Sony honored young filmmakers from around the world at the third annual Future Filmmakers Awards ceremony held on Thursday night in the historic Scenic Arts Building on the Sony lot. 

The competition attracted over 11,750 short films submitted by 7,500 filmmakers representing 158 countries. Winners were chosen by a jury comprised of director Jason Reitman, writer Minhal Baig, Sony 3000 president Elizabeth Gabler and actor-director Justin Chadwick.

“Our purpose is to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology,” said Sony president Hiroki Totoki in his introductory remarks. “These awards underscore our ongoing commitment to nurture and elevate new voices and champion diverse perspectives and to create opportunities for breakthrough talent from around the globe.”

The black tie affair began with a wine reception followed by a surf and turf dinner of steak and sea bass. After guests were well fed, awards were handed out in four different categories: fiction, non-fiction, animation and student. Winners received cash prizes and Sony Digital Imaging Equipment. 

Non-fiction filmmaker Riah Taipodia from Shillong, India, shared what it meant to have her film shortlisted in the competition.

“I never imagined it would go to a place like Sony and have it screened there. It’s such a big opportunity. I’m from a very small town in India, and it’s a huge honor,”  she told THR. “There are a lot of local filmmakers who have reached out, and they want to collaborate with me and my team. Being recognized by my own people from my state and my country is huge, and it’s really helped a lot.”

Before the awards ceremony, Sony hosted a four-day immersive filmmaker workshop for all of the shortlisted nominees. Programs included a cinematography masterclass, script-writing seminar and demonstrations of new filmmaking technology.

While announcing the Fiction winner, Reitman credited all of the filmmakers for taking on the challenge of telling an impactful story in less time than it takes to watch a sitcom. 

“Telling a great story in under 20 minutes is like writing a great novel on a post-it note. Watching these films took me right back to making my own shorts when there was zero time to waste,” he said. “Every shot and every line of dialogue and every cut had to count. On my first short film the cops tried to shut us down because they thought we were making a porno. That’s true. Also, I got shingles.”

Muhammed Ashfaque from Alleppey, India, was shortlisted for his film Ura in the student category. He told THR that his participation in the program was his first time leaving the country. 

“I come from a very rural town,” he said. “I never dreamt in my rarest dream of coming to America or LA. Being here is an award for me. When I arrived, I felt like I was in a movie.”

Submissions for next year’s program open in July. 

The year’s winners included:

Fiction: Rossana Montoya (Colombia) for My Demon

Non-Fiction: Juliet Klottrup (UK), for Travelling Home

Animation: Santiago O’Ryan & José Navarro (Chile) for Hermans Casablanca

Student: Hayden Hoozer (UK) & Franz Böhm (Germany), The National Film & Television School, for Rock Paper Scissors