-- Paula David - Fourth Estate Cooperative Reporter

Palm Springs, CA, United States (4E) - The Palm Springs International ShortFest, considered North America's largest festival for short films, announced its roster of winners Sunday.

The Best of Festival Award was given to Julio O. Ramos from Peru/USA for his film "Behind the Mirrors (Detras del Espejo)". Meanwhile, the Audience Favorite Live Action Short was awarded to Joost Reijmers from the Netherlands for the film "A Curious Conjunction of Coincidences".

A total of 324 short films were screened throughout the festival, along with over 3,000 other submissions, which ran from June 19-25 in Palm Springs, California. A total of $118,000 in prizes was awarded to winners in 20 categories.

"It's been a great year for ShortFest, with record crowds, a spectacular lineup of provocative and engaging new films and a banner year for the ShortFest Forums, with acclaimed talents like Robert Elswit, Gus Van Sant and Oorlagh George participating," ShortFest Programming and Executive Director Darryl Macdonald said. "We've achieved everything we set out to accomplish with this year's Festival. I'm confident we've provided a fitting springboard for the astonishingly accomplished young filmmakers who participated."

Kathleen McInnis, ShortFest Film Curator and Director of Industry Programming added, "The quality, complexity and emotional veracity of our short films this year serves to platform the extraordinary talent of our ShortFest filmmakers: Talent poised to explode into cinema screens worldwide over the coming years."

The Palm Springs International ShortFest and its Short Film Market are the largest and most prominent short film showcase in North America. The Festival and its concurrent 3,000-film Market continue to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and are well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films. It is designated by Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as an award-qualifying festival and is accredited by the International Short Film Conference.

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