Vienna Shorts: Victoria Schmid won the Austrian Short Film Prize

The Vienna Film Festival shorts entered the final round of its 20th edition on Tuesday night. The large block prizes for short cinematic creations, with a total value of €30,000, were awarded at the Stadtkino. In short, managing duo Doris Bauer and Daniel Hadnius-Ebner were satisfied with the anniversary edition: “Huge crowds, amazing guests, intense days.” In 2023, 340 films from 58 countries can be seen over the course of six days.

Big apple

The “NYC RGB” tribute, which Victoria Schmid filmed from her apartment in the Big Apple over a seven-month period and then edited the recordings with color filters, garnered the Austrian Short Film Prize at the evening’s gala, which was awarded. With €4,000 and also includes non-cash prizes of up to €2,000 connected. Filipino director Stephen Lopez’s international success with his embittered teen Hito earned him the Vienna Short Film Prize (worth €5,000). The winner in the animation category was Croatian couple Ivana Busnjak Fulda and Thomas Johnson Fulda for “I Remember How I Ride a White Horse,” as they let guests at the White Horse Café daydream.

Oscar race

With the award in Vienna, the three main winners are also eligible for the Oscar race, respectively, Schmid now sharing the Austrian Film Prize and Fulda competing for the European Film Prize. In addition to these additional chances to win, the filmmakers didn’t receive any awards this year — at least not the established ones. Instead, the trees in the Viennese cityscape are dedicated to them as well as to the other winners of the festival. Tree oleanders, horse chestnuts and field maples are accessible on the festival website and in the Vienna Tree Registry and each has a QR code on its badge, which can be used to stream the corresponding short film in the immediate vicinity of the tree.

In addition to the three main awards, the Vienna shorts Traditionally also jury awards. For example, Hungarian animation filmmaker Balázs Turai has a residency at the Museumsquartier with “Amok” as the best newcomer. The award for Best Picture Composition went to young director Francesca Di Fusco for her portrayal of burgeoning lesbian lust in Incroci. In the Austrian competition, Jasmine Baumgartner was awarded the Jury Prize for “Bye Bye, Bowser”, “Medingerella” altogether for refusing to “Barely Work” the new Special Prize of the Jury in this section.