After five days of screenings and events, Aspen Film announced the competition winners of Aspen Shortsfest 2009. Roughly 2,500 entries were considered from over 60 countries, with more than 60 short films selected for Aspen Shortsfest from 21 countries for this esteemed, five-day Oscar®-qualifying International Competition.

Considered one of the world's premier international short film and video showcases for this trend-setting art form, Aspen Shortsfest's centerpiece, the International Competition, offered a lively, thought-provoking, and humorous selection of drama, comedy, animation and documentary. Over 40 filmmakers from the United States, Australia, and Europe traveled to Aspen to participate in public screenings and the Shortsfest school education programs. Audiences were not deterred by a strong spring snow storm or the economy, with sold out screenings and capacity audiences in both Aspen and Carbondale throughout the festival.

An esteemed jury of distinguished film professionals were present during the festival and awarded the following cash and prizes to award winning films in several categories. This year's jury included Denver Post Film Critic Lisa Kennedy, director Lewis Teague, writer/director/producer Robert Weide, and director Jon Bloom. The Aspen Shortsfest 2009 Awards Ceremony was held Sunday, April 5 at the Wheeler Opera House.

Shortsfest 2009 Award Winners

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY AWARDS

ANIMATED EYE AWARD - $2,500
SHE WHO MEASURES (Veljko Popovic, Croatia)

BEST COMEDY - $2,500
THIS IS HER (Katie Wolfe, New Zealand)

BEST DRAMA (shared) - $2,500
NETHERLAND DWARF (David Michôd, Australia)
NEXT FLOOR (Denis Villeneuve, Canada)

BEST DOCUMENTARY - $2,500
THE WITNESS: FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306 (Adam Pertofsky, USA)

BEST SHORT SHORT - $1,000
WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON (Declan Cassidy, Ireland)

BEST STUDENT - $1,000
RALPH (Alex Winckler, UK/France); Columbia University

SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION
GROUND BENEATH (Rene Hernandez, Australia)
SHORT TERM 12 (Destin Daniel Cretton, USA)
SOIL IN GOOD HEART (Deborah Koons Garcia, USA/India/Norway/UK)
TEN FOR GRANDPA (Doug Karr, Canada)

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OTHER SHORTSFEST 2009 Awards

THE ELLEN AWARD - $1,000
COPY OF CORALIE (Nicolas Engel, France)

BAFTA/LOS ANGELES AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
CONCERTO (Filippo Conz, USA)

BAFTA/LOS ANGELES CERTIFICATES OF EXCELLENCE
MIRACLE FISH (Luke Doolan, Australia)
A'MARE (Martina Amati, UK)

HIGH FIVE TO LO-FI
CHICKEN COWBOY (Stephen Neary, USA)

YOUTH JURY PRIZE - $500
MIRACLE FISH (Luke Doolan, Australia)

AUDIENCE FAVORITE AWARD - $1,000
THE WITNESS: FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306 (Adam Pertofsky, USA)

Complete film descriptions available at www.aspenfilm.org.
Aspen Film embarks upon its 30th year as an active media arts non-profit presenting festivals, film series, and education programs year-round, making it one of Colorado's oldest and most established cultural organizations. The 18th edition of Aspen Shortsfest is sponsored in part by the Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Colorado Council on the Arts, The City of Aspen, The Aspen Times, Aspen Sojourner, and REEL People, Aspen Film's membership program. For more information on Shortsfest and other Aspen Film programs, contact 970.925.6882.