The 2023 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its Festival juried and audience award winners as part of Closing Night at the Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center). Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000, including five Academy Award-qualifying awards were presented to the winners selected from the 299 shorts films that were part of the Official Selection. The festival took place June 20-26.
Animation was well represented across the festival’s many awards categories, including a Best of the Festival win for Liam LoPinto’s The Old Young Crow, one of the Oscar-qualifying honors and a $5,000 cash prize (courtesy of Harold Matzner, Palm Springs International Film Society’s Immediate Past Chairman). The film centers on an elderly man as he recalls his childhood in Japan, where one day in a graveyard he met an elderly local woman who imparted important lessons to him.
Award-winning animated films listed below, the full roster of award winners and special mentions can be found at psfilmfest.org/shortfest-2023.
Oscar-Qualifying Awards
- Best of the Festival — The Old Young Crow (Japan/U.S.) Directed by Liam LoPinto
- Best Animated Short ($1,000 cash prize) —
- Winner: Way Better (Lithuania), Directed by Skirmanta Jakaitė
- Special Mention: Ashkaska (Spain/Argentina), Directed by Lara Maltz
- Special Mention: Eeva (Croatia/Estonia), Directed by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov
Student Short Awards
- Best Student Animated Short ($1,000 cash prize) — The Rainbow Dung Beetle (U.S.), Directed by Ellen Moway and Cole Dupzyk
Local Jury Award
- Winner ($1,000 cash prize) — Under G-d (U.S.) Directed by Paula Eiselt
- Special Mention — Teacups (Australia/Ireland), Directed by Alec Green and Finbar Watson
Kids’ Choice Award
- Winner ($500 cash prize) — Canary (Canada), Directed by Pierre-Hugues Dallaire and Benoit Therriault
- Winner ($500 cash prize) — Mushka (U.S.), Directed by Andreas Deja
Audience Awards
- Best Animated Short — Ice Merchants (Portugal), Directed by João Gonzalez
