European Film Awards
THE 28th EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS
EUROPEAN SHORT FILM 2015: THE NOMINATIONS
Welcome to the 28th European Film Awards CONTENTS: Welcome ...................................................................................
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Films DISSONANCE ..................................................................... E.T.E.R.N.I.T. ....................................................................... FIELD STUDY ...................................................................... KUNG FURY ........................................................................ LISTEN ............................................................................... OUR BODY .......................................................................... OVER .................................................................................. PICNIC ................................................................................ SMILE, AND THE WORLD WILL SMILE BACK ..................... SON OF THE WOLF ............................................................. SYMBOLIC THREATS .......................................................... THE RUNNER ...................................................................... THE TRANSLATOR ............................................................. THIS PLACE WE CALL OUR HOME ...................................... WASHINGTONIA .................................................................
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The EFA Short Film Initiative ................................................. The Short Matters! Tour .........................................................
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European Film Academy e.V. Kurfürstendamm 225 10719 Berlin GERMANY tel. +(49)30 887 167-0 fax +(49)30 887 167-77
EFA Productions gGmbH Kurfürstendamm 225 10719 Berlin GERMANY tel. +(49)30 887 167-0 fax +(49)30 887 167-77
www.europeanfilmacademy.org
www.efa-productions.com
Director: Marion Döring Amtsgericht Charlottenburg 14236 Nz
Managing Directors: Marion Döring, Jürgen Biesinger Amtsgericht Charlottenburg HRB 99369
IMPRINT: EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY e.V. // Editor: Pascal Edelmann // Graphic design: Andrés Castoldi // Unless otherwise indicated, all pictures appear courtesy of the respective production/distribution companies ★
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This year’s short film nominations include documentary, fiction, experimental and animation films. A lot of them take as a starting point a critical examination of today’s realities, be it unemployment, water pollution, violence and crime, or immigration. We meet a time-travelling martial artist, a genius musician and an abandoned summer resort, urban arts activists, a giraffe and a dog. Each of the nominated films opens a window into a different world and still altogether they can only offer a glimpse of human experience - and of the creative diversity of European cinema. It is with great pleasure that we present this year’s nominated short films. The EFA Short Film Initiative has long been an established item on the annual international short film agenda. It is organised in co-operation with fifteen partner festivals at each of which an independent international jury presents one of the European short films in competition with a nomination for the Agnieszka Holland award European Short Film. During the past Chairwoman fourteen years, the interest in the short film EFA Board initiative and this collection of short films has constantly been increasing. The nominated films go through a series of 50 screenings across Europe and beyond. From Portugal to Georgia, from Finland to Israel, and from China to Brazil, we are proud to draw attention to these short films and their creators. And I invite you to leaf through this booklet and meet the nominees - creative people from all over Europe. The short film initiative wouldn’t be possible without our friends in the world of short films and I wish to thank all our partner festivals for yet another fantastic year full of surprises and discoveries! I would also like to thank our friends at the Film Fest Gent and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) for the EFA Short Film Weekend - a first gathering of the nominated directors in Ghent for a screening of the nominated shorts and a weekend of meeting and mingling. Thank you & bedankt! The members of the European Film Academy will elect the overall winner who will be announced at the 28th European Film Awards Ceremony in Berlin on 12 December.
