2019 HFPA Scholarship

The HFPA will be awarding a $5000 Scholarship to a new Asian short filmmaker.

The Winner Of The First Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) Snow Leopard Short Film Award Was Kyrgyzstan's Suium Sulaimanova For Her Film My Friend – My Enemy. Her Film Was Selected From A Dozen Shorts By New Filmmakers From Across Asia And She Was Presented With The $5,000 Scholarship Award

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) are delighted to announce the first HFPA SnowLeopard Scholarship, which will be awarded to a new Asian short filmmaker during the Festival's fifth anniversary in Culver City, Los Angeles 6-14 November 2019.

Up to twelve selected Asian short films, which must have been produced and/or directed by an Asian filmmaker, will be screened during the AWFF's short film programs. Qualifying films must be narrative, no longer than 15 minutes in length, completed in 2018 or 2019 and be the filmmaker's debut or second film.There will be no submission process as AWFF will curate the twelve films from a select number of short film festivals and programs across Asia throughout the year.

The Twelve Final Films, Which Have Been Selected By Special Committees Throughout Asia, Are:

1. Refugee (Georgia) Irakli Solomonashvili

2. Air (Kazakhstan) Aizhana Kassymbek

3. Tea (Uzbekistan) Shokir Kholikov

4. Asiya (Bashkortostan, Russia) Dinara Abdrashitova

5. My Friend - My Enemy (Kyrgyzstan) Suium Sulaimanova

6. Passage (Iran) Kimia Hendi

7. Tropical Dreams (Cyprus) Vaggelio Soumei

8. Detour (USA) Juefang Zhang

9. Wellspring of Happiness (China) Yu Binhui

10. Barakat (Lebanon) Manon Nammour

11. Give Up the Ghost (Jordan) Zain Durai

12. Kaaway (USA) Wester Demandante.

The Organizing Curators Are:

- Aitysh Fund

- FilAm Creative

- Moredii Young Filmmakers Showcase

- NDU International Film Festival and Beirut Film Society