Shortcutz Amsterdam INTERNATIONAL Audience Award

Every year, Shortcutz Amsterdam collaborates with global partners to invite a worldwide audience to choose their favourite Dutch short film.

For the Audience Award, we embark on a tour featuring a compilation of the six nominees for Best Short Film of the Year.

HOW TO WATCH

Getting involved is simple. Visit a screening near you and watch six outstanding Dutch short films. After the screening, vote for the film that stayed with you the most. Your vote helps determine this year’s Audience Award winner.

JURY TEAM

This year’s Jury Team brings together leading voices from film, television, art, and culture. The jury includes producer Jan Harlan (The Shining), filmmaker Eddy Terstall (Simon), director Martin Koolhoven (Brimstone), actress Willeke van Ammelrooy (Antonia’s Line), actress and writer Nazmiye Oral, director Roel Reiné (Marvel’s Inhumans), film curator René Wolf (formerly EYE Filmmuseum), emerging director Mees Peijnenburg, and street artist Laser 3.14. Learn more about them here.

RESULTS

The journey concludes on January 25, 2026, at 20:00 (CET), when the Audience Award winner will be announced during the 13th Shortcutz Amsterdam Annual Awards. This year’s ceremony takes place at the iconic Pathé Tuschinski, bringing together filmmakers, industry professionals, and audiences to celebrate the best of Dutch short filmmaking.



SCHEDULED SCREENINGS

UPCOMING SCREeNInGS

Click on your city info for more information about your city’s screening.


MORE ABOUT THE short FILMS IN THE PROGRAMME


BARLEBAS

Genre: Live-Action

Duration: 19'59''

Synopsis: Barlebas depicts the final days of the headstrong woman Heylken (28). She is accused of witchcraft, just as she was about to leave her village for good. But while Heylken never leaves, she inspires the young girl Griet (12) with her free spirit and powerful voice.

An experimental musical period drama, set around 1595, centred on the persecution of witches in the Dutch South.

  • Director(s): Malu Janssen

  • Producer(s): Janneke Doolaard

  • Main Cast (full list): Pitou Nicolaes

  • Supporting Cast (full list): Fay IJsseldijk, Phedra Vandenbergh, Annemarie Feltmann, Ko Zandvliet, Guido Pollemans

  • Screenplay: Malu Janssen

  • Cinematography: Sam du Pon

  • Editing: Nina Graafland

  • Production Design: Iris Schuttevaar

  • Music/Film Score: Pitou Nicolaes

  • Sound: Gedeon Depauw


BEYOND SILENCE

Genre: Live-Action

Duration: 17'00''

Synopsis: Eva (26), who is deaf, arrives with her sister Anna (24) to speak with Sandrien (54), a university program director. Through Anna’s sign language interpretation, Eva reveals her intention to report abuse by her professor. Sandrien directs her to the university’s confidential advisor, but Eva refuses to speak to a man. What follows is a tense, intimate conversation between three women - each navigating silence, power, and painful truths. Unfolding in real time, this raw one-room drama explores authority, doubt, and the courage it takes to speak out.

  • Director(s): Marnie Blok

  • Producer(s): Ellen Havenith

  • Main Cast (full list): Henrianne Janssen as Eva - Sigrid ten Napel as Anna and Tamar van den Dop as Sandrine

  • Screenplay: Marnie Blok

  • Cinematography: Myrthe Mosterman

  • Editing: Annelien van Wijnbergen

  • Production Design: Lela Claassen

  • Music/Film Score: Joris Oonk

  • Sound: Set Simone Galavasi

  • Sound Design: Evelien van der Molen


MARLEEN

Genre: Live-Action

Duration: 06'57''

Synopsis: In a group therapy session, Lena recounts the relationships that have shaped her: her father, her first boyfriend and Marleen.

  • Director(s): Jop Leuven

  • Producer(s): Justine Knijn

  • Main Cast (full list): Laura Bakker

  • Screenplay: Jop Leuven

  • Cinematography: Boyd Bakema

  • Editing: Bram van Dam

  • Production Design: Lin Bartraij

  • Sound: Levi Cuijpers


SANYI KAKAS

Genre: Documentary

Duration: 19'16''

Synopsis: In the southeast of Hungary lies the town of Békéscsaba, where poverty, loneliness, and political division shape daily life. On a cold Saturday in December 2020, a rooster escapes from the market. He settles on a square in the heart of the city and rises to become a national hero. Moved by his stubborn drive for freedom, the residents take him under their wing. What begins as a small act of kindness grows into a sense of unity and hope. But when the rooster dies, theories about his death begin to circulate, and the newly formed community suddenly unravels into mistrust and accusations.

  • Director(s): Lotte Salomons

  • Producer(s): Raphael Hogers, Nova Nagel & Kes Raven

  • Screenplay: Lotte Salomons

  • Cinematography: Stern Nordsiek

  • Editing: Madelief Joore

  • Production Design: Finn van der Reijden

  • Music/Film Score: Jamie Alpherts

  • Sound: Sebastiaan Koning


SIGN AND SEE THE WORLD

Genre: Documentary

Duration: 10'59''

Synopsis: Lured by the promise “Sign and See the World” and driven by loyalty to the Netherlands, three young Surinamese, Guillaume Kranenburg, Willy Wooter and Harry Davis, leave their homeland to fight in WWII. Overcoming discrimination within the Dutch army, which initially did not want them, they endured tough training in Canada and Wolverhampton, far from the Surinamese heat. Arriving in Europe with the Princess Irene Brigade, they face the raw reality of war, far from the promised adventure. Sign and See the World is the forgotten story of their courageous contribution to the liberation of the Netherlands and Europe.

  • Director(s): Safi Graauw

  • Producer(s): Naomi Wills

  • Main Cast (full list): Daniel Kolf, Denzel Goudmijn, Uriah Havertong

  • Screenplay: Safi Graauw, Ashanti Vreden

  • Cinematography: Sami El Hassani

  • Editing: Festus Toll

  • Production Design: Floris Eysink Smeets

  • Music/Film Score: Soundsright

  • Sound: Soundsright


YAROSHENKO

Genre: Documentary

Duration: 3'04''

Synopsis: Fighting in the Soviet era, his daughter died in battle, and he lived in an unhabitable house. It sounds like too much for a lifetime, but Viktor Yaroshenko from Ukraine has experienced it all.

Director(s): Lieuwe Siebe de Jong

Producer(s): Lieuwe Siebe de Jong

Main Cast (full list): Viktor Yaroshenko Petrovych

Cinematography: Lieuwe Siebe de Jong

Editing: Lieuwe Siebe de Jong

Production Design: Lieuwe Siebe de Jong


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