WELCOME
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Berlin Short Film Nominee
DISSONANCE
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
WRITTEN, DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY: Till Nowak DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Ivan Robles Mendoza EDITOR: Philipp Hahn & Till Nowak PRODUCTION DESIGN: Till Nowak COSTUME DESIGN: Heidrun Schwantge SOUND DESIGN: Andreas Radzuweit ORIGINAL SCORE: Olaf Taranczewski & Frank Zerban
Germany 2015, animation, 17’
Production: frameboX Till Nowak 4532 Avocado St Los Angeles , 90027 USA tn@framebox.com tel: +1 310 8040540
World Sales: ShortFilmAgency Hamburg Stine Wangler Friedensallee 7 22765 Hamburg GERMANY sales@shortfilm.com tel: +49 40 39 10 6 30
Press: the pr kitchen Fumi Kitahara Pasadena Los Angeles , 91101 USA fumi@theprkitchen.com tel: +1 310 2979716
ANIMATION: Till Nowak & Malte Lauinger MAIN CAST: Roland Schupp (pianist), Nina Petri (mother), Hannah Heine (daughter), Klaus Zehrfeld (doctor), Leslie Barany (narrator, English), Mirko Thiele (narrator, German)
A genius musician lives a lonely life in a surreal, floating world. He plays the piano every day in a gigantic concert hall, but there is nobody to listen. One day his animated world collapses and he must face reality. He only has one wish: to share his music with his daughter, but her mother doesn‘t allow it. www.framebox.com Till Nowak Born in 1980, Till Nowak is a digital artist, designer and filmmaker and has been working since 1999 as a professional computer graphics artist on his own independent projects and for highprofile clients. Till graduated in 2005 in Media Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, Germany. He recently moved from Hamburg to Los Angeles. Till’s work has been widely exhibited and awarded and he has given lectures at various events and universities. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? Radically colliding animation and live action was an ambitious idea that I started to develop in 2007. I designed and wrote bits and pieces of it for over five years between my many other projects. Then it took me three years (2012-2015) to shoot, animate and edit it. The deeper I got into it the less I wanted to make any compromise. The film cost about EUR 92,000, which I invested mostly on my own and with EUR 25,000 from regional German film funding. After
all, I invested more in this film than I ever imagined to, but it feels good to have done so. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Europe is about diversity, also when it comes to films, but the people who make these films are a community, held together by film festivals and coproductions. It is important to remind ourselves how precious peace in Europe is and I think a European cinema community plays an essential role to maintain it. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? PLAYTIME by Jacques Tati, MODERN TIMES and THE GREAT DICTATOR by Charlie Chaplin, RONJA RÄUBERTOCHTER by Tage Danielsson and DAS EXPERIMENT by Oliver Hirschbiegel. What is your next project? I just moved with my wife and my daughter to Los Angeles, which is another side of global cinema that I want to explore, while seeing myself very rooted in European cinema at the same time. So my next project is to set up some kind of normal life here. I am currently working as a designer and artist in the big film studios, while I am developing my own feature film ideas, which might then as well be a European production in a few years, but that’s still far away …
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Venice Short Film Nominee
France 2015, fiction, 14’
E.T.E.R.N.I.T. DIRECTED BY: Giovanni Aloi WRITTEN BY: Nicolo Galbiati PRODUCED BY: Zangro Zangro & Baptiste Bauduin DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Andrea Baronne
EDITOR: Diego Schiavo SOUND DESIGN: Giovanni Frezza ORIGINAL SCORE: Giorgino Maccarinelli MAIN CAST: Serena Grandi, Ali Salhi
Production: Bien ou Bien Productions 2, rue Gabriel Fauré 33150 Cenon FRANCE distribution.bienoubien@gmail.com Tel: +33 5 47 29 89 54
Giovanni Aloi Giovanni Aloi (Italian, born 22 October 1984) studied Film History and Criticism at the University of Bologna and “arts plastiques” at the Université Paris VIII. After graduating he started working as a writer and camera operator for the Italian TV show “Le Iene”. After this he realised some documentaries, a feature and two short films. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took more than one year from the day the idea was born to the last day of post-production. The financing started with a grant from Cineteca di Bologna; after this we signed a contract with the Bordeauxbased company Bien ou Bien Productions with whom we’ve been funded by Region Aquitaine. Yes, it has been hard to get financing, but necessary in order to give birth to E.T.E.R.N.I.T. under the best possible conditions. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”?
My first thought is about all the talented colleagues I’ve met during the last two years attending film festivals throughout Europe. Day by day, we started growing sincere friendships, exchanging our ideas about new cinema projects and old hidden film pearls. There’s a specific aspect of European cinema that means never-ending research on cinema language, and the community is here to explore it. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Let’s start with LA PLANÈTE SAUVAGE by René Laloux. I find it weird and surreal, my favourite animation film of all time. After the screening I’m sure you’ll put Alain Goraguer’s soundtrack on your iPod. Around 10pm we could go for a 35mm screening of VARGTIMMEN by Ingmar Bergman, a film showing the pathology of a painter who cannot distinguish anymore between the real world and his imagination. Hypnotic! Let’s finish with a bitter smile: Ettore Scola’s BRUTTI, SPORCHI E CATTIVI. Life is hard, better take it ironically. What is your next project? I’m now working on a feature film project called SURFACE TENSION, co-produced by Ombre Rosse Films (Italy) and Chic Film (France), the development of which has been financed by South Tyrol film fund BLS.
