Palm Springs SHORTFEST has announced A Broken House,  directed by Jimmy Goldblum, as the winner of MOZAIK 2021 Bridging the Borders Award, presented by Cinema Without Borders and sponsored by MOZAIK.

A Broken House also won ShortFest Audience Award.

This year’s award ceremony festival was held at Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. Keely Badger a jury member and Executive Director of MOZAIK, sponsor of the Bridging The Borders Award,  presented the award for this year’s MOZAIK Bridging the Borders  honorable mention and award winner. The winner  received  a cash award of $2500 courtesy of MOZAIK. 

The nominees for the 2021 MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award were: Águilas (USA), Bambirak (USA, Germany), A Broken House (Lebanon, USA), Faraway (Canada), Fragments (France, Canada), Free Flow (France), Homegoing (South Korea, USA), On My Way (Belgium), Seahorse (Germany) and The Trucker (USA)

Here is Bridging The Borders Award Jury statement:  ” The MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award celebrates cinema that not only unites us through the universality of lived experience regardless of place or time, race, religion, gender, color or creed, but also cinema that inspires a world worthy of future generations by moving audiences to meaningful action here and now. Year after year, the film submissions for this award skyrocket, they come from filmmakers living/working all over the world, and always seem to deliver with more power and resonance than the year prior, making the work for the jury most challenging.

We are truly thrilled to recognize our two special mention films this year. On My Way, directed by Sonam Larcin, is a about the unexpected arrival of a Nigerian migrant in the Belgian countryside, that shakes up the fragile daily life of two men living a secret relationship. In addition to being in competition for the MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award, On My Way is also up for Best LGBTQ+ Short. Congratulations Sonam on receiving this year’s special mention film recognition.

Our second special mention film is Bambirak, directed by Zamarin Wahdat. When 8-year-old Kati stows away in her father’s truck, Faruk must juggle his responsibilities as a single dad while holding down his first job in a new country. This is ultimately a film about the universality of love between a father and his daughter. Bambirak is also up for Best Student U.S. Short. Congratulations Zamarin on receiving this year’s special mention film recognition.

And the winner of the MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award goes to a film that follows Syrian architect and artist, Mohamad Hafez, as he finds himself stuck in the U.S. on a single-entry visa. Mohamed eases his homesickness by sculpting incredible life-like renditions of the Damascus home and neighborhood he left behind, while working to rebuild fractured family lines across borders. This is a must-watch film about loss and love, responsibility, and identity — about homesickness for the places to which many people can no longer return. We’re honored to recognize A Broken House directed by Jimmy Goldblum, as this year’s winner of the MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award, which will receive our $2,500 cash award. Congratulations!

A Broken House – Winner of 2021 MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award
A Syrian architect and artist stuck in the U.S. on a single-entry visa eases his homesickness by sculpting life-like renditions of the home he left behind.

In competition for Bridging the Borders Award.
Director: Jimmy Goldblum
Producers: Jimmy Goldblum, Matt Weaver, Richard Gephardt, Harrison Nalevansky
Cinematographers: Oli Millar, Zach Lowry
Editor: Brad Turner
Music: From the Mouth of the Sun (Aaron Martin, Dag Rosenqvist)
Cast: Mohamad Hafez
Country: USA/Lebanon

Bambirak – MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award Honorary Mention
When 8-year-old Kati stows away in her father’s truck, Faruk must juggle his responsibilities as a single dad while holding down his first job in a new country.

In competition for Bridging the Borders Award and Best Student U.S. Short.
Director: Zamarin Wahdat
Producers: Joy Jorgensen
Screenwriter: Zamarin Wahdat
Cinematographers: Lorena Duran
Editor: Alan Wu, Jenn Ruff
Music: Robert Ouyang Rusli
Cast: Lara Cengiz, Kailas Mahadevan
Country: Germany/USA

On My Way – MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award Honorary Mention
The unexpected arrival of a Nigerian migrant in the Belgian countryside shakes up the fragile daily life of two men living a secret relationship.

In competition for Bridging the Borders Award and Best LGBT+ Short.
Director: Sonam Larcin
Producers: Anne-Laure Guégan, Géraldine Sprimont
Screenwriter: Sonam Larcin
Cinematographers: Samuel Esselinckx
Editor: Laurence Vaes
Music: Vincent Massinon
Cast: Tijmen Govaerts, Goua Grovogui, Yannick Renier
Country: Belgium

Cinema Without Borders’ jury members to decide the 2021 winner of the MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award were:

Keely Badger is Executive Director of MOZAIK, a new millennial-led philanthropic organization committed to exploring and modeling new practices in philanthropy with disruptive, creative, and catalytic potential. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Keely leads the foundation’s strategic grantmaking, programs and community engagements, working with a range of nonprofit organizations in the local, national and international advocacy space.

