Burbank, CA – June 23rd, 2024: Today, Cinema Without Borders Foundation announced the winnwers of CWB’s Bridging The Borders Award for the 2024 Palm Springs International ShortFest Film Festival.
The Bridging The Borders Award at the 2024 Palm ShortFest will be given to the most successful film in bringing the people of our world closer together. Bridging The Borders Award is presented by Cinema Without Borders Foundation and award sponsored and prize provided by 360 MEDIA. The winner of Bridging the Borders Award will receive a cash prize of $2000
At the Shortfest Award ceremony Keely Badger and Vladek Juszkiewicz, jury members, announced the winners of the Biridging the Borders Award:
Here is Cinema Without Borders Jury Statement: Keely Badger : “Cinema Without Borders is a nonprofit organizations that presents the Bridging The Borders Awards at festivals all across the globe, putting the spotlight on rising talent to achieve its mission to bring people of the world closer together through cinema, strengthening communities of filmmakers and film students across real and virtual borders.
This year, the jury for the Bridging The Borders Award considered eleven short films in contention for the $2,000 prize. Each film is extraordinary in its portrayal of both the beauty and the pain of human experience. They explore the themes of universal human rights, in particular, refugee rights and displacement from homeland, as well as the tyranny of war on families and communities in places of the world often unnoticed by mainstream media news coverage.
Our Special Jury Mention goes to “Don’t Leave Home” by director David Jeopardize. Imagine returning home to find your house in a different country! In 2012, 82-year-old Data woke up one morning, expecting a visit from his family. Instead, he walked outside his house and noticed something unusual… a barbed wire fence, arbitrarily erected overnight by military forces to mark a new border, separating him from his loved ones and home country while trapping him in a geo-political “no man’s land!“ Congratulations to David Jeopardize for shining a light on the love and loss of family due to war, borderization, and occupation.
It was a difficult task to decide the winning 
film of the 2024 Bridging The Borders Award. Depicting a part of the world that is currently facing one of the greatest humanitarian crises and genocides of our time, this is a film about the enduring power of love in times of absolute despair, a film about the resilience of the human spirit across generations.
Maha is part of the last generation of Palestinian refugees in the Balata camp on the West Bank. When her blind grandfather falls ill, she hatches an elaborate plan to convince him that a return to his homeland is possible. This beautifully shot, tender film, shows us that film holds the power to build empathy and bridges among many people, even in humanity’s darkest hour. We’re honored to present the Bridging The Borders Award to “Palestine Islands”, directed by Nour Ben Salem & Julien Menanteau.
Congratulations!”
Cinema Without Borders Foundation’ jury members to decide the 2024 winner of the CWB’s Bridging The Borders Award were:
Keely Badger
Keely Badger is the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of 360 MEDIA Consulting; a woman-owned, woman-led digital marketing agency for storytellers, changemakers, and brands working on the frontlines of social impact and innovation. Her high-performance multimedia campaigns have attracted influential clients such as The Sundance Institute, The Redford Center, Human Rights Watch, KPJR Films, and over 50 award-winning indie films.
Developing a love for the transformative potential of documentary film to bridge communities and awaken critical consciousness, Keely has worked in the public and private sector over the past 15 years, using social impact cinema as a tool to inspire audiences to meaningful action. With a background in helping produce, brand and market films by providing strategic audience engagement models, impactful multimedia campaigns and community partnership-building, Keely has successfully helped independent filmmakers galvanize social change in both grassroots and international arenas.
360 MEDIA is proud to serve as a presenting sponsor of the 2024 Bridging The Borders Award.
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
Alberto Di Mauro
Alberto Di Mauro was Born in Messina and graduated from the Sapienza University of Rome first in Literature and then in Foreign Languages (Norwegian), he held the position of Director on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at various Italian Cultural Institutes around the world (Tel Aviv, Edinburgh, Dakar, Berlin , Jakarta, Tokyo, Moscow, Los Angeles). He thus developed a constant passion to discover new places and new cultures fueling his interest in photography. Over the years he has characterized his own personal photographic style by the identification of images, composed by the juxtaposition of different, often decontextualized, elements that give birth to stories open to various interpretative possibilities. The world, no longer filtered through the lenses of habit, is thus framed in unprecedented perspectives marked by imagination and creativity. In September 2018 he participated in two photographic expeditions organized respectively by National Geographic Kazakhstan and Kazakh Tourism. He is an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Moscow. He held the position of Executive Director in the NICE film festival in Florence and is currently a member of the jury of the MISFF Festival in Montecatini Terme. He has held numerous seminars and masterclasses in Italy and abroad
Vladek Juszkiewicz
Born in Glogow, 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.