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
Italy, during the year 2015: Ali, a Tunisian immigrant working in asbestos removal receives the visa which will allow his wife and daughter to join him. To get ready to welcome his family, he must make a radical decision.
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Cork Short Film Nominee
UK 2014, fiction , 20’
FIELD STUDY
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
DIRECTED BY: Eva Weber WRITTEN BY: Line Langebek PRODUCED BY: Julia Godzinskaya & Sophie Vickers DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Chloë Thompson EDITOR: Tracy Granger A.C.E PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dorota Borkowska & Agata Trojak
COSTUME DESIGN: Emilia Czartoryska SOUND DESIGN: Harry Barnes ORIGINAL SCORE: Stuart Earl MAIN CAST: Bradley Hall (Martin), Magdalena Różańska (Ewa), Olaf Marchwicki (Jacek), Slawomir Holland (landlord)
Production, World Sales & Press: Rooks Nest Entertainment Greater London House London NW1 7QY UK julia@rooksnestent.com tel: +44 203 384 7960
Martin, a shy Englishman in his early 20s, is in Poland doing a field study on river pollution when he sees a woman and her son bathe in the river, a moment of pure joy. Later, he discovers that Ewa works at the guest-house he’s staying at and he warns them not to bathe in the river due to the pollution from the nearby factories. Jacek, Ewa’s son, helps Martin with his research and he becomes something of a father figure to him. As a thank you for letting Jacek help him out Ewa invites Martin for dinner before he is to return home to England. Martin misunderstands the invitation and at the end of the night, a little tipsy, he tries to kiss her - but is rejected. The next day he speaks to a lab technician in the UK about the samples he’s sent back for testing– there is some pollution but not where Ewa and Jacek have been swimming. When Ewa doesn’t show up for work and still hurting from the rejection Martin leaves without passing on the message that the river is fine to swim in. Eva Weber Originally from Germany, Eva Weber is a Londonbased filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction. Her awardwinning films have screened at numerous international film festivals, been broadcast on UK and international television, and shown at art exhibitions and museums. Her film THE SOLITARY LIFE OF CRANES was nominated for the International Documentary Association’s Distinguished Short Award and selected as one of the top five films of the year by critic Nick Bradshaw in Sight & Sound’s annual film review. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? FIELD STUDY was financed through the BFI’s shorts scheme. I fell in love with the original short story by Rachel Seiffert when it was first published in 2004. When the shorts scheme was announced, I felt this would be the perfect opportunity to finally make a film based on her story.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? As a German working in the UK, I feel my work is very much inspired by both cultures, though above all I see myself as belonging to a European cinema culture. Regardless of national differences, I feel there is a distinct European sensibility in terms of films and the way filmmakers work together across countries. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Almost impossible to choose, but I would probably settle on a combination of Hitchcock’s NOTORIOUS, Jacques Audiard’s A PROPHET and an early Werner Herzog film. What is your next project? I am currently in development with the fiction feature LET THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ERASE YOUR NAME, based on the novel by Vendela Vida. Developed through the Sundance Institute Screenwriters and Directors Labs, I also received the Sundance Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award for this film. I’m also in development with the fiction feature THE SPARK, working with the writer Daniel Hardy and Rooks Nest Entertainment, the producers of FIELD STUDY. On the documentary side, I’m in development with the film NIGHT/vision, and the hybrid feature GHOST WIVES.
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Vila do Conde Short Film Nominee
Sweden 2015, fiction, 30’
KUNG FURY WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: David Sandberg PRODUCED BY: Linus Andersson & Eleni Young DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Mattias Andersson, Martin Gärdemalm & Jonas Ernhill EDITOR: Nils Moström SOUND DESIGN: Patrik Öberg ORIGINAL SCORE: Mitch Murder ANIMATION: FIDO AB
MAIN CAST: David Sandberg (Kung Fury), Eleni Young (Barbarianna), Leopold Nilsson (Hackerman), Jorma Taccone (Hitler), Triceratops (Triceracops), Steven Chew (Dragon), Andreas Cahling (Thor), Helene Ahlson (Katana), Eos Karlsson (Red Ninja), Per-Henrik Arvidius (Chief)
Production, World Sales & Press: Laser Unicorns Productions Linus Andersson c/o Sliperiet Östra Strandgatan 32 90333 Umeå SWEDEN linus@laserunicorns.com tel: +46 703 06 55 78
David Sandberg David Sandberg is a Swedish filmmaker with years of experience in directing television commercials and music videos. In 2012, he quit the commercial directing business and focused on writing a script for an action comedy film set in the 1980s, inspired by action films of that era - Kung Fury.
