CHICAGO—FACETS’ 37th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF37) hosted its virtual Closing Night Ceremony today to celebrate the award-winning films selected by the Festival’s jury members. This year, CICFF awarded 46 prizes in 29 categories, including live-action, animation, documentary films, and television productions. Prizes are given by the Children’s, Youth, Professional, and Special juries, and the Professional Jury Live-Action Shorts category is Academy Award-qualifying.
Awards presented at the Festival’s conclusion maintain CICFF’s longtime standing as one of the top children’s film festivals in the world. CICFF juries are comprised of independent filmmakers, film industry professionals, educators, parents, and kids and teens who have graduated from FACETS Film 101 summer camp.
Also presented was the “Milos Stehlik Global Impact Award,” now in its second year, awarded to director Byambasuren Davaa for the drama Veins of the World (German, Mongolia). FACETS created this award in 2019 to celebrate the memory of Milos Stehlik, founder and executive director of FACETS, who passed away in July 2019.
Presented this year from Friday, November 13 through Sunday, November 22, FACETS’ ever-popular signature program was shown virtually in its entirety due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There were 263 films from 52 nations presented in CICFF37.
The full list of awards can be found at this link: https://festival.facets.org/awards-2020
SPECIAL PRIZES
2020 BEST OF FEST AWARD
- Shooom’s Odyssey, Julien Bisaro (France)
MILOS STEHLIK GLOBAL IMPACT AWARD
- Veins of the World, Byambasuren Davaa (Germany, Mongolia)
BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN (AGES 2-5)
- The Kindergarten Show, Loïc Bruyère (France)
PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE AWARD
- Make It Soul, Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo (France)
TEACHER’S CHOICE AWARD
- Ahlan Simsim: Piece of the Past, Tamer Naber (USA)
PARENT’S CHOICE AWARD
- Umbrellas, José Prats and Álvaro Robles (France)
GIRL EMPOWERMENT AWARD
- Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race, Melissa R. Ellard (USA)
STEM AWARD
- Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, Phillip Hunt (England)
CHILDREN’S JURY PRIZES
Children’s Jury Prize – Animated Short Film
- 1st Prize, Kapaemahu, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu and Dean Hamer (USA)
- 2nd Prize, The Witch & the Baby, Evgenia Golubeva (Russian Federation)
Children’s Jury Prize – Live-Action Short
- 1st Prize, Katapult, Balázs Szövényi-Lux (Hungary)
- 2nd Prize, Chips, Karen Kelly (Scotland)
Children’s Jury Prize – Live-Action Feature Film
- 1st Prize, Sky Raiders, Lior Chefetz (Israel)
- 2nd Prize, Valhalla, Fenar Ahmad (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland)
Children’s Jury Prize – Animated Feature Film
- 1st Prize, The Elfkins – Baking a Difference, Ute von Münchow-Pohl (Germany)
- 2nd Prize, Ella Bella Bingo, Atle Blakseth and Frank Mosvold (Norway)
Children’s Jury Prize – Animated Television Production
- 1st Prize, The Christmas Letter, Kealan O’Rourke (Ireland)
- 2nd Prize, The Snail and the Whale, Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon (England)
Children’s Jury Prize – Live Action Television Production
- 1st Prize, Nine-and-a-Half: Fridays for Future, Milena Virchow (Germany)
- 2nd Prize, Invisible, Jakub Smid (Czech Republic)
Children’s Jury Prize – Documentary Feature Film
- 1st Prize, Kusasa, Shane Vermooten (South Africa)
- 2nd Prize, Seventh Grade, Anne Silje Bø and Sunniva Sundby (Norway)
Children’s Jury Prize – Documentary Short Film
- 1st Prize, I Am Skylar, Rachel Bower (Canada)
- 2nd Prize, Jovanna For Future, Mirjam Marks (Netherlands)
YOUTH JURY PRIZES
Youth Jury Prize – Animated Short Film
- 1st Prize, Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad, Camrus Johnson and Pedro Piccinini (USA)
- 2nd Prize, The Procession, Pascal Blanchet and Rodolphe Saint-Gelais (Canada)
Youth Jury Prize – Live-Action Short
- 1st Prize, Baradar, Beppe Tufarulo (Italy)
- 2nd Prize, Katapult, Balázs Szövényi-Lux (Hungary)
Youth Jury Prize – Documentary Feature Film
- 1st Prize, Ringside, André Hörmann (Germany)
Youth Jury Prize – Live-Action Feature Film 1st Prize
- Our Lady of the Nile, Atiq Rahimi (France, Belgium, Rwanda)
PROFESSIONAL JURY PRIZES
Professional Jury Prize – Animated Short Film
- 1st Prize, Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad, Camrus Johnson and Pedro Piccinini (USA)
- 2nd Prize, Cinema Rex, Mayan Engelman and Eliran Peled (Israel)
Professional Jury Prize – Live-Action Short
- 1st Prize, The Kicksled Choir, Torfinn Iversen (Norway)
- 2nd Prize, Portraitist, Cyrus Neshvad (Luxembourg)
Professional Jury Prize – Live-Action Feature Film
- 1st Prize, Our Lady of the Nile, Atiq Rahimi (France, Belgium, and Rwanda)
- 2nd Prize, Veins of the World, Byambasuren Davaa (Germany and Mongolia)
Professional Jury Prize – Animated Feature Film
- 1st Prize, Dreambuilders, Kim Hagen Jensen and Tonni Zinck (Denmark)
- 2nd Prize, Ella Bella Bingo, Atle Blakseth and Frank Mosvold (Norway)
Professional Jury Prize – Documentary Feature Film
- 1st Prize, Ringside, André Hörmann (Germany)
- 2nd Prize, 2040, Damon Gameau (Australia)
Professional Jury Prize – Animated Television Production
- 1st Prize, Shooom’s Odyssey, Julien Bisaro (France)
- 2nd Prize, The Snail and the Whale, Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon (England)
Professional Jury Prize – Live Action Television Production
- 1st Prize, First Day: Episode 2, Julie Kalceff (Australia)
- 2nd Prize, Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors?: Cameleers-The Original “Ghan” Trains, Brad Gustafson (Australia)
Professional Jury Prize – Documentary Short Film
- 1st Prize, Bertha and the Wolfram, Tijs Torfs (Belgium)
- 2nd Prize, I Am Skylar, Rachel Bower (Canada)
