Leiden International Short Film Experience (LISFE) is an annual film festival held in the city of Leiden (The Netherlands) which is centered on World Student and Professional Short Films from all genres and all over the world, combined with artistic installations, performances and music. The next edition is set up around the theme Youtopia and will take place April 29/30 at the artist center Haagweg 4 in Leiden.
LISFE started off in 2009 as a spin-off of the University of Leiden Student Cinema Club. Since then, the festival has been grown to a two- to three-day event exploring the borders between different sorts of art and providing a podium to established but especially young talented filmmakers, artists and musicians. Next to the main festival in spring, LISFE is involved in cultural events throughout the year in collaboration with several organizations in Leiden and surroundings. Examples are Leiden International Film Festival (LIFF), Leiden Observatory, RAP, Vrijplaats Leiden, Cultuurmaand and Museumnacht Leiden.
Since 2012 the Festival has two categories of awards- Jury Award and Audience award. Both Jury and Audience select one or two films for the designated awards. Further, the Jury has the right to select films, which were not awarded, but are “Honorary Mentions”. The Jury is appointed by the Board before the festival and the Jury has to announce the winners not more than 1 week after the Festival. The Audience votes during the festival and the results are announced together with the Jury Awards.
1st Edition: 29 May 2009
2nd Edition: 28–30 May 2010
3rd Edition: 10 June 2011
4th Edition: 9 June 2012
5th Edition: 1–8 June 2013
6th Edition: 1–3 May 2014 (In Scheltema Leiden.)
7th Edition: 30 April–2 May 2015 (at Meelfabriek Leiden)
8th Edition: 29-30 April 2016 (at Haagwegvier Leiden)
Best Professional Film Jury Award: “Spitted by Kiss” by Milos Tomić, Czech Republic
Best Professional Film Audience Award: “Tanghi argentiny” by Guy Thys, Belgium
Best Professional Film Jury Award: “Efecto Domino” van Gagriel Gauchet, Cuba- Germany
Best Professional Film Audience Award: “Edgar” by Fabian Busch, Germany
Best Professional Film Jury Award: “Casus Belli” by Yorgos Zoi, Greece
Best Professional Film Audience Award: “Teclópolis” by Javier Mrad, Argentina
Best Student film Audience Award: “Bastagon and the Rainbow Princess” by Marc Schlegel, Austria
Jury Honorable Mention: “Air” by Fabrizio Fracassi, Florian Graf, Switzerland
Best Professional Film Jury Award: Bread (Ekmek) by Koray Sevindi, Turkey
Best Professional Film Audience Award: The Hour's Home (A Casa das Horas) by Heraldo Cavalcanti, Brazil
Best Student film Audience Award: Assemblé by Miguel Ferraez from Universidad Anahuac, Mexico
Best Student film Jury Mention: Grandmothers (Abuelas) by Afarin Eghbal from the National Film & Television School, UK
Jury Honorable Mention: The Counting Device (Numărătoarea manuală) by Daniel Sandu,Romania
Jury Honorable Mention: The Star (Hviezda) by Andrej Kolencik, Slovakia
Best Film Jury Prize: "DYKWLI (Do you know what love is)" by Leni Huyghe, Belgium 2012
Best Film Audience Award: "Los Retratos (Portraits)" by Iván D. Gaona, Colombia 2012
Beste Student Film Juryprijs: "Adem'in kuyusu (Well of adem)" by Veysel Cihan Hızar, Turkey 2012
Jury Honorable Mention: "Marze shekaste (Broken border)" by Keywan Karimi, Iran 2012