How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? All in all about two and a half years. It was really challenging to find financing for it, it’s such a crazy project and was hard to grasp for some people, especially in the beginning. When I had enough material to show, it went very fast though. With the help of the internet and kick starter, we were able to raise USD 200,000 within 24 hours. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? European cinema is great in the sense that it supports art in film that doesn’t necessarily need to be commercially successful, and letting directors realise their true visions. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? TERMINATOR 2, JURASSIC PARK and the first unedited theatrical version of STAR WARS. What is your next project? A feature film adaptation of KUNG FURY.
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
Miami Police Department detective and martial artist Kung Fury time travels from the 1980s to World War II to kill Adolf Hitler, a.k.a. “Kung Führer”, and revenge his friend’s death at the hands of the Nazi leader. An error in the time machine sends him further back to the Viking Age. www.kungfury.com
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Tampere Short Film Nominee
Denmark/Finland 2014, fiction, 13’
Production: Nordic Factory Copenhagen Valeria Richter Hiort Lorenzensgade 23 1th 2200 Copenhagen N DENMARK valeria@pebble.dk tel: +45 261 33 725 WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Hamy Ramezan & Rungano Nyoni
LISTEN KUUNTELE
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
PRODUCED BY: Valeria Richter & Helene Granqvist DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Lars Vestergaard EDITOR: Rikke Selin Lorentzen PRODUCTION DESIGN: Jakob Stig Olsson COSTUME DESIGN: Camilla Nordbjerg
Nordic Factory Sweden Helene Granqvist Södra Övedsvägen 44-10 27594 Sjöbo SWEDEN helene@nordicfactoryfilm.se tel: +46 705 13 21 41
World Sales: Premium Jean Charles Mille 6, rue Desargues 75011 Paris FRANCE jcm@premium-films.com tel: 0033142770639
SOUND DESIGN: Thomas Jæger ORIGINAL SCORE: Kristian Selin Eidnes Andersen MAIN CAST: Zeinab Rahal (mother), Amira Helene Larsen (as translator), Alexandre Willaume (policeman), Nanna Bøttcher (policewoman), Yusuf Kamal El-Ali (son)
A foreign woman in a burqa brings her young son to a Copenhagen police station to get away from her abusive husband, yet the translator assigned to her seems unwilling to convey the true meaning of her words to the police, thus corrupting the truth of her terrible situation. www.nordicfactoryfilm.com
Hamy Ramezan (left) Finnish-Iranian director/scriptwriter, Hamy Ramezan studied Film in England, graduating in 2007. His short OVER THE FENCE (2009) was a world-wide festival hit, earning many awards. KEYS OF HEAVEN, among others, won four prizes at the Tampere FF 2014. Rungano Nyoni (right) Rungano Nyoni’s films have screened at more than 200 film festivals world-wide. Her most recent short, MWANSA THE GREAT, was nominated for an African Academy Award and a BAFTA 2012. With her partner, she wrote and he directed THE MASS OF MEN which premiered at Locarno FF, garnered more than 60 prizes and was shown at 100 film festivals. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It was super condensed: three months writing, one month pre-production and one shooting and post.
The producers secured finances from The Danish Film Institute and The Finnish Foundation. We’re not sure how difficult it was but know that they had to fulfil requirements from both sides, so it wasn’t totally easy. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Europe has a distinctive approach to cinema that makes it unique. We are very lucky that it’s possible to get financing for commercial as well as for lesscommercial films so you see a whole variety of films and genres - which is beautiful. The European cinema community is the reason we’re getting to make films right now. It’s like a massive crowd sourcing for talent and finance and the easier we make that possible, the better our films become. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? THE PIANO TEACHER by Michael Haneke, HYENAS by Djibril Diop Mambety, FESTEN by Thomas Vinterberg, DEVDAS by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, THE LOBSTER by Yorgos Lanthimos, UNITED 93 by Paul Greengrass, THERE WILL BE BLOOD by Paul Thomas Anderson. What is your next project? Hamy: I am working on my debut feature film CITIZEN B which is at the development stage. Rungano: I am working on my debut feature film, I AM NOT A WITCH. It’s had development funding from BFI, Hubert Bals, VSE and ARTE. It’s a fiction about a young girl who is exiled to a Witch Camp.
