The winner of the Méliès d’argent at Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival 2022

The European Short Film Competition of the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival was won by a student flim for the first time in its history: Raoul Kirsima’s “Eyes on you”.

In a black-and-white 15-minute horror film, an elderly woman living alone feels like she is being watched. Even her son cannot convince her otherwise.

Cinematographer Sven-Sander Paas, camera operator Fidelia Regina Randmäe, production designer Greta Laanet, editor Villem Roosa, sound director Kaspar Kosk and producer Sander Lebreht are all students of the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School of Tallinn University.

Laine Mägi, Ott Aardam and Peep Kirsima star in the short.

“A mesmerizing, bold and thought-provoking story of the horrors of the human brain. The film, which takes place in a timeless black and white world, is hard to forget,” summed up an international jury of Marta Pulk, Aik Karapetjan and last year’s winner Anders Elsrud Hultgreen.

The Silver Méliès Prize will send the film through to the final of the Best European Short Fantastic Film competition, named after the legendary French film illusionist Georges Méliès. Oskar Lehemaa’s “Bad Hair”, which won in 2019 in Haapsalu, has been the only Estonian film to travel there so far. The competition is organized by the Méliès International Festivals Federation.

The special prize went to the Danish director Casper Rudolf Emil Kjeldsen’s horror film “In the Soil”.