Awards for 3 Dutch shorts at Clermont-Ferrand 2026
International competition
Ilke Paddenburg was world premiering her latest short A Shot At Art in Clermont-Ferrand. Studio Ruba produced the short comedy about two seasoned volunteers at an international festival who start participating in a highly controversial art installation, things get completely out of hand. Interfilm is on board for international sales.
Jan-Dirk Bouw returned to the festival with his animated documentary Breaking Walls in which journalist-activist Hoi Yi fights surveillance and censorship while suppressing his queer identity from his family, turning personal repression into a fight for others’ freedom. Bouw’s 2013 short animated doc I Love Hooligans was also selected for Clermont-Ferrand back in 2014. Serious Film (NL) and Tenk.tv (BE) and Visualantics (BE) coproduced the short. Kaboom Distribution is handling festival distribution.
Unavailable by Ukrainian director Kyrylo Zemlyanyi is a Dutch minority coproduction by Cinesud and world premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Serhii, a young man who fills his days with volunteer work, loses contact with his mother living in occupied territory. When his mother finally decides to evacuate, he learns that a humanitarian convoy from his hometown has been destroyed in a bombing raid. Sales are handled by Radiator IP Sales.
National competition
Water Girl* by French director Sandra Desmazières is a Dutch minority coproduction by Valk Productions and world premiered last May in Cannes. SEE NL talked to producer Richard Valk on the occasion, read the interview here. Mia has spent her whole life freediving, fishing and gliding through seaweed and rocks. Time has passed, tracing its lines on her body, and shaping the landscapes around her. Loved ones have vanished. Tonight, Mia remembers. Studio Wasia is handling festival distribution and L’Agence du Court Métrage sales.
XR competition
A Long Goodbye, co-produced by Dutch Valk Productions, is competing in the XR competition. In this animated, interactive VR experience, we walk in Ida's shoes, a 72-year-old pianist living with dementia. A Long Goodbye is a poetic experience about the long goodbye of two lovers who shared a life together. It world premiered in Venice where it won the Achievement Award. Sales are handled by Astrea Immersive.
Other programs
Included in the XR Panorama program is Korstmos a VR work by Nemo Vos and short experimental documentary Between Delicate and Violent by Şirin Bahar Demirel is part of the European Short Film Audience Awards program.
Awards
Award for Best Animation - Breaking Walls by Jan-Dirk Bouw
Best XR Film Award by EVAVEO - A Long Goodbye by Victor Maes & Kate Voet
Audience Prize - A Shot at Art by Ilke Paddenburg
Header image: Breaking Walls
