Winners of Palm Springs Short Film Festival Announced

Palm Springs, CA– The winners of the 2016 Palm Springs International ShortFest have been announced, following the conclusion of the film festival's weeklong run at Palm Springs' Camelot Theatres.

More than 300 short films from around the world were screened during the course of the festival and judged by a jury panel of six professionals from the film industry and media.

The Best of Festival Award went to "Home," a film from Kosovo that details a family caught up in a refugee migration. Jurors said the film "devastated" them.

"This surprising and incredibly powerful film deftly elicits not just our compassion, but more importantly, our empathy," read a jury statement.

Other awards included France's Minh Tam taking home the Grand Jury Award and Greece's Konstantina Kotzamani winning the Future Filmmaker Award.

Honors were handed out to winners in 21 separate categories, with more than $115,000 in prizes awarded, including $20,000 in cash prizes.

The festival's larger-than-ever international presence, which contributed to more than 4,100 submissions this year, was well represented among the festival's award winners, with nearly two-thirds of the awards going to foreign filmmakers.

"A common thread of immigration and compassion dominates our award winning films this year -- echoing current issues around the world," said festival director Helen du Toit. "After a stimulating and energizing week of storytelling and networking between the next generation of filmmakers, we leave with a sense of hope for a world that, despite some setbacks, does seem to be evolving slowly but surely."

– By City News Service.