The major prize-winning short films from the world's most influential film festivals and awards are collected here for Best v Best Vol Two � a definitive selection and showcase of the best shorts and international filmmaking talent of 2005 / 2006, and the second in the Best v Best series from independent film label Shooting People Films.

The ten mini-dramas and docs reflect a refreshing diversity of stories, genres and filmmaking styles. Each of these films which received top honours provides a snapshot of lives, characters, situations and emotions � real and fictional, comedic and tragic, universal and personal. Whether six or fifteen minutes, each film involves the audience in the world of the film in a short space of time.

With films originating from Iceland, Taiwan, Argentina, Ukraine, Ireland and Norway, as well as US and UK � winning at festivals and ceremonies including Cannes, BAFTA, Sundance, Oscars, Berlin and Tribeca � Best v Best Vol II truly represents a microcosm of international cinema. Whilst people, landscapes and languages vary, there are recurring themes of loss (Hibernation, Undressing My Mother, Respire); memory (Wayfarers, Undressing My Moyther, Hibernation); responsibility (Antonio's Breakfast, The Last Farm); and the human will to live and die on our own terms (Sniffer, The Last Farm, Respire). There is also a prevelance of stories told through children's eyes (The Secret language, The Way I Died, Hibernation, Antonio's Breakfast); togther these themes hint at a a global filmmaking zeitgeist of the past year, where young filmmakers explored serious issues of a universal nature. From the experimental (Wayfarers) to the stylised (The Secret Language); the evocative (The Day I Died) to the narrative-driven (The Shovel); the fantastical (Hibernation) to stripped-bare emotional (Undressing My Mother) � each film on the second in the Best v Best series makes stimulating standalone viewing. Taken as a whole, Best v Best Vol Two presents a fascinating spectrum of life, love and death, across generations and continents, and an intriguing contemplation of all that's inbetween.

HIBERNATION (UK) 15 mins, Dir. John Williams
Winner, Best Short Film Edinburgh International Film Festival 2005; Audience Award, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival 2006; Best Short Film, Manhattan Short Film Festival 2005
1985. A secret tree house. Two children disguised in animal costumes experiment to revive a bee. But they are searching for a way to bring back something much bigger. A magical and moving story about children on a journey of discovery and revelation.

UNDRESSING MY MOTHER (Ireland) 6 mins, Dir. Ken Wardrop
Winner, Best Short Film, European Film Awards 2005; Honorable Mention, Sundance Film Festival 2006
Over elegant and beautifully photographed close ups of an older, fuller female figure, Ethel Wardrop talks about her own body and the role it played in her loving relationship with her dear husband.

THE DAY I DIED (EL D�A QUE MORI) (Argentina) 11 mins, Dir. Maryam Keshavarz
Winner, Teddy Prize for Short Film; and Special Jury Mention, Berlin Film Festival 2006
A girl, her brother and their best friend on a long, hot summer's day in Chascom�s in Argentina. A love-triangle takes its course.

SNIFFER (Norway) 10 mins � Dir. Bobbie Peers
Winner, Palme d'Or, Cannes International Film Festival 2006
In a society where everyone has the ability to fly, the citizens anchor themselves to the ground via "gravitation boots". Devoid of sunlight and the open sky, the members of society go about their routine without any hope of personal gratification. One day, however, a man decides he has had enough and attempts to challenge the status quo. He quits his job, loosens his bindings, and literally takes off.

THE LAST FARM (SIDASTI BAERINN) (Iceland) 17 mins, Dir. Runar Runarrason
Oscar Nomination 2006; Winner, Best Short Film at Dresden International Festival for Animation and Short Films 2005
In a remote valley in Iceland, all the farms except one have been abandoned. The landscape is beautiful but deserted and somewhat desolate. When his daughter decides that he should be moved to a seniors' care home home in town, an old farmer decides that his destiny and diginity should be in his own hands.

ANTONIO'S BREAKFAST (UK) 16 mins, Dir. Daniel Mulloy
Winner, Best Live Action Short Film, BAFTA 2006; Winner, Best Short Film, Aspen Shortsfest 2006
Teenager Antonio's sick father is unable to anything for himself � eat, dress or even move. While Antonio's desperate to escape and be with his friends, he won't let himself leave the flat.

RESPIRE (HU XI) (Taiwan) 15 mins, Dir. Ho Wi-Ding
Winner, Best Short Film, Sitges: Catalonian International Film Festival, 2005; Best Short Film, International Critics' Week, Cannes Film Festival, 2005
Respire is set in a fictional world transformed by a deadly, airborne virus in which people are required by law to wear masks at all times. A young girl who knows her time is short decides to enjoy one last day with the boy she likes.

THE SHOVEL (USA) 15 mins, Dir. Nick Childs
Winner, Best Short Film, Tribeca International Film Festival 2006; Best Short Film, Rhode Island Film Festival 2006; Best Short Film, Worldfest, Houston 2006
When Paul Mullin (David Strathairn) discovers his neighbour digging a hole in the middle of the night, he simply writes it off as a bizarre encounter...until the neighbor and his cheating wife disappear. Worried that he's stumbled upon more than he bargained for, Paul calls on the local sheriff (Tim Guinee) to help unearth the truth, and finds out that, in a small town, some secrets are better left buried.

THE SECRET LANGUAGE (AN TEANGA RUNDA) (Ireland) 13 mins, Dir. Brian Durnin
Winner, Best Short Film, Cork Film Festival 2005
The forces of dark and evil are all around. A three fingered man with a shady past threatens to end the exciting career of Michael Hardy Super Spy. The only person that stands between him and sheer disaster is his son James, a young boy from Dublin. James and his dad use Irish as a secret language to discuss their covert spy business. They must never let James' mum know about their undercover missions. But soon everything will be thrown into turmoil and life will never be the same again�

WAYFARERS (PODOROZHNI) (Ukraine) 10 mins, Dir. Igor Strembitskyy
Winner, Best Short Film, Tirana Film Festival 2005; Palme d'Or (short film), Cannes Film Festival 2005
Wayfarers is a series of impressionistic documentary portraits of people in a senior citizen's home and in a psychiatric hospital in Kyiv. The film searches the faces, movements and stories of its characters for the human qualities that we all share.

Available from www.shootingpeoplefilms.com RRP �15.99