Rotterdam Short Film Nominee
Serbia/Bosnia & Herzegovina/Germany 2015, experimental, 15’
OUR BODY NAŠE TELO DIRECTED BY: Dane Komljen WRITTEN BY: James Lattimer & Dane Komljen PRODUCED BY: Natasa Damnjanovic, Vladimir Vidic & Zoran Galic
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY & EDITOR: Dane Komljen SOUND DESIGN: Jakov Munizaba
Production: Dart film Natasa Damnjanovic Vladimir Vidic Niska 6 11000 Belgrade SERBIA natasa@dartfilm.com vladimir@dartfilm.com tel: +381 642 90 85 05
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
From here, you can see everything: the sea to the right, the mountains to the left, the sky in between. Dane Komljen Dane Komljen (1986, SFR Yugoslavia) studied Film Directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. After completing his studies, he made a video installation in Serbia, a short film in Bosnia & Herzegovina and another short in Croatia. He is currently on a Master’s programme in Contemporary Art at Le Fresnoy in France. His films have been shown at the Festival de Cannes, Festival del Film Locarno, IFF Rotterdam, FID Marseille and Sarajevo FF. He is working on his first feature BEFORE ENMITY. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing?
The first image was shot in December 2012. The last cut was made in January 2015. The film was made without a budget. It may sound like a struggle, but it was a pleasure. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Names of friends to whom I write more often than I talk to, but without whom my films wouldn’t be possible. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Charles Laughton’s THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and Chantal Akerman’s TOUTE UNE NUIT. Jem Cohen’s BURIED IN LIGHT and Alain Guiraudie’s CE VIEUX RÊVE QUI BOUGE. What is your next project? A short that I’m co-directing with James Lattimer with whom I worked on OUR BODY, and my first feature which I’ve been working on for a few years. I’m editing both at the moment.
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Bristol Short Film Nominee
UK 2015, fiction, 13’
OVER SOUND DESIGN: Patch Rowland ORIGINAL SCORE: Lennert Busch ANIMATION: Jörn Threlfall MAIN CAST: Jim Woods (man)
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
WRITTEN, DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY: Jörn Threlfall DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Richard Mott EDITOR: Amanda James PRODUCTION DESIGN: Chris Lightburn-Jones COSTUME DESIGN: Lucy Hagan
Production, World Sales & Press: Lenaray films ltd Jörn Threlfall 19 Kempe Road London NW6 6SP UK jorn@outsider.tv tel: +44 795 843 78 86
OVER presents a crime scene. During the course of nine wide shots, told in reverse order, we witness an intriguing story unfold. What has happened in this quiet neighborhood? A murder, a hit-and-run, an accident? The reality is profound, and deeply unexpected. Jörn Threlfall Jörn Threlfall studied film and theatre in Berlin, and went on to work for The Discovery Channel and Channel 4 in London. His work has garnered a multitude of honours world-wide. His 30-minute film MOJADO, shot over six days around Mexico City and the southern region of Tehuacan, played in competition at many festivals world-wide. Jörn is currently developing a UK based, feature-length project through his London-based company Lenaray Films. Jörn has been selected as one of the BFI/Screen International’s “Stars of Tomorrow 2015”. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? Rather quick, fortunately. I wrote it in September 2014, shot over two days in November in London,
and had a locked cut by January 2015. The post took a couple more months, because it was a ‘freebie’. The film was self-financed. It actually didn’t cost very much to make it. Not moving the camera cuts costs radically! Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Historically, European cinema has been the stalwart of ‘arthouse’ film. It still is on many levels. But Europe is such an increasingly fragmented entity: this makes for incredibly exciting, diverse and progressive cinema, but what of ‘community’ in such fractured times? Difficult. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? MIRROR by Andrei Tarkovsky, THE WHITE RIBBON by Michael Haneke and UNDER THE SKIN by Jonathan Glazer. What is your next project? I’m just completing a feature-length screenplay about two teenagers whose paths cross romantically at extremely critical junctures in their lives.
