FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 10, 2022

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FACETS Announces Award Winners for the 39th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival

“Rickshaw Girl” wins Best of the Fest Award and “Dostojee” Receives the Milos Stehlik Global Impact Award

CHICAGO – FACETS 39th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF) announces the recipients of its Special and Jury Prizes today along with two new film programs – Award Winning Shorts Program for ages 8-10 and 11-14. CICFF, with selection by the 2022 Festival’s jury members, awarded 65 prizes from a field of 304 films, representing 54 nations, in several 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 and Animated Shorts categories are Academy Award-qualifying. CICFF, one of only two Academy Award-qualifying international children’s film festivals in the world happening now through November 20 at FACETS with in-person and via national online screening. Tickets are currently on sale and buyers should visit  CICFF39.eventive.org  to view all the ticket options and to purchase tickets. 

Awards presented by the Festival maintain CICFF’s longtime standing as one of the top children’s film festivals in the world. CICFF juries are composed 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 fourth year, awarded to director Prasun Chatterjee for the feature film “Dostojee” (India) and Amy Bench for the short film “More Than I Want to Remember”(United States). 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. 

The full list of awards are listed below and can be found here. 

CICFF39 – AWARD WINNING SHORTS PROGRAMS:  

Ages 8-10: 

A collection of some of the best award-winning short films from CICFF39. This selection represents a range of animation, live-action and documentary and includes winners from the Children’s and Professional Juries, with the winners of the Best Production for Young Children and Best of Fest Awards.  

The films may be viewed virtually from November 10 – 20 and one may view the in-person screening times here and below: 

Saturday, Nov. 12 at 12:30 p.m. at FACETS, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave.  

Sunday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. at FACETS, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave.  

The program winners include: 

• “Hush Hush Little Bear” 
• “Birth”
• “HEY DUGGEE – The Action Hero Badge”
• “The Wind and The Trees”
• “The Most Boring Granny in the Whole World”
• “Pete”
• “Charlie and the Hunt”
• “New Moon”
• “Wishes in the Wind”  

Ages 11-14+: 

A collection of some of the best award-winning short films from CICFF39. This selection represents a range of animation, live-action and documentary and includes winners from the Youth, New Dimensions and Professional Juries, with the winner of Milos Stehlik Global Impact Award and Best of Fest Awards.  

The films may be viewed virtually from November 10-20 and one may view the in-person screening times here and below: 

Sunday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at FACETS, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave.  

The program winners include: 

• “Call and Response” 
• “Slipping Away”
• “Freedom Swimmer”
• “Ice Merchants”
• “More Than I Want to Remember”
• “Abby”  

SPECIAL PRIZES AWARDED INCLUDE:  

2022 BEST OF FEST AWARD 

• “Rickshaw Girl,” Amitabh Reza Chowdhury (Bangladesh) 

MILOS STEHLIK GLOBAL IMPACT AWARD 

• Feature: “Dostojee,” Prasun Chatterjee (India) 
• Short: “More Than I Want to Remember,” Amy Bench (United States) 

BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN (AGES 2-5) 

• “Hush Hush Little Bear,” Māra Liniņa (Latvia) 

PROGRAMMER’S CHOICE AWARD 

• “New Moon,” Jeff Le Bars, Jérémie Balais (United States) 

GIRL EMPOWERMENT AWARD 

• “Abby,” John Urbano (United States) 

STEM AWARD 

• “The Wind and the Trees,” Todd Allan Stewart (Canada) 

LIV ULLMANN PEACE PRIZE – Feature 

• Feature: “The Apple Day,” Mahmoud Ghaffari (Islamic Republic of Iran) 

LIV ULLMANN PEACE PRIZE – Short 

• Short: “Letter to a Pig,” Tal Kantor (France) 

MONTGOMERY PRIZE EMERGING DIRECTOR 

• “White Berry,” Sia Hermanides (Netherlands) 

EMBRACE AWARD 

• “Adjustment,” Mehrdad Hassani (Islamic Republic of Iran) 

PROMISE AWARD 

• “Me. My eleven years. WAR.,” Marusya Shuvalova (Ukraine) 

PROMISE AWARD 

• “Yangtze,” Daniel Kim, Benjamin Kim (United States)

