My RØDE REEL International Short Film competition: Winners announced
In this year's roundup of winners, two Australians have taken home top prizes. Amelia Farmer has taken home first place in the Comedy category for her short film The Starey Bampire, and Myles Conti's film Social Distance has won third prize in the same category.
With a $1 million cash prize pool, as well as camera gear and other filmmaking prizes up for grabs, entries flooded in from over 100 countries around the globe. This year’s competition saw entries triple in comparison to the competition’s 2019 numbers.
Entrants had to submit a 3-minute short film and a behind-the-scenes film that showcases a RØDE product being used. Aside from these requirements, each prize category was open to interpretation.
Prize money has been awarded to the top three films for each of the 10 categories. And now, without further ado... we've listed all of this year's winners below!
The Category Winners
Comedy
1st Place ($75K): The Starey Bampire – Amelia Farmer (Australia)
2nd Place ($30K): The Contract – Rick Darge (USA)
3rd Place ($15K): Social Distance – Myles Conti (Australia)
You can watch these entries here.
Drama
1st Place ($75K): Black.Matters – Kyndra Kennedy (USA)
2nd Place ($30K): Bear Hugs – Nick McLean (New Zealand)
3rd Place ($15K): This Dream I Have – Mason Beals (USA)
You can watch these entries here.
Documentary
1st Place ($75K): The Last Video Store – Arthur Cauty (UK)
2nd Place ($30K): Cynthia – Calvin Lam (USA)
3rd Place ($15K): Origens, A Climbing History – 100 Limite Films (Brazil)
You can watch these entries here.
Animation
1st Place ($75K): The Forbidden Zone – Zach Tolchinsky (USA)
2nd Place ($30K): What a Waste – John Remar Lavina (Phillippines)
3rd Place ($15K): Tread – Matt Landkroon (New Zealand)
You can watch these entries here.
People’s Choice
1st Place ($25K): Harmless (Anodin) – Mathieu Jonckheere Yokaasan (Belgium)
2nd Place ($15K): Uprooted – Andre Pilli (USA)
3rd Place ($10K): Humans of Kerala – AJ Film Ferry (India)
You can watch these entries here.
Best Young Filmmaker
1st Place ($25K): Unicorn Turbo Charge – Micah Martinez
2nd Place ($15K): Bricks and Guns – Joshua Parry
3rd Place ($10K): A Journey Through Wing Chun – Matthews Ma
You can watch these entries here.
Sound Design
1st Place ($25K): Incident – David O'Connor (South Africa)
2nd Place ($15K): The Accident – Michael Lubin (USA)
3rd Place ($10K): Foleysh – Quokka Production (Italy)
You can watch these entries here.
Behind-the-scenes
1st Place ($25K): Flying Colours – Devon Dresback (USA)
2nd Place ($15K): Harmless (Anodin) – Mathieu Jonckheere Yokaasan (Belgium)
3rd Place ($10K): Noodle Power! – Gottfried Roodt and Lloyd Wilgen (South Africa)
You can watch these entries here.
Best Chinese Film
1st Place ($25K): 铃声 (The Bell) – Tong Z
2nd Place ($15K):《阴职》(Baptism Mortis) – Wu Yulin
3rd Place ($10K): 罗德短片比赛 《一个人的动物园》(The Lonely Zoo) – Peiyan Xia
You can watch these entries here.
Judges’ Choice Award
As an additional prize, Timothy Hay from South Africa has been given the Judges’ Choice award for his film Amazni Olwandle (Ocean Water), which means he walks away with $200,000.
To watch Amazni Olwandle, follow this link here.
On this year's judging panel was: Sydney director Selina Miles, Australian actor Meyne Wyatt and American Writer and Director Ryan Connolly.
To find out more about the annual competition, you can visit the My RØDE Reel website here.