As a millennial expert and advocate on international human rights and development issues,
Keely pioneers’ durable solutions for underrepresented voices, communities and causes by working to democratize philanthropy through participatory grantmaking praxis.

Susan Morgan Cooper
Susan Morgan Cooper is a Director/Producer/ Writer and her credits include:

To the Moon and Back, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2016 (A cinematic act of love and courage’ … Broadway World) – Hopper [In his own words] Documentary, Producer/Writer 2013 (“I was moved to tears” Mike Medavoy) – Mulberry Child, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2012 (‘A powerful and touching film’… 31/2 stars. Roger Ebert) – An Unlikely Weapon [The Eddie Adams Story]..Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2008 ( ‘A terrific documentary’ The Hollywood Reporter) – Making Of Shadows in The Sun, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 2005 – Heroes And Sheroes. Television Series, Director/Producer/Writer 2000
Mirjana: One Girl’s Journey, Documentary, Director/Producer/Writer 1997 – Stringers, Narrative Short Director/Producer/Writer 1990 – Hadley’s Rebellion, Narrative Feature Associate Producer 1989

Hossein Jafarian
Hossein Jafarian is one of the leading cinematographers of Iranian cinema and an Academy Awards member that his work has been featured in prestigious film publications such as American Cinematographer. Hossein has shot over 50 feature length films over the course of the past four decades, films that have won much critical praise in international film festivals from Cannes to Berlin to the Academy Awards. His credits include collaborations with some of the masters of Iranian cinema, including Through the Olive Trees with Abbas Kiarostami, Crimson Gold with Jafar Panahi, Under The Skin of the City with Rakhshan Bani Etemad and most recently three films with Asghar Farhadi; Fireworks WednesdayAbout Elly and the Oscar-winning The Salesman.
Hossein Jafarian is also an author of several books on filmmaking and cinematography.

Vladek Juszkiewicz
Born in Glasgow, Poland. He graduated from the Szczecin Technical University with a degree in Engineering. While attending the University he became a member of The Szczecin Technical University Choir, serving as a President and manager of the group. His travels with the choir to 18 counties including United States where he visited the White House.
When he moved to Warsaw, he became the manager of the Polish international star singer Maryla Rodowicz.
After immigrating to the United States, he worked on 11 films with the late Paul Leder.
In 1999 he founded the Polish Film Festival Los Angeles and served as a director till 2019. Now is serving as the Festival’s Programmer.
Served on the juries of the Los Angeles Hungarian Film Festival, the Los Angeles South East European Film Festival, New York Polish Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Awarded by Polish Government with the Cavalier & Officer Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and Gloria Artis for promoting Polish culture abroad.

Farah Nabulsi
Farah Nabulsi is an Academy Award Nominated and BAFTA Award Winning Palestinian British filmmaker. In 2016 she started working in the film industry as a writer & producer of short fiction films. This includes Today They Took My Son, endorsed by British Director Ken Loach and screened at the United Nations.

The Present, her directorial debut, which she also co-wrote and produced, premiered at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2020 and won the coveted Audience Award for Best Film. It went on to win over 30 International Film Festival Jury and Audience Awards, a BAFTA Award and an Oscar Nomination. The Present was licensed internationally including to Canal+ and Netflix Worldwide.

Bijan Tehrani
Founder and director of I, Immigrant and founder of Cinema Without Borders (CWB) and CineEqual is an award-winning author of children’s books and short films. Tehrani has been a passionate advocate of human rights, which he has actively pursued as a filmmaker, -historian, and -critic over the past five decades.
Tehrani initiated CineEqual, a multi-faceted program that includes I, Immigrant and is administered by the CWB Foundation, in 2018. Since its founding in 2005, CWB has interviewed and introduced over 2,000 filmmakers from around the globe, a majority of them champions of social justice and human rights.

Terry George, Academy winner and director of Hotel Rwanda, had this to say on the 10th anniversary of CWB: ”At a time when media consolidation is threatening diverse and unique voices, Cinema Without Borders provides a forum for underrepresented perspectives and stories. Now more than ever, we need to reach across cultural, political and national lines. Cinema Without Borders is part of this critical work.”

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Bijan (Hassan) Tehrani Founder and Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders, is a film director, writer, and a film critic, his first article appeared in a weekly film publication in Iran 45 years ago. Bijan founded Cinema Without Borders, an online publication dedicated to promotion of international cinema in the US and around the globe, eighteen years ago and still works as its editor in chief. Bijan is has also been a columnist and film critic for the Iranian monthly film related medias for 45 years and during the past 5 years he has been a permanent columnist and film reviewer for Film Emrooz (Film Today), a popular inranian monthly print film magazine. Bijan has won several awards in international film festivals and book fairs for his short films and children's books as well as for his services to the international cinema Bijan is a voter for the 82nd Golden Globe Awards

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