48th Festival: The Winners

[Kurzfilmtage]

AWARDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION


Prizes awarded by the International Jury

Members of the International Jury:
Sabina Eremeeva (Russia), Nelson Henricks (Canada), Bebe Kamin (Argentina), 
Sandra Lischi (Italy), Cristine Wang ( USA)


Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen, amounting to Euro 7,500

DREAM WORK
Peter Tscherkassky, Austria
11 Min., 35 mm, b/w

Statement:
The Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen goes to "Dream Work", by the 
Austrian filmmaker Peter Tscherkassky.
This visual poem weaves the history of avant-garde filmmaking with 
contemporary cinematic language. In this work, sound and image fuse to 
create an impossible on screen universe. A hallucinatory, artistic and 
self-reflexive vision, "Dream Work" is a film about the making of itself, 
and making movies.


Two Principal Prizes, amounting to Euro 3,500 each

JE M’APPELLE
Stéphane Elmadjian, France 2001
17 Min., 35 mm, colour

Statement:
A principal prize is awarded to "Je m'appelle", directed by Stéphane 
Elmadjian: A powerful visual and auditory essay on the human condition, and 
the history of political activism and modes of restitence. Through its 
repetitive utterance: "My name is..." - crossing myriad ages, cultures, 
ethnicities. We realise that histories are cyclical, common and collective, 
and that cultural codes of oppression, suffering and resistance become 
subsumed into our collective consciousness.

LOS ZAPATOS DE ZAPATA
Luciano Larobina, Mexico 2001
27 Min., 35 mm, colour

Statement:
The second of the two principal prizes goes to the Mexican filmmaker 
Luciano Larobina for the documentary "Los Zapatos de Zapata". This 
observation of the life of Emiliano Zapata through spontaneous personal 
testimonies, juxtaposes generations and blends traditional imagery with 
contemporary culture. By mixing styles and genres, Larobina explores the 
delicate border between fact and fiction, and the active role that myth 
plays in the creation of national identity. Fresh, vigorous and innovative, 
Larobina challenges conventional documentary language.




ARTE Prize for a European Short Film, amounting to Euro 2,500

CARGO
Laura Waddington, Niederlande 2001
29 Min., Beta SP/PAL, colour

Statement:
The ARTE Prize for a European short film goes to Laura Waddington's 
"Cargo", a lyrical voyage on the Mediterranean depicted in a series of 
distended moments. Combining diaristic text with painterly visuals, the 
director recounts a dialogue between a mute woman and the forgotten men who 
work on a cargo ship. We are drawn into a nomadic journey at the frontier 
of European consciousness; a reflection on what it means to be a citizen 
without country, to drift without destination. In this way, Waddington 
opens up a broader reflection of the nature of human identity and human 
existence.


Werkleitz Award for the ”outstanding artistic use of digital media” , 
amounting to Euro 2,000 and including material prizes worth up to Euro 5,000

SPRING ROLL
David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi, Italy 2001
20 Min., DVCAM/PAL, colour

Statement:
The Werkleitz Award for "outstanding use of digital media" goes to the 
Italian duo David Zamagni and Nadia Ranocchi for "Spring Roll"  a potent 
and jarring visual and auditory presentation which through its innovative 
sampling and recombination of mixed media, from "Super 8" film to digital 
video, conveys the tragic isolation and nihilism of contemporary youth 
culture at our cities' periphery in a post-industrial landscape.


Special Mentions of the International Jury

ABOUT A THEOLOGICAL SITUATION IN THE SOCIETY OF SPECTACLE
Masayuki Kawai, Japan 2001
6,30 Min., DV/NTSC, colour

Statement:
"About a Theological Situation in the Society of Spectacle" by Masayuki 
Kawai for his visually rich critique of meaning in a mediated society.

CHOPSTICK BLOODY CHOPSTICK
Wayne Yung, Shawn Durr, Canada 2001
14,30 Min., DV/NTSC, colour

Statement:
"Chopstick Bloody Chopstick" by Wayne Yung and Shawn Durr for their quirky 
humour and original visual treatment.

SUKA
Igor Voloshin, Russia 2001
18 Min., 35 mm, colour

Statement:
"Suka" by Igor Voloshin for its powerful and intimate portrait of men under 
fire.

