, whatever, all of the thing everything was amazing by the way there's a sound okay so everything is so great here thanks for everything thanks for the jury for this meaningful uh decision and i'm sure i'm gonna keep in touch with everybody here i hope we can make all of our films thank you again parisa thank you so the next one is murat vargelsci Thank you very much. The name of my project is Before Summer, a coming-of-age story. I'm really excited. I met you last year in Cannes, and this year is going to be fun. So the last one. So Marco Cellamare. Thank you, Parisa. Thank you Parisa, thank you everyone my name is Marco Celamare my project is called Pixel and it's a bit weird I mean the one that listened to it didn't know the why the insipid of it and thank you everyone, it was a crazy trip and see you later around in the party, thank you Ruan, it was a crazy trip and see you later around in the party thank you thank you you have some photos we have already, yes? yeah this is heavy the clothes are a bit loose in the light Who's that? In the light. It's a Turkish-Bulgarian mortar. Throw it away from me, Ali. Alright, we'll see. We'll try it, yeah. Kita cuba. Okey, bravo! Mari. Terima kasih. Thank you. Thank you. So I also read a message from Martina for you, the filmmakers. She said that, please send my warm regards to everyone and let them know I'm excited to be part of their filmmaking journeys, wishing them countless sexist stories ahead, grateful for all the sessions and talks we shared together. Yeah, this is what Martina said to you. Yeah, it's also lots of hugs for me, Michelle,aila, Ashkan, and the team. Thank you. Because she couldn't be able to come, but she was really with heart and mind with us and was supporting us from there for deciding, for the pitching and everything. So I think we are finished, yes. Yeah, so I hope to see all of your film made and yeah, I'm really excited also for the journey ahead. So thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much to all you filmmakers, to all you film lovers. Parisa, Ashkan, your team. I think it still was a great festival. This was the 8th edition of Linz International Short Film Festival 2025. Big applause. That's it. See you next year. Have a good time. And see you all over there in the venue at the Art. Great. Yeah. That's a good one Thank you.