The competition is always high when judging the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards, but this year, the level of creativity, originality and just plain good filmmaking that marked entries of the seventh annual PlanetOut Short Movie Awards was astounding.

"I've been on the jury for three years," said Jenny Stewart, Manager of Entertainment Programming at PlanetOut, "and this was by far the most impressive batch of short films in this competition I have ever seen."

It was a tough year for the jury, but the film determined by the jury to be the grand prize winner of the 2006 PlanetOut Short Movie Awards is "Sissy Frenchfry."

The comedy is set in West Beach High School, where Sissy Frenchfry, a quirky, much-loved -- and gay -- student body president reigns over a wildly eclectic and diverse high school. Sissy suddenly has to go head-to-head to against a handsome, charismatic -- and socially intolerant -- transfer student with a devious plan to restore the status quo to the school.

The film was made by real-life partners JC Oliva and Joe Brouillette. "I think my heart rate tripled, but I was trying to play it cool," Oliva told PlanetOut about having won the $10,000 grand prize. "And then I thought of those jerks who win radio contests and don't show any emotion, so I stopped trying to play it cool." After Brouillette learned the good news, he called Oliva and asked him out for coffee. "While we were sitting there, he handed me a note that said we had won," Oliva said. "I believe my exact words were, 'Are you fucking kidding me?'"

"Sissy Frenchfry" will screen with all the other category-winning shorts at the prestigious Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in April. Festival director Carol Coombes is thrilled.

"The caliber of shorts submitted for the annual PlanetOut Short Movie Award competition, presented by Scion, continues to astonish," Coombes said. "Congratulations to all the filmmakers, the runner-ups and the winners for having the passion to make films that address and deal with storylines and subject matter which are pertinent to an LGBT audience," she said.

Four $1,000 first-prize awards were presented in the additional categories. Roberta Munroe's "Dani & Alice," about domestic abuse among African-American lesbians, took top honors in Drama; Erik Rosenlund's "Butler" came in first in Animation; "Jaywalking," an exploration of drag kings, took top honors in the Documentary category and the lesbian short "Surf Gang" garnered the top prize in Experimental.

"Making a film like "Dani and Alice," with Black lesbian leads, in a very difficult-to-watch story about our ability and inability to negotiate love within a relationship, was an incredible journey," Munroe told PlanetOut. "I was surrounded by some of the best talent in the country, above and below the line, and to receive such a prestigious award is undeniably gratifying."

All PlanetOut Short Movie Awards finalists will be announced at the 2006 PlanetOut Brunch at Sundance. To watch "Sissy Frenchfry" and all the finalists now, click here!