EstDocs Short Film Competition Audience Award selection kicked off 2018 Festival + videos + photos
12 Oct 2018 Tauno Mölder
EstDocs started its 2018 season with the Short Film Competition presentation in Toronto on Friday. Held at Tartu College, film fans had the opportunity to explore Estonian culture through featured short films from Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, UAE and USA. This year total of 17 short films under 7 min were submitted, 7 in professional category and 10 in amateur category.
First for this year, only professional entries are judged by the three member jury consisting of Katriina Isberg (actress), Ariadna Ochrymovych (filmmaker, Canada) and Riho Västrik (associate professor at Baltic Film School, Estonia).
Amateur entries are screened and prizes awarded by the committee selected by the event's main sponsor Tartu College. Regardless of the category, all entries were publicly screened on Friday night, October 12th. Audience members were given an opportunity to vote for their favorite short film. The Short Film Night was hosted by Äret Pea.
The winners of the professional category, amateur category and audience award will be announced during the EstDocs Gala at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on October 19th. Reception starts at 7pm, awards will be announced at 8pm.
In addition to the award ceremony, the gala will feature "Ahto: Chasing a Dream", Jaanis Valk's film about the young Estonian sailor who crossed the Atlantic five times in a small sailboat and attempted to sail around the world, just at the start of WWII.
The EstDocs documentary film festival takes place from Oct 19 - 23, 2018 at various venues in Toronto. Printed programs are available at the Estonian House, Tartu College and Estonian Toronto Credit Union or visit www.estdocs.com for more information.
