A South African short film, Father Christmas doesn’t come here, has won the award for Best Narrative Short Film at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan, New York. The film is directed by Bhekumuzi Sibiya and written by Bongi Ndaba and Sibongile Nkosana.

The judges in the category for Best Narrative Short Film included actress Brooke Shields from Lipstick Jungle, actor Justin Bartha from the movie Hangover, Peter Facinelli of the Twilight movies and Jack Dorsey, creator and chairman of Twitter.

A statement from the jury read that they were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the winning film.

“It is an assured, original, and profoundly moving film, which perfectly executes its aims and is buoyed by a remarkable performance by its lead actor.  The director of this film consistently foregoes sentimentality in favour of subtle debunking of myths based on culture. His frames are urgently alive with telling details. This film announces a persuasive and deeply human directorial vision, one rich with authenticity and insight. It is a film of resilience and hope,” read the statement.

Father Christmas doesn’t come here tells the story of a young, black girl with low self esteem who writes a letter to Father Christmas asking for long, straight hair for Christmas. Her dream is almost ruined by a cynical man who tells her Father Christmas doesn't exist. This makes her resort to extremes to achieve her goal. With the help of her grandmother she recovers from the ordeal of not knowing how to love herself.

The award for the Best Narrative Short Film was $5,000 cash, 5,000 feet of 35mm film stock donated by Kodak, and an art award “A Box of Smile, 1967/89” by Yoko Ono.

Father Christmas doesn’t come here also won the Tri-Continental Film Festival late last year and is being included in the South African Line-Up event taking place at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

The Tribeca Film Festival was launched in 2002 by Robert de Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff following the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. They hoped to use the festival to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district and to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience while promoting New York City as a major filmmaking center.

SA National Film and Video Foundation and the Tribeca Film Festival