René Nuijens

name

René Nuijens

profession

director

country

Netherlands

biography

Autodidactic director/filmmaker Rene Nuijens learned life’s most important lessons while working as a boy in his fathers pet shop. For example, that humor is very much like kitty litter: its best to keep it dry, very dry… His ability to talk and bond with animals laid the groundwork in his development into a true actors director. And while he never liked dog shows, they did give him a taste for winning prizes. In short Rene always shoots towards the stars like his heroes space dog Laika and her wonderfully human counterpart Yuri Gagarin.

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prizes

AWARDS (selection)
COVID LOVE (short film)
-2021 WINNER BEST SHORTFILM at RIR International COMEDY FilmFestival, Allariz (ESP)
-2021 WINNER BEST FILM & BEST CAMERAWORK at Cibo Corto Cine Festival Siracusa (IT)
-2021 HONARABLE MENTION at 12th Underground Cinema FilmFestival, Dublin (IRE)
-2021 BEST DIRECTOR AWARD of VERTIGO & MILAN INT. FILM FEST Month June, MILANO (IT)
RINGO ROCKET STAR AND HIS SONG FOR YURI GAGARIN (short film)
-2020 WINNER BEST COMEDY at TASHORTFEST Barcelona Humor FF 2020, Barcelona (ESP)
-2018 BRONZE at FARCUME Festival Internacional de Curtas Metrages de Faro (POR)
-2018 WINNER at the Szczecin European Film Festival, Szczecin (POL)
-2018 WINNER of the BIZARRO section at the CAOSTICA filmfestival, Bilbao (ESP)
-2018 WINNER AUDIENCE AWARD at the FIFF LONDON, Falcon Int FF, London (UK)
-2018 WINNER FESTIVAL AWARD at CORTISONICI international Filmfest, Varese (IT)
-2018 SPECIAL MENTION at the LONDON WORLDWIDE COMEDY SHORTFF, London (UK)
-2017 WINNER BEST SHORT FILM at FESTIVAL MONTEVIDEO FANTASTIC, Montevideo (UR)
-2017 WINNER BEST SHORT Saint Petersburg Interna FF (SPIFF) Saint Petersburg (RUS)
-2017 WINNER AUDIENCE AWARD 2nd MiraLincoln Filmfestival, Buenos Aires (ARG)
-2017 WINNER AUDIENCE AWARD, festival de Con Otra Mirade 2017, Gyon (ESP)
-2017 BEST SHORT NARRATIVE at the 8th Edition of the Oaxaca FilmFest, (MEX)
-2017 WINNER BEST LOW BUDGET SHORTFILM, Almaty independent filmfestival (KAZ)
-2017 WINNER BEST FEEL GOOD FILM AWARD at the Sydney Indie Filmfestival (AUS)
-2017 WINNER AUDIENCE AWARD at the Paphos International Filmfestival (Cyprus)
-2017 BEST SHORTFILM, BEST ACTOR & BEST SOUNDTRACK Indie Showcase, Widnes (Uk)
-2017 BEST SHORT FILM AWARD at the 2017 Cinema Camp Filmfestival, Zamora (ESP)
-2017 AWARD WINNER BAD FILM FESTIVAL for Ringo Rocket Star, Brooklin NY (USA) YURI ON THE PHONE (short film)
-2016 BEST UNDERGROUND FILM at the HONG KONG ART HOUSE FILMFESTIVAL (CHI)
-2016 BEST COMEDY AWARD NSI National Screen Institute, April, Winnipeg (Canada)
-2016 WINNER at the CINEVANA ISTANBUL 2016 for ‚Yuri on the Phone‘ (TURKEY)
-2015 Winner MIAMI INDEPENDENT SHORT FILMFESTIVAL August & September (USA) OTHERS
-2013 Winner of the GOUDEN LOEKIE of the month May for TOYOTA: „Mum & Dad“ (NL)
-2013 WINNER at the LONDON WALTHAMSTOW SHORT FILMFESTIVAL (UK) 1st in the category Drama + 2nd overall for ‘The First Yugoslavian Cosmonaut’ -2011 Worldwide WINNER BLURB Photography BOOK NOW Competition, category Fine Art
-2011 GOLD at ADCN for Mummiepak Bol.com (NL).
-2011 TOP 4 FINALIST @ GOUDEN LOEKIE  for BOL.COM „Mummiepak“ (NL).
-2010 Mummiepak Bol.com, Winner Gouden Loekie March 2010 (NL).
-2010 BRONZE at ADCR best directing IKEA Catalogue (RUSSIA)
-2009 GOLD at ADCN for Ikea (NL).
-2008 WINNER Amateur filmfestival Trailer Super8 Competition (NL).

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The Miracle of FC Gagarin

title

The Miracle of FC Gagarin

year of completion

2016

logline / short synopsis

LOGLINE

During an amateur football match, a football disappears mysteriously into the sky to save a man’s life 3000 miles away and provide him with a fortune.

SYNOPSIS

The Miracle of FC Gagarin is a cheerfully absurd fable and a joyously inventive (dry humorous) short comedy. On 12 April 1961, a football mysteriously disappears into the sky during a friendly match between two amateur football teams on the Balkan. Exactly one year later, a goat farmer from Kazakhstan returns the ball to the football club. He has an amazing story about how the ball saved his and his goats lives in the Kazakhstan steppe and made him a fortune. In this short film we flashback in time and try to unravel the miracle that happened 59 years earlier.

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