People are usually introduced to the films of Simon Ellis by watching Soft, the short film that screened everywhere, won everything, and put him on the radars of industry sharks. Throughout his career Simon has worked in animation, experimental, comedy, documentary, music videos and commercials. Although Soft does give a very good idea of the topics Simon explores, it still shows only one part of this very complete filmmaker. (Erarta Motion Pictures, St. Petersburg).

BIOGRAPHY
Simon's short films have received over 60 international festival awards and have been presented collectively in retrospective programmes at over 20 festivals worldwide. Winner of the International Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Short Film at the BIFAs, plus BAFTA and European Academy Award nominations, Simon is the only director to feature twice in the prestigious Cinema 16 DVD series amongst heavyweights Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton and Mike Leigh. He attends many festivals as either filmmaker or juror and has mentored short film directors in both the UK and overseas.

Simon's multi-narrative, interactive anti-knife campaign films have won over 60 awards at the Clios, British Arrows, Campaign Big Awards, London International Awards, and the Cannes Lions, where he won the inaugural Grand Prix for Good, three Gold Lions and Best European Web Film. He was voted Best New Director for 2009 by the BTAA at the Craft Awards and also won Best Young Director at the CPE Shots Awards in Cannes 2010.

RETROSPECTIVE PROGRAMMES
Cork Film Festival / Ireland (2003), 3 titles
Whatever Works / Edinburgh UK (2003), 8 titles
Zwergwerk Oldenburger Filmtage / Germany (2004), 12 titles
Tampere International Short Film Festival / Finland (2005), 10 titles
International Short Film Festival / Balchik, Bulgaria (2005), 10 titles
Regensburger Kurzfilmwoche / Germany (2005), 10 titles
London Short Film Festival / UK (2006), 10 titles
Northern Film Network / Barrow-in-Furness, UK (2006), 12 titles
Sapporo Int'l Short Film Festival / Japan (2007), 6 titles Grand Prix
Hull International Short Film Festival / UK (2007), 14 titles
Interfilm International Short Film Festival / Berlin, Germany (2007), 14 titles
Timishort Film Festival / Timisoara, Romania (2009), 10 titles
Bang Short Film Festival / Nottingham, UK (2009) 16 titles
GoShort International Short Film Festival / Nijmegen, Netherlands (2010) 16 titles
Filmwinter Festival for Expanded Media / Stuttgart, Germany (2011) 16 titles
The 8th Berlin International Directors Lounge / Germany (2012) 13 titles
Erarta Motion Pictures / St. Petersburg, Russia (2014) 8 titles
London Short Film Festival / UK (2015) 7 titles
Regensburger Kurzfilmwoche / Germany (2015), 9 titles
São Paulo International Short Film Festival / Brazil (2015), 10 titles
Brest European Short Film Festival / France (2015), 8 titles
Dokufest Int'l Documentary & Short Film Festival / Prizren, Kosovo (2016) 9 titles