WEDNESDAY CREAMY CAKE
Yuet-Na Tse, China 2001
10 Min., DV/PAL, colour

Statement:
"Wednesday Creamy Cake" by Yuet-na Tse for its disturbing representation of 
a man troubled by his past.


Prize of the Jury of the North Rhine Westphalia Government Ministry of 
Urban Development and Housing, Culture and Sports, amounting to Euro 2,500

Members of the Jury:
Theda Kluth (Köln), Jürgen Hillmer (Bielefeld), Gudrun Holz (Berlin), 
Michael Kohler (Bochum), Prof. Angela Zumpe (Berlin)


CAMOUFLAGE
Jonathan Hodgson, Großbritanninen 2001
8 Min., 35 mm, colour

Statement:
"Camouflage" deals in a very impressive and touching way with the traumatic 
experience of a child growing up with a parent who suffers from 
schizophrenia. The film finds an intense visual language to symbolise the 
child's attempts to escape from this threatening situation in the 
transitions between real live and animation sequences.

Special Mention of the Jury of the North Rhine Westphalia Government 
Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Culture and Sports

OPST’O L OST’O JEDAN DAN
Alma Becirovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
12 Min., Beta SP/PAL, colour

Statement:
The Jury gives a Special Mention to the Film "Opst'o l ost'o jedan dan" 
(Survived'n Lived Through One More Day) by Alma Becirovic, 
Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2000. In an unpretentious manner this documentary 
describes the lasting consequences of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina by 
showing the everyday life of a woman sapper.


Prize of the FIPRESCI (Jury of International Film Critics), amounting to 
Euro 1,500,
donated by the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen

Members of the Jury:
Gareth Evans (London), Malena Johnson (Bagarmossen, Sweden), Dr. Thomas 
Rothschild (Stuttgart)

THE FATHER, THE RAM, MY DAD AND ME
Becalelis Brodskis,,Großbritannien 2001
8,30 Min., Beta SP/PAL, Farbe

Statement:
For its intimate and imaginative merging of personal history with cultural 
and religious memory, achieved through a dynamic fusion of various 
stylistic approaches.

Special Mention of the FIPRESCI Jury

WHITE MAN’S BURDEN: HOLLYWOOD ROLE MODELS
Julia Cowing, USA 2001
5 Min., DV/NTSC, Farbe

Statement:
For the compassionate use of feature film extracts to illustrate how 
systematically Asian women are caricatured in mainstream Hollywood cinema 
and misrepresented in US society.


Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, amounting to € 1,500

Members of the Jury:
Johannes Binotto (Dorf, Switzerland), Bernd Durst (Frankfurt/M.), Michael 
Kranzusch (Lüneburg),
Otmar Schöffler (Münster), Eberhard Streier (Essen)


SUKA
Igor Voloshin, Russia 2001
18 Min., 35 mm, colour

Statement:
In this documentary about the war in Chechnya, the director creates a 
feeling of closeness to the soldiers portrayed, without maintaining a 
cynical distance or engaging in moral manipulations. Taking great personal 
risks, he gives us insights into an out-of-control machinery of violence 
that does not need enemies to turn human beings into killers and victims.

Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury

SIDET’V SHKAFU
Tania Detkina, Russland 2001
23 Min., 35 mm, b/w

Statement:
Tania Detkinas depiction of a fateful family visit testifies to her true 
empathy with the characters and the conditions they are formed by while 
refraining from speculative melodramatics. The director finds a fresh 
visual language, lively and precise at the same time.


JE M’APPELLE
Stéphane Elmadjian, Frankreich 2001
17 Min., 35 mm, Farbe

Statement:
Through an innovative interweaving of words and images the film "Je 
m'appelle" invites us to look at people with a view to their personal 
histories and not to listen to stories without asking for the people in 
them. It demonstrates that the story of a person's life is always a story 
of suffering, too, which cannot aways be legitimized by promises of freedom.




Prize of the Cinema Jury,
in connection with a buying option on the awarded work by the Short Film 
Agency Hamburg

Members of the Jury:
Gerhard Binenheimer (Kaiserslautern), Michael Jurich (Mannheim), Ian White 
(London)


PAPA GENA
Laila Pakalnina, Latvia 2001
10 Min., Beta SP/PAL, b/w

Statement:
For its tender, insightful portrait not only of its subjects but of a 
country, for the discrete conviction in an idea and the beauty of its 
extension and for its profound sense of humanity, it gives us great 
pleasure to award the Cinema Jury Prize to Laila Pakalnina's film Papa Gena.