CHILDREN’S JURY PRIZES:

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Animated Short Film 

• 1st Prize, “Pete,” Bret Parker (United States)
• 2nd Prize, “Birth,” Roberto Valle (Spain) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Animated Feature Film 

• 1st Prize, “Perlimps,” Alê Abreu (Brazil)
• 2nd Prize, “My Big Big Friend – The Movie,” Andres Lieban (Brazil) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Animated Television 

• 1st  Prize, “HEY DUGGEE – The Action Hero Badge,” Grant Orchard, Sander Jones (United Kingdom)
• 2nd  Prize, “Call and Response,” Morgane Duprat–Peter, Daphné Kutnowski, Yoann Bouabré, Sélena Aledji, Anthony Okoko, Laura Sadi Honniball (France) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Documentary Short Film 

• 1st Prize, “Dipsas Speaks,” Craig Daniel Leon (Ecuador)
• 2nd Prize, “Wishes in the Wind,” Lisa Marie DiLiberto (Canada) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Documentary Feature Film 

• 1st Prize, “YUNG PUNX: A Punk Parable,” Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger (United States)
• 2nd Prize, “Rosie’s Theater Kids,” Steven Cantor (United States) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Short  

• 1st Prize, “Charlie and the Hunt,” Jenn Shaw (United States)
• 2nd Prize, “Eger, 1552,” Attila Szász (Hungary) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Feature Film  

• 1st Prize, “Laura’s Star,” Joya Thome (Germany)
• 2nd Prize, “Tales of Franz,” Johannes Schmidt (Austria) 

Children’s Jury’s Prize – Live Action Television 

• 1st Prize, “Theodosia,” Matthias Hoene, Matt Bloom, Alexander James Jacob (France)
• 2nd Prize, “Yard TV,” Pablo Uranga (Brazil) 

YOUTH JURY PRIZES 

Youth Jury’s Prize – Animated Short Film 

• 1st Prize,   ”Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez (Portugal)
• 2nd Prize,  “Slipping Away,” Gabriel Hénot Lefèvre (France) 

Youth Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Short Film  

• 1st Prize,  “Invincible,” Vincent René-Lortie (Canada)
• 2nd Prize,  “Bleach,” Mattias Graham (Canada) 

Youth Jury’s Prize – Documentary Short Film 

1st Prize, (tie) 

• “Freedom Swimmer,” Olivia Martin-McGuire (United Kingdom)
• “More Than I Want to Remember,” Amy Bench (United States) 

2nd Prize

• “BYkids: FAITH’S WORLD,” Faith Guilbault (United States) 

Youth Jury’s Prize –  Animated Television 

• 1st Prize,  “Call and Response,” Morgane Duprat–Peter, Daphné Kutnowski, Yoann Bouabré, Sélena Aledji, Anthony Okoko, Laura Sadi Honniball (France) 

Youth Jury’s Prize – Documentary Feature Film 

• 1st Prize,  “Afghan Dreamers,” David Greenwald (Afghanistan)
• 2nd Prize,  “This is My Black,” Stephen Adetumbi, Jarrett Roseborough (United States) 

Youth Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Feature Film 

• 1st Prize, “White Berry,” Sia Hermanides (Netherlands) 
• 2nd Prize, “Comedy Queen,” Ismael Ferroukhi (Morocco, France) 

Youth Jury’s Prize – Live Action Television 

• 1st Prize, “More Than This,” John Sheedy, Kate Gorman (Australia) 

NEW DIMENSIONS JURY PRIZES 

New Dimensions Jury’s Prize – Animated Short Film 

1st Prize, Animated Short Film (tie)

• “Good Night Mr. Ted,” Nicolás Sole Allignani (Argentina)
• “The Seine’s Tears,” Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard, Nicolas Mayeur, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Lisa Vicente, Philippine Singer, Alice Letailleur (France) 

2nd Prize

• “Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez (Portugal) 

New Dimensions Jury’s Prize – Documentary Feature Film  

• 1st Prize, “Dear Future Children,” Franz Böhm (Germany) 
• 2nd Prize, “The Last Election and other Love Stories,” Miguel Silveira (United States)  

