HRIFF Winners 2023

BEST FEATURE FILM

 "The Uncanny" (2023)
​Directed by Clara Gabrielle, starring Marie Laurin.
After a life shattering trauma, an art therapist seeks to escape her past by moving to new surroundings. As she attempts to focus on her fledgling career as a painter, she soon realises you can’t outrun memories. Amidst a world where reality has become indistinguishable from make-believe, a symbiotic relationship with an enigmatic child emerges. Will that friendship create an opportunity for Zoucou to redeem herself – or be the force that pushes her over the edge?

CATEGORY WINNERS

Animation

Comedy-Horror

Drama

Fantasy

LGBTQIA+

Micro Movie

Music Videos

Student Film

Comedy

Documentary

Experimental Film

Horror

Made in Hastings

Micro-Budget Movie

Science Fiction

 BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 
"Tales from the Great War"

BEST DIRECTOR
Peter Cullen for “Four O’Clock Flowers”
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BEST EDITING
"Salvation Has No Name"

BEST MISE EN SCENE
"ORTOLAN – Bones and All"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“The Uncanny”

BEST PERFORMANCES
 Stewart James Barham in “High Water” 
Sophie Cartman in “Four O’Clock Flowers”
Marie Laurin in "The Uncanny”
 Caroline Trowbridge in “Four O’Clock Flowers”

BEST SCREENPLAY
“Four O’Clock Flowers” by Louise Breckon-Richards & Peter Callow

BEST SOUND DESIGN
"Itching"

​THE SPIRIT OF HASTINGS AWARD
Gavin Irvine for "Smoking No Smoking" & Oeuvre

BEST YOUNG PERFORMANCES
Saoirse Maguire in “Sisterly Love”
Ava Staggs in “Sisterly Love”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"Maryla"