The winners of the Academy Awards-qualifying 19th HollyShorts Film Festival have been announced, with the Oscar-qualifying Best Animation Award going to Humo (Smoke) by Mexican director Rita Basulto. The winners of the festival’s honors for Best Live-Action Short (The After by Misan Harriman) and Best Documentary Short (Every Day After by Elisa Gamibno) also qualify for Oscar consideration.
Crafted in a blend of stop-motion and paper cut-out animation (watch a quick behind-the-scenes video here), Humo follows a boy named Daniel on a train journey to a dark destination, known as “the smokehouse.” The film had its world premiere at the Guadalajara International Film Festival before screening at Annecy this summer.
Basulto previously directed the Ariel Award-winning animated shorts Zimbo, Lluvia en los ojos (Rain in the Eyes) and El octavo día de la creación (The Eighth Day of Creation).
Humo wil have its world premier tonight at FICG ! Don’t miss it! #Humo @RitaBasulto @FICGoficial @CinetecaFicg @RealGDT @imcine #outik @SRE_ @mexopolis @Taller_Chucho pic.twitter.com/UkxuBWnWQ1
— Rita Basulto (@RitaBasulto) June 6, 2023
HollyShorts also awards a prize for Best VFX, which went to D.A.D. by writer-director (and former New York Giants running back) James A. Sims. The live-action short unfolds as a workaholic father comes home one day to discover that his brilliant twin daughters have built a “Digital Android Doppelgänger” to replace whim, which they lovingly call “D.A.D.”
The full short is available to watch for free on the DUST sci-fi channel on YouTube.
Deadline has the full list of HollyShorts 2023 winners.
