Our stunning 11 1/2″ 24K custom gold statuette is manufactured by R.S. Owens, the same company that manufactures the Oscar. The winner of our Best Short Film category will receive this award at no cost to them, while winners in other categories will be given the option to acquire it. Additional awards and prizes may be Read More ...
Title: A Cure for Sleep
Runtime: 10 min
Country: Belgium
Director: Ine Holsteens
Placement: Honorable Mention
Competition: December, 2018
Synopsis: The world is hooked on a drug that eliminates the need to sleep. As one of the only people that doesn’t take this drug, Steve starts to notice strange things around him.
OR: What was the inspiration for your film?
IH: We stumbled on this 1 page short story online, and asked the writer for permission to use this as the basis of our film. It immediately appealed to us, because it was in fact science fiction but yet something that could easily happen in the present. We liked how the core of the story challenged today’s performance-based society, and the protagonist’s take on it. Also, we were immediately inspired to turn all this to a visual piece of art with a lot of suspense and atmosphere.
OR: When did you conceive the idea for your film and how long did it take before it was realized?
IH: We read the short story somewhere in september 2018 and I immediately started writing the screenplay. It was finished very quickly, we started preproduction and we shot everything in the beginning of december 2018.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?
IH: Trying to tell a ‘high concept’ story, the evolution of a subject that is in fact world-changing, in only 10 minutes.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of your production?
IH: Working without a budget, and still creating high (visual) quality. We worked with our own limited materials and had to depend on the goodwill of actors, location owners etc.
OR: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?
IH: Have enough vision and enthousiasm, and other people will be attracted to help realize your project, even without a budget! Don’t let the lack of money/funding discourage you. Go for it.
