Every year at the Palm Springs International ShortFest Film Festival and Market, Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging The Borders Award goes to a short film that helps to bring people of the world and different cultures closer together. In 2011 the winning film will receive a HP EliteBook 8760w mobile workstation (Prize and promotional support provided by HP) also CWB’s Special Jury Award winner will receive a copy of Adobe Premier Pro CS 5.5 provided by Adobe.
The five nominees for the 2010 CWB Best International Short Film are Bekas (Sweden), David and Goliath (USA), The Promised Land (Israel), Salar (Bolivia), and Wajeh (Israel).
The winner of the Best International Short Film Award will be announced in the closing ceremony of the Palm Springs International ShortFest Film Festival and Market on Sunday June 26, 2011.
Bekas
Sweden, 2010, 29 Minute Running Time
North American Premiere
Language: Kurdish
Two brothers living on the streets in Kurdistan hatch a daring plan to get to America—which they are pretty sure lies just across the border.
DIRECTOR: Karzan Kader
Producer: Glenn Lund
Editor: Sebastian Ringler
Screenwriter: Piotr Marciniak, Karzan Kader
Cinematographer: Johan Holmqvist
Music: Josef Tuulse
Principal Cast: Zamand Taha, Sarwar Fazil
David and Goliath
USA, 2010, 12 Minute Running Time
Topics: Drama, Jewish Interest
Pursued by Nazi soldiers during WWII, a desperate Czech hides out in a doghouse on the property of a German citizen. Will this momentary refuge prove to be his Alamo?
DIRECTOR: George Zaverdas
Producer: George Zaverdas
Editor: Jeffrey Orgill
Screenwriter: George Zaverdas
Cinematographer: Robert McLachlan
Music: Christopher Klatman
Principal Cast: Billy Burke
The Promised Land
91 Minute Running Time
Israel, 2010, 15 min.
Personal stories, ranging from those of a woman who shelters illegal residents from the immigration authorities to the stresses between an orthodox shop owner and his liberated wife form the basis for this selection of fascinating shorts about life in Eretz Yisrael.
Writer and Director: Vanessa Knutsen
Producer: Hilla Shitrit
Director of Photography: Ziv Berkovich
Editor: Idit Alony
Cast: Mehereta Baruch, Thiya Danon, Yoni meles, Roi Miller
Salar
Bolivia, 2011, 20 Minute Running Time
North American Premiere
Topics: Crime, Latino
Language: Spanish,English,Quechan
An American doctor ready to cut ties with the Bolivian village where he has been practicing finds his life complicated by a wounded and desperate salt mine worker.
Director: Nicholas Greene
Producer: Julie Buck
Editor: Faisal Azam
Screenwriter: Nicholas Greene
Cinematographer: Hillary Spera
Principal Cast: Carlos Aduviri,Peter Killy,Soledad Ardaya,Maya Cahua,Oona Chaplin
Wajeh
Israel, 2010, 16 Minute Running Time
Topics: Documentary, Middle East
Language: Arabic
In this eye-opening documentary, Palestinians of the West Bank, in order to get to work, must pass through a byzantine checkpoint system. A coffee vendor stands witness and provides a small measure of comfort to his customers.
Director: Murad Nassar
Producer: doroob Company
Editor: Ameer Ahmarwo
Cinematographer: Ameer Ahmarwo
