Our Best Short Film winner will receive our custom Global Shorts statuette which we ship anywhere in the world, free of charge. The award is manufactured by Society Awards, the same awards company that manufactures the Golden Globe and the Emmy. All winners will receive our Global Shorts Winner laurels in black, white, and gold.
Title: The Trial
Runtime: 14 min
Country: Australia
Director: Kirsty McKenzie
Placement: Award of Excellence + Best Actress (Kirsty McKenzie) + Best Editing (Joseph Morris)
Competition: September, 2025
Synopsis: Set against the rigid backdrop of 1950s society, The Trial tells the story of Leigh, a fiercely determined young woman desperate to break free from the scars of an abusive past. Ambitious and unyielding, she pursues a future in the male-dominated world of pharmaceuticals, fighting for recognition in a company that would rather keep her silent. When she volunteers for a place in a revolutionary drug trial, one promising to reshape medicine and the modern world, Leigh isn’t aware of quite what she is putting herself forward for. The further she ventures into the experiment, the more the boundaries between science and manipulation begin to blur. As the trial spirals into something darker, Leigh is forced to confront buried memories and disturbing truths that threaten not only her place in the company, but her very sanity.