ASFF 2022:
Winners Announcement
The winners of the 2022 Aesthetica Short Film Festival have been announced, from poignant documentaries that highlight life’s most important and personal moments to heart-wrenching dramas that question what it means to be human. As the 12th edition of the film festival draws to a close, we are delighted to announce this year’s winners. As a BAFTA-recognised festival, ASFF victory can bolster the success of these standout films. The awards this year have been decided by experts from BBC, Channel 4, Guardian, BFI, Audible and more.
Best Advertising Award
Dirty Money dir. Sinan
Sevinç and Dominik Ströhle
Have you thought about the journey a dollar makes before landing in your wallet? There is scrutiny on hygiene; no one seems perturbed about cash.
Best Animation Award
The Clearing dir. Daniel Hope
In a desperate battle with his ego, Bill struggles to re-woo Deb with his below-par outdoor skills and shocking behaviour, until their last-ditch camping trip takes a sinister turn.
Best Artists’ Film Award
A Void dir. Jordy Sank
Mangdaleen, a 75-year-old widower, lives with the imaginary figure of her late husband. An exploration of grief, loss and loneliness, commissioned by kykNET, a South African broadcaster.
Best Comedy Award
Doffice dir. Leclercq David
An old guy works in the same office everyday. But one day, a young colleague arrives and puts his world upside down. A fun, inventive and wordless physical comedy.
Best Dance Award
Viscera dir. Phoebe Davies and Nandi Bhebhe
Viscera is an experimental performance film. It evolved through a research process centring on the deconstruction of rage in all its forms.
Best Documentary Award
Until the Tide Creeps In dir. Jessi Gutch
Canvey Island is outside London. It suffered the worst natural disaster in modern British history, in which a storm flooded it in 1953.
Best Documentary Feature
The Hermit of Treig dir. Lizzie MackEnzie
This meditative documentary gives a rare glimpse into remote rural life. After 40 years of solitude, a spirited elderly hermit opens his life.
Best Drama Award
Invisible Border dir. Mark Gerstorfer
A deportation in Vienna in the middle of the night. Police officer Nancy and her colleague Albert have the task of evicting a family.
Best Experimental Award
Fireflies dir. Poulomi Basu and CJ Clarke
Crash landed and alone, a female astronaut is confronted by the ghosts of her past as she struggles for survival on an inhospitable planet that appears to be sentient.
Best Fashion Award
Replica dir. Hannah Bon
A trinity that unites people to become closer. Replica is an experimental fragrance film for Maison Margiela. An inviting film filled with pop colours and a dreamy aesthetic.
Best Music Video Award
Mwanjé ft. Sampa the Great – Wildones dir. Michael Rodrigues & Tarryn Hatchett
Wildones is an exploration of connection with the natural world. This beautiful and mesmerising film is an existential coming-of-age tale.
Best Narrative Feature
I’ll Go To Hell dir. Ismahane Lahmar
Doctors have made it very clear. Najet will die soon. She has been given just two weeks to live. No time to waste. Instead of giving in to self-pity, Najet tackles life head on.
Best Thriller Award
O, GLORY! dir. Joe Williams and Charlie Edwards-Moss
Set in the late 1970s, a psychiatric doctor and his assistant are called to an isolated house to examine Deborah, whose brother believes she is losing her mind.
Best VR & 360 Award
Glimpse dir. Benjamin Cleary and Michael O’Connor
This dreamlike, emotive visual feast is set in the imaginative mind of a panda named Herbie who has recently broken up with his girlfriend, Rice.
Best Cinematography Award
Aska, dir. Clara Miro
Two young disciples must throw their mother’s ashes into the mouth of a volcano in order to prevent its collapse into a flood of flames, which would destroy everything.
Best Director Award
The Hermit of Treig dir. Lizzie MackEnzie
This meditative documentary gives a rare glimpse into remote rural life. After 40 years of solitude, a spirited elderly hermit opens his life.
Best Editing Award
39 dir. Martín Delfino Guevara
39 is a short film based on true events about the horrific and tragic crime of the 39 Vietnamese people who died hidden in the back of a lorry in Essex, England, in 2019.
Best Screenplay Award
Breathless Puppets, dir. Naaman Azhari
Forced apart in childhood by the expectations of their cultures and the disapproval of their fathers, two men with a passion for dance reconnect through the pandemic.
Best of the Festival Award
Until the Tide Creeps In dir. Jessi Gutch
Canvey Island is outside London. It suffered the worst natural disaster in modern British history, in which a storm flooded it in 1953.