In the four competitions held at the 47th International Short Film Festival, 149 short films will compete for altogether 16 prizes.
In the International Competition, 70 films from 34 countries have been selected. The USA and Canada are represented most strongly, but there is an unusually high number of contributions this year from South America and South East Asia. Countries with a smaller film output, like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Kazakhstan, are also well represented. Among the directors are artists and filmmakers like Nam June Paik, Doug Aitken, Jon Jost and James Herbert, but also others such as Souheil Bachar, a member of the Lebanese Atlas Group, and Jeferson De, one of the signatories of the Brazilian Dogma Feijoada. Dates: 4-8 May
The International Jury:
Pierre Bongiovanni, Director of the Centre de Recherche Pierre Schaeffer CICV, France
Haile Gerima, Filmmaker, Eritrea/USA
Nicole Gingras, Curator, Canada
Laima Slava, Journalist, Latvia
Pimpaka Towira, Filmmaker/Journalist, Thailand
Altogether 39 films have been chosen for the German Competition. Most of these are especially short, running for less than ten minutes. This year a notably large number of them comes from German colleges specialising in art and design. With five Films, the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne is the most strongly represented film school. The filmmakers include such familiar faces as Matthias Müller, Michael Brynntrup, Jochen Kuhn and Thomas Struck, but also others like Jos Stelling with The Gas Station, a film from the series Erotic Tales. Dates: 4-8 May
The Jury:
Elena Kounadis, Filmforum, Berlin
Nikolaj Nikitin, SCHNITT, Bochum
Herbert Schwering, Filmmaker, Cologne
The MuVi Award has now become firmly established. This year there are twice as many entries as in 2000. The eleven competitors include experienced MuVi directors like Michel Klöfkorn and Oliver Husain (award-winners in 1999) with Walking back home (Commercial Breakup), Sebastian Kutscher with Do Dekor (Jan Jelinek), and Rosa Barba with Kontra (Microstoria). Around half of the clips have never been shown on German music television, so there is plenty to discover here. There's plenty to discover on the Web as well: the Short Film Festival, popkomm.de and MTV will be putting the eleven nominations online as of April. Users can form their own opinion of the videos via streaming, and vote for the audience prize, which will be presented on May 5 in Oberhausen. Access: www.kurzfilmtage.de and www.popkomm.de. Dates: 5-6 May
The Jury:
Georges Bermann, Producer, Paris
Jem Cohen, Filmmaker, New York
Arezu Weitholz, Journalist, London
One striking thing about the Children's and Youth Film Competition this year is the change of name: from Children's Film Competition to Children's and Youth Film Competition. For the first time, a programme for 14-16 year-olds will be presented. There has been a swing away from the Scandinavian countries, which used always to be strongly represented; most of the entries come from Germany and Canada. 29 films from 18 countries will be shown. Dates: May 3, 4, 7 and 8.
Out of Time
The special programme Out of Time works on the assumption that perceptions of time vary vastly, that there are many ways to be out of time, that is, to experience time's imperatives, its limits and its effects. The various aspects of the experience of time will be presented in three large sections: the curators Robin Curtis and Laura U. Marks have put together nine programmes on themes such as End of Time and Anachrony, with works by Doug Aitken, Bill Viola and others. Five guest programmes presented by international artists and media specialists, including Rick Prelinger & Herbert Schwarze, Johan Grimonprez and Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky, will investigate topics such as Cities and Speed‰ or ‰The Prolonged Present. A series of talks - including one by Victor Masayesva on Time Past, Time Now will round off the programme. Dates: 3-8 May
The Specials
Charles Wilp, artronaut and pop icon, will present a film programme ranging from a selection of his advertising spots from the sixties to the seldom shown pictures taken on board the astronaut training machine of the ESA, as well as the WXLP WILP CLUB no rest no ending‰ night. Date: 4 May
Jem Cohen, filmmaker and (anti-) clip director, combines Olivier Messiaen with R.E.M. or Sparklehorse with Catalan folk music in his timeless, complex works. Oberhausen will present one of the most comprehensive overviews ever of this American director's works, including versions that have never been shown and director's cuts. Jem Cohen will be at the Festival and personally introduce his works, which include E-Bow and Country Feedback, two clips for R.E.M., Vocalise (Olivier Messiaen) and Lucky Three. Dates: 4, 5 and 6 May.
