K3 Film Awards
The K3 Film Festival annually awards the best films with prizes totalling € 7,300.
Short films (less than 30 minutes long) and feature films (with a running time longer than 70 minutes) are in competition. Medium films (between 30 and 70 minutes long) can often be seen in special screenings. This allows these gems not to be missed.
What all competitors have in common is that they must come from one of the 3-cultural areas of Carinthia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Slovenia. Thus:
- Director’s place of birth or residence
- Filming location
- Support from a public institution in one of these three regions.
SHORT FILM AWARDS
K3 JURY AWARD FOR SHORT FILM € 1,500
The jury, consisting of different representatives from the film industry within the 3 regions, awards the prize worth € 1,500 and the K3 trophy.
JURY SHORT FILM AWARD WINNER 2024:
Stones and Words // Claps e peraulis
Stefano Giacomuzzi | IT 2023 | 30‘
“For the many artistic elements involved in the filmmaking, showing the poetic power of the cinematography in relation to the subjects and for the ability to connect humans beyond virtual interfaces giving value to actual life, the award goes to CLAPS E PERAULIS | STONES AND WORDS by Stefano Giacomuzzi.”
“A special mention goes to the programming of the festival, thus to our short film programmers Piera Nodari and Marina Pavido. Thank you for showing us all those short films carefully selected and put together in these three programs.”
Jury Members 2025:
Erica Barbiani
Erica Barbiani is a film producer, author, and story editor. With a PhD in Sociology, she founded Videomante in 2004, a production company dedicated to creative documentaries. Her most recent works include Wishing on a Star (2024) by Peter Kerekes, a documentary she co-wrote and co-produced with Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Taiwan. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival (Orizzonti section) and was selected by over forty international festivals. Erica is also the co-producer of Fiume o Morte! (2025) by Igor Bezinović, produced with Restart (Croatia) and Nosorogi (Slovenia), which won the Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and it is shortlisted by the EFA as Best European Documentary 2025.
At the K3 Film Festival 2025 also present as producer of FIUME O MORTE! (Igor Bezinović | HR, IT, SLO 2025)
Lara Maria Vouk
Lara Maria Vouk, born as part of the slovene ethnic group in Austria, finished her acting studies in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She was Slovenia’s nominee for the European Shooting Stars at the Berlinale 2025. Currently she is working as an actress, musician, producer for short and guerilla films and as a theatre director in Austria and Slovenia.
At the K3 Film Festival she can be experienced in STEALING LAND | Zemljo krast (Žiga Virc | SLO 2025)
Johannes Schmelzer-Ziringer
Since 2001, he has worked on over 100 film productions across 35 countries as a production sound mixer, sound designer, re-recording mixer, and film composer. At the K3 Film Festival 2025 also present with WHITE SNAIL (Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter | AT, DE 2025) for which he did the sound.
K3 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR SHORT FILM € 800
K3 is probably the only film festival worldwide where the audience becomes a jury, in fact this award is decided in a freely accessible and equal discussion!
REACH OUT, TOUCH FILM! Cast your vote for your favourite short!
After each short film block, audience members can vote for their favourite.
The three films with the most votes make it to the final and will be screened again on Saturday at 3 pm.
Then the audience becomes the jury, and in an open discussion they will decide the winner of the K3 Audience Award worth € 800.
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS 2024:
It’s Not Far Here
Timur Chopliani | GEORGIA 2023 | 21‘30‘‘
Also nominated: The Singers and Stones and Words
HUBERT SIELECKI PREIS / AWARD
Donated and personally presented by animation pioneer Hubert Sielecki. The award honours an “important“ film and comes with a prize of € 500 and a statuette.
K3 FEATURE FILM AWARD € 5,000
The € 5,000 Feature Film Award is intended to support or enable a theatrical release in Austria. Its aim is to bring festival gems to a wider audience and expand distribution opportunities for filmmakers.
The prize money includes € 1,000 in kind from CinePostproduction.
K3 FEATURE FILM AWARD WINNER 2024:
Jury members
Financial support can make a theatrical release easier. Distributors can make it possible, but ultimately, it is up to the individual cinemas to include a film in their program. The feature film jury is therefore made up of programmers from Austrian cinemas; supplemented by an online survey of selected cinema operators.
