The Bogotá Short Film Festival and Bogoshorts Film Market announced the winners of the Santa Lucía awards.
On December 12, the 21st Bogotá Short Film Festival / Festival de Cortos de Bogotá - Bogoshorts ended with the Closing and Awards Night at the Centro Nacional de las Artes Delia Zapata. Over eight days, more than 430 short films were screened across 17 physical and digital venues. The festival awarded 22 Santa Lucías, the official statuette, recognizing outstanding shorts in the National, International, Connection, and Collections Competitions. Alongside these, awards were granted by department, and the Audience Award for Best Feature Film of the Year went to Un varón, directed by Fabian Hernández.
Notable winners in the National Competition included: Andrés Felipe Ángel's Fieras (Beasts) for Best Fiction Short Film, Manuel Mateo's Ánima (Soul) for Best Documentary Short Film, Carla Melo's La perra (The Bitch) for Best Animated Short Film, Juanita Onzaga's Santuario (Sanctuary) for Best Experimental Short Film, and Iván D. Gaona's Sensual (La Batucada Guaricha) for Best Videoclip.
Andrés Felipe Ángel won Santa Lucías for Best Direction and Best Screenplay with Fieras; Logan Triplett won Best Cinematography for Sombras nada más (Only Shadows); Marcela Gómez Montoya won Best Art Direction for Bogotá Story; Esteban Pedraza won Best Editing for Bogotá Story; Juanma López and Daniel Giraldo won Best Sound Design for La perra; AvenRec (Mateo Avendaño) won Best Music for The Island; Luisa Fonseca won Best Poster for Germen (Seed); Víctor Tarazona and Catalina Rey won Best Leading Actor and Actress respectively for Bogotá Story.
In the International Competition, the Santa Lucía winners were Atsushi Hirai's Oyu (France, Japan) for Best Fiction Short Film; Marina Alberti's Aitana (Spain) for Best Documentary Short Film; Alexandra Myott and Jean-Sébastien Hamel's Un trou dans la poitrine (A Hole in the Chest) for Best Animated Short Film; Niles Atallah's Vitanuova (Chile) for Best Experimental Short Film; and Lado Kvataniya's Waltz (Mgzavrebi) for Best Music Video.
Rodrigue Huart's Transylvanie (France) won the F3 Fanatic Freak Fantastic Competition, while Irene Lema and Sergio Bromberg's El beat secured the Santa Lucia award in the Virtual Reality - VR Competition. Ana Cristina Barragán's Ave (Bird) won the title in the Connection Competition. The Audience Award went to A menos que bailemos (Unless We Dance) by Hanz Rippe Gabriel and Fernanda Pineda. Voted by the teams of the short films selected in the National Competition, Un varón (A Male) by Fabián Hernández was chosen as the best Colombian feature film of the year.
In the Industry section, Sebastian Giraldo's Enemigo (Enemy) emerged as the winning project in the In Vitro BFM, while Camilo Escobar's Un día de mayo (A Day in May) won a Euro Connection fast-track to the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in the Incubadora BFM. Felipe Sánchez's Las ánimas (The Souls) won a fast-track to the international project selection Emergente! Cine Lab.
Pablo Sánchez's Eso es todo (That's All) was the winning project of the Congo Films film crews. Laura Asprilla's Bertha and Iván Garzón Mayorga's Garza o en esta puta ciudad (Heron or In This City) won the Centro Ático prize. The Mad Love winners were Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí's Akababuru: expresión de asombro (Akababuru: Expression of Wonder) and Iván Garzón Mayorga's Garza o en esta puta ciudad. Sara García's Pestañas de oro (Golden Eyelashes) won the fast-track prize for the BAMMERS category of the Bogotá Audiovisual Market BAM 2024. José Lorenzo Toco Pollio's Un adulto responsable (A Responsible Adult) won the Bogoshorts Film Agency category, and Laura Julieth Moncada Aldana's Saudade (Loneliness) was the winner at the BFM Flipbook.
The Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM), a cultural initiative of Proimágenes Colombia and the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, had a notable presence at the Bogotá Short Film Festival (Bogoshorts). Several short films previously screened at BAM participated in the 7th Bogoshorts Film Market (BFM), with some emerging as winners.
In this year's edition, the short film Akababuru: expresión de asombro was presented in BAMMERS, a category tailored to young creative producers in the national audiovisual scene. This film won an award from Mad Love. Another standout was Garza o en esta puta ciudad, which was not only recognized in BAMMERS 2023 but also fast-tracked to the 7th BFM, where it received awards from Centro Ático and Mad Love.
At BAMMERS 2023, Laura Asprilla made her mark with her short film Bertha, earning a fast track for the BFM edition and recognition from Centro Ático. The VR Competition winner El beat had previously been part of BAM Film Projects 2018. Sara García's Pestañas de oro project also secured a fast track for BAMMERS 2024.
During the 21st edition's opening night, Claudia Triana de Vargas, director of Proimágenes Colombia, received the Santa Lucía award for her 25 years of dedicated support in promoting and consolidating Colombian cinema. In a symbolic gesture, she handed the Santa Lucía to filmmaker Duvan Duque, highlighting the institution's commitment to fostering national talent.
