Burbank, California— Cinema Without Borders has been awarding the Best International Film since 2007 at Palm Springs International ShortFest. Last year, Cinema Without Borders awarded its Best International Film Award to Milan (a co-production of Germany, Serbia, and Montenegro), directed by Michael Kezele.
For the 2008 award, Cinema Without Borders has nominated the following five films at the 2008 Palm Springs Short FilmFest, which is currently running until August 27, 2008 . The winner of this year’s award will be chosen by a panel made up of select members of the Palm Springs International Shortfest jury, along with members of the Festival’s programming team, who will decide the winner of the CWB’s Best International Film from the list of five nominees. The five nominated films were previously selected by representatives from Cinema Without Borders from among a shortlist of the Festival’s international film submissions. Jury members at this year’s event are actor Bill Pullman; Eileen Arandiga, Festival Director of the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto; Dana Harris, editor Variety.com; Sydney Levine of Film Finders; and Dragan Milinkovic, Serbian film academic and producer.
The five nominated films are:
Subira (Kenya)
Directed by Ravneet “Sippy” Chadha
An 11-year-old rebellious Muslim girl in Kenya finds playing with the boys much more fun than conforming to her mother’s (and society’s) idea of acceptable behavior. She’s about to discover that what truly sets her apart from the boys may 
also take away her freedom.
By Night (Germany)
Directed by Julia Scharz
Called away from his home by an emergency on the night he promised his young son he’d take him up on the roof to show him the lunar eclipse, a doctor finds himself the unwitting cause of an event that will change his life forever.
Cairn (Norway)
Directed by Hanne Larsen
Young Johan wants to be accepted by the “cool” guys at school, so he joins them in a cruel prank, shutting another boy from their class in a cold, dark cairn underground. When a series of circumstances cause him to leave the boy in the cellar, his actions have consequences that he could never have anticipated.
Crossbow (Australia)
Directed by David Michod
Winner of the Best Australian Short at the Melbourne Film Festival and recipient of accolades at the Venice and Sundance Festivals, this story of a teenager brought up by negligent parents is a cautionary tale to pierce the heart.
Angels Die in the Soil (Iran)
Directed by Babak Amini
On the border between Iran, Kurdistan and Iraq, a headstrong young woman who survived Saddan’s chemical warfare attacks during the Iran/Iraq war encounters an American soldier, who’s been shot and left for dead by his terrorist captors.