Prize of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, amounting to € 500

11 DE SEPTIEMBRE
Claudia Aravena, Germany 2002
5,30 Min., DV/NTSC, colour

Statement:
The artist manages to overcome personal involvement through a politically 
and aesthetically convincing exploration of history.


AWARDS OF THE GERMAN COMPETITION


Prizes awarded by the German Jury

Members of the Jury:
Michael Girke (Herford), Hans Schifferle (München), Barbara Schweizerhof 
(Berlin)


Prize for the best contribution to the German Competition, amounting to 
Euro 5,000

SCRATCH
Christoph Giradet, Germany 2001
4,30Min., DV/PAL, colour

Statement:
The structure of the film which at first sight seems reduced, strict, 
generates a precise, rich perception of the materiality of vinyl and 
celluloid. Image, montage and rhythm condense into a both abstract and 
sensual treatise on difference and repetition, film history and the 
phenomenon of disappearance. For this, we award the First Prize of the 
German Competition to "Scratch" by Christoph Girardet.

Special Mention of the German Jury

MARK MORRISROE  POLAROIDS 1959 - 1989
Curtis Burz, Germany 2002
10 Min., DV/PAL, colour

Statement:
Curtis Burz' treatment of the familiar props of gay artists' biographies 
exposes the viewer to an aesthetical and moral ambivalence and breaks with 
established habits of thinking.


The 3sat-Promotional-Award, amounting to € 2,500 goes ex aequo to 
contributions with a particularly innovative approach.
In addition the award includes a buying option on the awarded works to be 
broadcast on 3sat

S
Thanassis Karanikolas
14,30, 16 mm, colour

Statement:
The film explores the nocturnal world of the LA underground, treating its 
spectacular subject subtly and seriously. In this subdued, almost mute film 
we discover the silhouette of melodrama. One Promotional Prize goes to "S" 
by Thanassis Karanikolas.

OLD CHOI’S FILM
Bin Chuen Choi, Germany 2001
18 Min., Beta SP/PAL, colour

Statement:
The film documents the agony of the filmmaker's father. The camera travels 
to the various stations of saying goodbye: the father's last apartment and 
finally the sick- and deathbed. The extraordinary achievement of this film 
lies in refusing to adapt the omnipresent, familiar images of death. 
Instead, it finds its own private and perfectly natural approach. The 
second Promotional Prize goes to "Old Choi's Film" by Bin Chuen Choi.



AWARDS OF THE CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH FILM COMPETITION


Prize of the Children's Film Competition for the programmes of the 5 to 
12-year-olds,
  amounting to Euro 1,000, sponsored by Kinderkanal, the ARD/ZDF children’s 
channel

Members of the Jury:
Patrick Gothe, Christoph-Alexander Jahn, Bianca Ophuizen, Nicki Jana 
Schäfer, Larissa Schoffer


DE DAG DAT IK BESLOOT NINA TE ZIJN
Ingeborg Jansen, Netherlands 2000
15 Min., Beta SP/PAL, colour

Statement:
We have chosen a film which tells of a person who would like to be 
different. Being different needs a lot of courage. And this person has 
shown the necessary courage. That is why we declare “De day dat ik besloot 
Nina te zjin” (The Day I Decided to be Nina) as our winner.
Guido decided, that he would rather be Nina and the film shows how Nina 
copes with her life as a boy and as a girl.


Prize of the Youth Film Competition for the programmes of the 12 to 
16-year-olds, amounting to € 1,000, sponsored by Kinderkanal, the ARD/ZDF 
children’s channel

Members of the Jury:
Tobias Dickmann, Randy Höfels, Kevin Kohse, Vanessa Meyer, Nicole Trzeja

IBIZA
Bettina Oberli, Switzerland 2002
26 Min., 35 mm, colour

Statement:
Of the 18 films we have selected one which did not only convince us with 
its realistic portrayal of being a teenager, but also with its humour and 
fitting film music. We could all identify with the boys and girls in the 
film. That is why we award our prize to the film “Ibiza” by Bettina Oberli.

Press Contact: Sabine Niewalda, niewalda at kurzfilmtage.de

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