The winners of the 2023 No Sleep ‘til Film Fest are here!

By AGBO Staff

For participants of AGBO’s 3rd Annual No Sleep ‘til Film Fest, time is a slippery thing. Not only did they have to make a short film under three minutes long in just 48 hours – using pure creativity, adrenaline, and perhaps some caffeine – but the theme of this year’s competition was exactly that: time. Whether it's sped up, slowed down, time travel, time loops, or various timelines, time makes us rethink our understanding of time within storytelling.

More than 500 films from 45+ countries were entered in this year’s NSTFF, the biggest pool of applicants yet. The AGBO jury - which included AGBO Co-Founders Anthony and Joe Russo, Chief Creative Officer Angela Russo-Otstot, President of Film Michael Disco, President of Television Scott Nemes, Chief Innovation Officer Jake Aust, and Chief Marketing Officer Marian Koltai-Levine – carefully considered all submissions, and were blown away by the talent present in this year’s fest.

“We are more impressed every year with the caliber of short films created in just 48 hours. Moreover, the enthusiasm from the participants continues to grow,” AGBO’s Chief Creative Officer Angela Russo-Otstot said, adding, “We are proud to host a festival that celebrates and champions filmmakers of all levels from all over the world.”

Winners will receive prizes from RED Digital Camera, GoPro, Microsoft, Blackmagic Design, Final Draft and Red Bull. In addition, all three top winners will join the AGBO Storytellers Collective, an alumni network of participants from other AGBO fellow programs.

So, without further adieu, AGBO is pleased to announce this year’s first, second, and third-place contest winners and honorable mentions, in addition to its Storytellers Collective Award recipients.

Taking the first place award is the film Time of Your Life from director Darren Hinchy. Just a Sec! from directors Tanya Lialina and Teodor Klimov is second place. And in third place, 02:00 Minutes by Grace McLeod. Not only do the winning films represent diverse geographies – with the winning directors hailing from Ireland (1st place), Ukraine and Russia (2nd place), and the U.S. (3rd place), they all broach salient themes tied to the universality of the human condition, including themes related to technology, death, and the LGBTQ+ experience.

AGBO is also pleased to announce its Storytellers Collective Award winners, Maxence Cazorla and Godefroy Ryckewaert for their short film, Eon’s Echo.

“Three days before the festival started, I was scrolling on Instagram and thought, ‘Wait… if you rise to the challenge and create something special, the Russo brothers are gonna watch it?!” Cazorla shared, describing what inspired the story to come to life.

Keep reading to learn more about the NSTFF award-winning films, and what went into making these stories memorable and inspiring during the sleepless and electrifying 48-hour crunch time.

Watch all winning No Sleep ‘til Film Fest stories here

1st PLACE WINNER: Time of Your Life

Director: Darren Hinchy

Country of origin: Ireland

Synopsis: As Amy begins her freshman year of college, she relies on her phone to distract her from her overbearing mother and her constant texts and finds solace at a local bar, until finally confronting the strained mother-daughter relationship head on.

“When faced with the prompt of “time,” I opted not to explore the tempting sci-fi route, but focused instead on time as a universal necessity. In my movie, it is the time needed for emotional healing, forgiveness, and self-discovery. I chose to portray this through the lens of a LGBTQ+ protagonist because so often in the media, they are shown as the people who have to wait for acceptance – and I wanted to flip that script.” —Darren Hinchy

2nd PLACE WINNER: Just a Sec!

Directors: Tanya Lialina and Teodor Klimov

Country of origin: Ukraine and Russia, respectively

Synopsis: During a funeral procession, a seemingly deceased man being carried in an open casket suddenly opens his eyes, swings his legs over its edges, and embarks on a surprising journey.

“I would like to fill the realistic everyday world of my stories with as many extraordinary, unexpected, paradoxical situations as possible.” – Tanya

“I strive to tell stories that compel people towards both inner and outer transformations. I want my heroes to inspire viewers to believe in themselves and their abilities.” –Teodor

3rd PLACE WINNER: 2:00 Minutes

Director: Grace McLeod

Country of origin: United States

Synopsis: Two best friends distract themselves as they await the results of a pregnancy test, contemplating the vastly different futures that can occur from either a positive or negative response. After a nerve-wracking two minutes, the result finally comes in.

“It was a group goal to have a female led team, and that is exactly what we got. We had so much fun brainstorming, shooting, and editing the film together!” –Grace McLeod

No Sleep ‘til Film Fest: Honorable Mentions

The abundance of talent behind this year’s competition made it a truly remarkable film fest, with judges narrowing down a number of honorable mentions from directors across the globe. Here’s the list:

The Unfortunate Cookie, directed by Faye Tamasa (Bangkok, Thailand) WATCH HERE
Killing Time, directed by Mike Cerisano (Brooklyn, New York) WATCH HERE
Cronovizion, directed by Anna Dominguez (Columbus, Ohio) WATCH HERE
Turbo Sean, directed by Tommy Heffernan (Seattle, Washington) WATCH HERE
Ankle Watch, directed by Jeff Robinson (Toronto, Canada) WATCH HERE
Echoes of Silence directed by Ariya Akhavan (Los Angeles, California) WATCH HERE
Other Inc., directed by Ross McClure (Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland) WATCH HERE
The Curious Case of T.T. Danson directed by Noah A. Bordelon (Los Angeles, California) WATCH HERE
Coffee Time! directed by Tim Hamilton (Wellington, New Zealand) WATCH HERE
Quality Time, directed by Jessie Li White, Aliotto della Gherardesca (United States & United Kingdom) WATCH HERE
Two Lines, directed by Adriana Perra & Roberto Achenza (Sassari, Italy) WATCH HERE