Short Film News (SFN)- The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury headed by Jane Campion has annunced that Anahita Ghazvinizadeh’s Needle has won the short film first prize at Cannes 2013.

Iran-born Ghazvinizadeh attends the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The 21-minute short Needle is about a young girl getting her ears pierced on a day her parents are arguing.

Second prize went to Waiting for the Thaw (En Attendant Le Degel) by Sarah Hirtt (INSAS in Belgium).

Third prize was shared by In The Fishbowl (In Acvariu) by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu of UNATC in Romania and Pandas (Pandy) by Matus Vizar from FAMU in the Czech Republic.

The first prize winner receives €15,000 for the First Prize, €11,250 for the Second and €7,500 for the Third.

Ghazvinizadeh is now guaranteed that her first feature film will be presented at Cannes.

The Cinéfondation Selection consisted of 18 student films, chosen out of nearly 1,550 entries coming from 277 film schools around the world.