New Dimensions Jury’s Prize – Documentary Short Film  

• 1st Prize, “Freedom Swimmer,” Olivia Martin-McGuire (United Kingdom)  
• 2nd Prize, “The Girl with the Accent,” Nadia Durry (United Arab Emirates)  

New Dimensions Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Short Film  

• 1st Prize, “Invincible,” Vincent René-Lortie (Canada) 
• 2nd Prize, “Sons of Toledo,” Monty Cole (United States) 

PROFESSIONAL JURY PRIZES  

Professional Jury’s Prize – Animated Short Film   

• 1st  Prize, “Slipping Away,” Gabriel Hénot Lefèvre (France) 
• 2nd  Prize, “The Most Boring Granny in the Whole World,” Damaris Zielke (Germany)  

Professional Jury’s Prize – Animated Feature Film   

• 1st Prize, “Journey to Yourland,” Peter Budinský (Slovakia) 
• 2nd Prize, “The Websters Movie,” Katarína Kerekesová (Slovakia) 

Professional Jury’s Prize – Animated Television 

1st  Prize

• “Call and Response,” Morgane Duprat–Peter, Daphné Kutnowski, Yoann Bouabré, Sélena Aledji, Anthony Okoko, Laura Sadi Honniball (France) 

2nd  Prize, (tie) 

• “Giuseppe,” Isabelle Favez (Switzerland)
• “Space Nova,” Pablo De La Torre (Australia) 

Professional Jury’s Prize – Documentary Short Film 

1st Prize

• Freedom Swimmer, Olivia Martin-McGuire (United Kingdom) 

2nd Prize, (tie) 

• How Hannie are You?, Deborah van Dam (Netherlands)
• Maxim – The Greatest, Kaja Fedulova (Germany) 

Professional Jury’s Prize – Documentary Feature Film 

• 1st  Prize, “Afghan Dreamers,” David Greenwald (Afghanistan)
• 2nd  Prize, “Dear Future Children,” Franz Böhm (Germany) 

Professional Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Short 

• 1st  Prize, “Invincible,” Vincent René-Lortie (Canada)
• 2nd  Prize, “Margot’s Sister,” Christine Doyon (Canada) 

Professional Jury’s Prize – Live-Action Feature Film 

• 1st Prize, Comedy Queen, Sanna Lenken (Sweden)
• 2nd Prize, Rickshaw Girl, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury (Bangladesh) 

Professional Jury’s Prize – Live Action Television 

• 1st Prize,  “More Than This,” John Sheedy, Kate Gorman (Australia)
• 2nd  Prize,  “Kabam!,” Elisabeth Hesemans (Netherlands) 

FACETS Chicago International Children’s Film Festival Mission Statement

Established in 1984, FACETS Chicago International Children’s Film Festival strives to support the work of talented and dedicated filmmakers by showcasing international films of the highest quality and awarding prizes in multiple categories of production formats and genres. The film experiences of young viewers are deepened through a broad range of programs which extend Festival film viewing into discussion and learning.

Films presented in CICFF39 will be issued awards at its conclusion by the CICFF Professional Jury, Youth Jury, and Children’s Jury, including in the Academy Award Qualifying Best Animated and Best Live-Action Short Film categories. CICFF juries are composed of independent filmmakers, film industry professionals, educators, parents, and kids and teens who have graduated from FACETS Film 101 summer camp.

About FACETS

FACETS  connects people to independent ideas through transformative film experiences. Founded by the late Milos Stehlik in 1975, FACETS inspires audiences to engage with film not simply as entertainment, but as an exciting tool to bridge cultural divides, promote digital literacy, and expand perspectives through empathy-driven storytelling.

FACETS presents the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF), one of only two Academy Award-qualifying international children’s film festivals in the world. The 39th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF39) runs November 4 – 20 at FACETS in-person and via national online screening. Buyers should visit  CICFF39.eventive.org  to view all the ticket options and to purchase tickets. 

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FACETS’ CICFF39 is supported by the Alphawood Foundation Chicago, Comer Family Foundation, NEA Art Works, Illinois Arts Agency (partial support), Kirckland & Ellis LLP, Prince Charitable Trust, Allstate, Conant Family Foundation, Stuart & Jesse Abelson Foundation, Seabury Foundations (New Dimensions program), Sterling Bay, and WTTW.