Yegane Moghaddam, 2024 OSCAR nominee for the Short Animation, is an Iranian animator and illustrator who has a strong passion for nature, culture and the reality she lives in. Her works are usually centered around the theme of nature and conservation. Currently She is working on her three-part animated series, portraying different aspects of living as a girl in a restricted society. Her debut film Our Uniform, is part one of this short collection which is an autobiographical story about school uniforms in Iran and how young girls accept this clothing convention as part of their everyday life.
Chale Nafus was born in Dallas during World War II, he attended public schools, spent summers on his sister’s ranch in Comanche County in the 1950s, learned Spanish from schoolmates, and dreamed of getting out of Dallas. After getting through freshman year at SMU, he worked at Texas Instruments before realizing he really needed a college education. After attending the University of Texas at Arlington (B.A., English), La Universidad Autónoma de México, and UT Austin (M.A., English/RTF), he began a long college teaching career at Texas Southmost College (Brownsville), La Universidad de Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Kingsborough Community College (Brooklyn), and finally Austin Community College (1973-1998). At the latter, he founded the Department of Radio-TV-Film, taught classes in film studies, and for seven years served as Chair of Humanities (Northridge Campus). Retiring in 1998, Chale spent 4 years traveling and writing before joining the staff of Austin Film Society as Director of Programming (2002-2015). He is now totally retired and happily serving on the boards of Austin Film Society and OUTsider Fest as well as the advisory committees of IndieMeme (South Asian film organization) and Cine Las Americas.
RACHEL O’MEARA
Rachel O’Meara has been a working actor across film, television and theatre for twenty years, and is a graduate of London’s Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA). She is British and has lived much of her life overseas, in Germany, France, Brunei, Nepal, Dubai, Hong Kong and the US, giving her an extensive first hand insight to international cinema. Rachel’s movie credits include “Mechanic: Resurrection” (Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, filmed in Bangkok), “The Hyperions” (Cary Elwes, filmed in LA); “Suspension of Disbelief” (Sebastian Koch, Dir. Mike Figgis, filmed in London); “When Nietzche Wept” (Armand Assante, Ben Cross, filmed in Romania), “War Inc.” (John Cusack, Marisa Tomei, filmed in Bulgaria), “The Experiment” (Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, filmed in the US), “Until Death” (JC Van Damme), in addition to many indie films. She is currently on television in the crime series “Spotless”, co-produced by France’s Canal+ and Germany’s Tandem Communications, and will soon be seen on Paramount Plus in the new crime series, “Insomnia”.
Bijan Tehrani
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 and a memebr of Iranian Film Writers and Critics Association and FIPRESCI.
Nominees for 2024 CWB’s Bridging The Borders were:
And Granny Would Dance, Directed by: Maryam Mohajer from United Kingdom
As It Was Directed by:Anastasiia Solonevych, Damian Kocur from Poland/Ukraine
Don’t Leave Home! Directed by:David Japaridze from Georgia/Estonia
Dreams like paper Boats Directed by:Samuel Suffren from Haiti
Echoes of Home: The Burundi Drummers (Murimigwa) of Kakuma Directed by: Peter Gitau from Kenya
Mar Mama Directed by: Majdi El Omari from Palestine
N3ymar Directed by:Maximilian Bungarten from Germany
Outside Center Directed by:Eli Jean Tahchi from Canada/Germany
Palestine Islands: Directed by:Nour Ben Salem, Julien Menanteau from France/Palestine
Scapegoat Directed by: Nicolas Séry from France
We Exist in Memory Directed by: Darian Woehr from Brazil/USA