Glasgow Festival’s Awesome Foursome

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he annual Glasgow Short Film Festival drew to a close on Sunday night, with the winners receiving their respective awards on the closing night itself.

Perhaps fittingly for a short film ceremony, there are only four recipients, along with two ‘Special Mentions’. But it’s quality, not quantity, that counts and this year’s nominees had that in spades.

Arguably the most prestigious prize on the big night is the Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film, named in honour of the revered Scottish filmmaker. Of the 41 pictures vying for the honour, plus £1200, the eventual winner was Enraged Pigs (Porcos Raivosos) by Brazilian pairing Isabel Peroni and Leonardo Sette.

‘Enraged Pigs is like nothing we had ever seen before and a true realisation of the short film form,’ commented the jury. You’d be hard pressed to heap higher praise than that, although they were also struck by the use of wool, felt and stop motion photography that went into the making of Old Willy…by Belgians Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels.

Ireland’s Connor Finnegan walked away with the International Audience Award for Fear of Flying, which meant that the time had come to honour national talent in the form of the Scottish Short Film Award and the Scottish Audience Award – the ‘people’s champions’.

Paul Fegan’s Pouters won through to take the former, with the jury ‘impressed by the film’s subtle and original approach to its subject matter.’ Sara Ishaq’s Karama Has No Walls gained the Special Mention here for its ‘powerful and human storytelling.’ The Scottish Audience Award went to Ainshie Henderson’s I Am Tom Moody. This carries a prize that money literally cannot buy, in the form of a commission to make the 2014 festival’s trailer.

2013 had a certain poignancy, as two films were screened before the presentation in memory of the late Scott Ward. Last month, Scottish film lost a true innovator. During a career that lasted two decades, Ward became renowned as a teacher, cinematographer and animation programmer, as well as an inspiration to an entire generation of students at the Edinburgh College of Art.

This was the sixth year of the short film weekend at Glasgow Film Festival, now firmly established as an integral part of the annual programme.