Under the title Floating Through Time, curator Mark Webber will be presenting Larry Jordan's works, which span over 40 years, in two programmes. The first one will contain Jordan's early experimental feature films, the second his most important animation films. Dates: 4 and 5 May.
Heinz Emigholz will be premiering two films in Oberhausen that have just been completed, Miscellanea (I) and Miscellanea (II). He will also be showing The Basis of Make-up ; all three works form part of the cycle Photographie und jenseits (Photography and Beyond), which is concerned with drawing, script and architecture. Date: 6 May
Jürgen Reble will be presenting a performance with his group Schmelzdahin‚s films during the Super 8 Night, including Stadt in Flammen, Weltenempfänger and Rumpelstilzchen. Date: 5 May
For thirty years, the early short films of the director Robert Van Ackeren were thought to be lost. Oberhausen will present a programme with his almost unknown early works for the first time again. Prints made especially for the Oberhausen Festival make it possible to view them once more. Planned screenings include Eva (1967), Für Immer und Ewig (1968) and Wham (1965). Date: 5 May
The two special programmes in the Children's and Youth Cinema will be up and flying: one is entitled Above the Clouds, the other (right up Charles Wilp's alley!) Towards the Stars.. Their content ranges from historic footage of early attempts at flight and George Méliès' famous Journey to the Moon to Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. Both programmes also contain a special short film version of the Sendung mit der Maus. Dates: 5 and 6 May
Under the title MuVi International, the Short Film Festival will be presenting contemporary and trend-setting international video clips. 80 minutes of clips from countries including the USA, Great Britain, Iceland, Indonesia, Brazil, by directors like Don Cameron, Richard Grant and August Jacobson. The spectrum ranges from Rock DJ (Robbie Williams, USA) to Julia Theresa (Lo Khan, Indonesia) and Amores Perros (Café Tacuba, Mexico) Dates: 4 and 5 May
Let's Party
WXLP WILP CLUB no rest no ending: the ultimate Charles Wilp Night, with the master himself there in a performing capacity, with Ata Tak and VJs Lillevän and Thomas Fehlmann. Date: 4 May
Little Stabs at Happiness presents THE SOMNAMBULIST‚S RETREAT: Live event with films and music by Mark Webber. Date: 5 May
The Prolonged Present: Live Performance by Paul D. Miller alias DJ Spooky. Date: 7 May.
The Film Market
From 2 to 8 May , more than 3.600 short films will be available for viewing at 12 viewing booths. Market screenings will also give accredited visitors an insight into film production in South East Asian countries, some of which have yet to be discovered as filmmaking nations. The following institutions will be taking part: KONFIDEN (Indonesian Independent Film Community), Jakarta, Indonesia; Mowelfund Film Institute, Manila, Philippines; The Korean National University of Arts, Seoul, South Korea (presented by Mirovision); Thai Film Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand.
Contact: Hilke Doering, Tel: +49 (0)208 825-2899, Fax: 825-5413, doering@kurzfilmtage.de
The Media Partners
ARTE: The television station ARTE will for the first time present the ARTE Award, worth 5,000 D-marks, for a European short film from the International Competition. ARTE will also be broadcasting a special edition of the TV magazine Kurz-Schluss on May 7 including two films from the International Competition 2001.
3sat: 3sat has featured short films in its programs regularly for years. For the first time, 3sat will include a 5,000-mark money prize in its Promotional Award at the German Competition 2001. The award will go to a film characterised by a fresh perspective on things. 3sat will also broadcast a selection of German short films from the Oberhausen Festival on May 4.
Children's Channel: For the second time, the Children's Channel will be sponsoring the two prizes at the 24th Children's and Youth Cinema Competition. The station will also be making its TRICKBOXX available, with which the children's juries will produce their own trailer for the Children's and Youth Cinema.
popkomm.de: The Short Film Festival will present the MuVi nominees online from 2 April, in cooperation with popkomm.de and MTV. Users will get the chance to look at the clips and vote online for the best clip. Access through www.kurzfilmtage.de
Musikwoche: Musikwoche will present the discussion Netspot: Potentials of Web art and web film in cooperation with the Short Film Festival.
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