Jury Best International Short Film Competition

The Best International Short Competition is a unique programme for short films that are suitable for young children and do not exceed thirty minutes. The competition comprises two categories, one for animation and one for live action. With these short films, Cinekid seeks to introduce young children to themes and narrative styles from as many countries as possible. There is much talent and even in the smallest countries, beautiful works are produced on a regular basis. However, projects that focus on children are still limited and therefore deserve support. This year, Cinekid made a selection of 42 short films, 25 animations and 17 live-action shorts. In both categories, a jury consisting of three members will select a winner to receive the sum of €1,000 and a Cinekid Lion statuette.

Chipo Zhou (South Africa)

Chipo has worked in the arts industry for over 14 years and has been Head of programming and curator for the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) for the past five editions. Chipo deliberately cultivated the development of indigenous talent and facilitated access to both audiences and aspiring filmmakers from previously marginalised communities. As an avid proponent of the inclusion of women in film, she signed the 50/50 by 2020 pledge on behalf of DIFF. Chipo sits on the Short Film Conference board and previously sat on the board of Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe. She has also served on local and international film festival

juries, as well as on project selection panels for several residency programs.

Ignas Meilūnas (Lithuania)

After receiving bachelor’s degree in computer science from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Ignas followed his passion for computer graphics and animation. After five years of working in the field as an animator, he started to direct animated shorts. His films, including Mr. Night Has a Day Off (2016) and Matilda and the Spare Head (2020), have been awarded at international animation festivals and distributed world-wide. Ignas continues to work mainly in his refined stile of stop-motion animation and in 2019 became a co-founder of the Vilnius-based animation studio Kadrų Skyrius.

Martina has directed three short films: Chats in Taj Mahal premiered at BAFICI, The Other Body at CINEFEM, and The Name of the Son at the Berlinale, where it was awarded the Crystal Bear and the special prize for the Best Short Film (in the Generation Kplus section). It was also awarded at Cinekid, NYICFF, and Stockholm. She is currently working on two documentaries: The Caretaker (winner of the development contest of the Argentinian Film Institute and selected at Doc Corner at Cannes) and Tristan (Special Mention winner at DocLisboa’s Arché), both co-directed with Gabriela Uassouf.