AWARDS (Short Film)
Best International Short (Exground FilmFest / Wiesbaden, Germany) - Stew & Punch
Special Mention (Wiz-Art Int'l Short Film Festival, Ukraine) - Stew & Punch
Special Mention (Tenerife Shorts / Canary Islands, Spain) - Stew & Punch  
Best British Short (Encounters International Short Film Festival / Bristol, UK) - Jam Today
Best Actor (Brest European Short Film Festival / France) - Jam Today
Ron Holloway Award (Tirana International Film Festival) - Jam Today
International Jury Prize (Sundance Film Festival) - Soft
Best of the Fest (Palm Springs International Short Film Festival) - Soft
Best Short Film (British Independent Film Awards) - Soft
Prix UIP (Edinburgh International Film Festival) - Soft
BAFTA / Best Short Film - Nomination (London) - Soft
European Academy Awards / Best Short Film - Nomination (Berlin) - Soft
Best Live-action Short (Toronto Worldwide Film Festival / Canada) - Soft
Best Film (Interfilm International Short Film Festival / Berlin, Germany) - Soft
Best British Short (Encounters International Short Film Festival / Bristol, UK) - Soft
Audience Award (Hamburg International Short Film Festival / Germany) - Soft
Best Short Fiction (Message to Man Film Festival / St. Petersburg, Russia) - Soft
Best Short Film (International Festival Cinéma tout Ecran / Geneva, Switzerland) - Soft
Best Short Fiction (DaKino International Film Festival / Bucharest, Romania) - Soft
Best Drama (NYC Shorts / New York City, USA) - Soft
Best Direction (Capalbio Cinema International Short Film Festival / Italy) - Soft
Best Direction (Ourense International Film Festival / Spain) - Soft
Best International Short (Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival / Brazil) - Soft
Best Screenplay (European Short Film Biennale / Ludwigsburg, Germany) - Soft
Best International Fiction (Concorto Film Festival / Italy) - Soft
Best International Film (Imago International Film Festival / Fundão, Portugal) - Soft
Best European Short Film (European Short Film Festival / Cambrils & Reus, Spain) - Soft
Best Fiction Short (Cortopotere Short Film Festival / Bergamo, Italy) - Soft
Audience Choice (DC Shorts Film Festival / Washington, USA) - Soft
Best Editing (Manhattan Short Film Festival / New York, USA) - Soft
Best Film (Colchester International Short Film Festival / UK) - Soft
Students Jury Award (Milano Film Festival) - Soft
Audience Award (Filmstock International Film Festival / Luton, UK) - Soft
Young Jury Award (Festival Tous Courts / Aix-en-Provence, France) - Soft
Teenage Jury Award (London Short Film Festival / UK) - Soft
Special Jury Prize (Flickerfest International Short Film Festival / Sydney, Australia) - Soft
Grand Prize (The Indie Shorts Competition / Fort Lauderdale FL, USA) - Soft
BAFTA/L.A (Cinequest Film Festival / California, USA) - Soft
Best Cinematography (Kodak Short Film Awards / London) - Soft
Special Mention (Hamburg International Short Film Festival / Germany) - Soft
Special Mention (Dokufest / Prizren, Kosovo) - Soft
Special Mention (Tofifest International Film Festival / Torun, Poland) - Soft
Special Mention (Regensburger Kurzfilmwoche / Germany) - Soft
Special Mention (Cleveland International Film Festival / USA) - Soft
Special Mention (In the Palace International Short Film Festival / Balchik, Bulgaria) - Soft
VX Auteur Theory (London Short Film Festival, UK) - A Storm and Some Snow
Best Live Action Film (0110 Digital Film Festival, New Delhi / Bombay) - What The
Grand Jury Prize (Scrittura E Imagine / Pescara, Italy) - What About the Bodies
Best Director (Giggleshorts International Film Festival / Toronto, Canada) - What About the Bodies
Silver Award (Worldfest Houston 2003) - What About the Bodies
Gold Jury Award (Worldfest Houston 2003) - 10 Again
Special Mention (Bermuda International Film Festival 2003) - 10 Again
Nomination - Best Music Video (German Dance Awards 2001) - Bass Invaders
Audience Award (Hamburg International Short Film Festival 2001) - Telling Lies
Audience Award (Bitfilm Festival, Hamburg 2001) - Telling Lies
Bronze Award (Worldfest Houston 2001) - Telling Lies
Special Mention (Transmediale Media Art Festival, Berlin 2001) - Telling Lies
Special Mention (Brief Encounters Film Festival, UK 2000) - Telling Lies
Silver Award (Worldfest Houston 2001)
Best Narrative Short (BBC British Short Film Festival, London 1997) - Thicker Than Water

FESTIVAL JURIES (INTERNATIONAL SHORTS COMPETITION UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)
ArtFilmFest / Košické, Slovakia, 2016
Regensburg Short Film Week. Germany, 2015
BAFTA Short Film Award, London, UK, 2015
Exground Filmfest, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2014
ShortVisions Film Festival / Ningbo, China, 2014
Erarta International Film Festival of Shorts about Painting / St. Petersburg, Russia, 2014
Leuven International Short Film Festival, Belgium, 2013 (Flemish Competition)
Cannes Lions, France, 2012 (Film Craft Jury)
Brest European Short Film Festival, France, 2012
GoShort Film Festival, Nijmegen, Netherlands, 2012 (Dutch Competition)
Stuttgart Filmwinter, Germany, 2012
Milano Film Festival, Italy, 2009 (Feature Film Competition)
Ghent International Film Festival, Belgium, 2008 (Feature Film Competition)
Dakino International Short Film Festival, Romania, 2008
Interfilm Short Film Festival, Germany, 2008
In the Palace Short Film Festival, Bulgaria, 2006
Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Germany, 2002