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Drama Short Film Nominee
Croatia 2015, fiction, 13’
PICNIC PIKNIK Directed by: Jure Pavlović Written by: Džejna Avdić & Jure Pavlović Produced by: Luka Venturin & Jure Pavlović Director of Photography: Almmir Fakić Editor: Dragan Von Petrovic
Production Designer: Emina Sulejmani Costume Designer: Emina Sulejmani Sound Designer: Vladimir Božić Main Cast: Emir Mušić (son), Aleksandar Seksan (father), Senad Alihodžić (social worker)
Production, World Sales & Press: Sekvenca Jure Pavlović Đorđićeva 6 10000 Zagreb CROATIA info@sekvenca.hr tel: +385 98 55 96 40
Jure Pavlović Jure Pavlović (1985) graduated film and TV directing at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He took part in different international workshops and talent venues like Berlinale Talents, Sarajevo Talent Campus, Sources 2, MAIA, etc. His short films Half an Hour for Grandma (2010) and Umbrella (2012) were shown at more than 50 festivals winning six awards. His third short film Picnic (2015) premiered at the 65th Berlin IFF in the Generation 14plus programme. It went on to win different awards like the GRAND PRIZE – Best narrative short at Flickers – Rhode Island FF (RIFF’s official Oscar submission) and GRAND PRIX – Best film at the 24th Croatian Film Days. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took about two years from conceiving the original idea to completing the film. It was quite a challenging experience, but we maintained a positive outlook
throughout, taking each obstacle as an opportunity to somehow improve upon the project. We developed it further by participating in various pitching forums and workshops, such as Euro Connection or Sarajevo City of Film. Berlinale Talents Short Film Station in particular turned out to be a huge leap in the right direction; it was there that the project took on its proper form. Securing funding for a short film is always difficult, but in the end I believe that we’ve gained a lot of experience from the process. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I see it as a vibrant community comprised of many different personalities, growing larger and larger every year. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen?’ Films by Andrei Tarkovsky. Such truly grand, powerful cinematic experiences deserve to be seen on the big screen in perfect conditions. What is your next project? A feature film called AWAKENINGS; a movie that continues my exploration of family dynamics and difficulties in maintaining interpersonal relationships. It leans heavily on the formal aesthetics I’ve developed through my work on previous short films.
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
Sarajevo, rush hour. Emir (15), accompanied by a social worker, is on his way to meet his father Safet for a weekend picnic at Igman, a semi-open penitentiary. Due to the heavy traffic they are late ...
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Nominee
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Israel/Palestine 2014, documentary, 20’
SMILE, AND THE WORLD WILL SMILE BACK
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
DIRECTED BY: Yoav Gross, Ehab Tarabieh & the al-Haddad family PRODUCED BY: Yoav Gross, Ehab Tarabieh & Helen Yanovski
EDITOR: Yoav Gross & Ehab Tarabieh SOUND DESIGN: Nimrod Eldar
Production: B’Tselem Yoav Gross 35 Makor Haiym 9346540 Jerusalem ISRAEL yoav@btselem.org tel: +972 523616968
One cold December night, Israeli soldiers come up to the al-Haddad family home in a Palestinian neighbourhood of Hebron and knock on the door. They’ve come to search the house. Diaa, the teenage son, reaches for the family’s video camera. As the search unfolds, a strange power struggle evolves, pitting gun against camera. The night grows colder, and the soldiers take Diaa outside and order him to face the wall. They won’t leave until he stops smiling. www.btselem.org/btselem/smile The directors Diaa, Shatha, Abdelkarim and Ahmad al-Haddad are a Palestinian family from Hebron, West Bank. Ehab Tarabieh was born in the Golan heights in 1982 and graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film & TV school in Jerusalem in 2012. Yoav Gross, born In Jerusalem, in 1977, studied film at Tel Aviv University and has worked as a documentary filmmaker and video activist ever since. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? The short is a by-product of an ongoing project we do for B’Tselem, an Israeli NGO - in which hundreds of Palestinians get cameras to document their life under occupation. The process of editing the film was very short since the raw footage was no more than one hour - however, it took us more than two years to realise the great potential of the video material. The larger challenge, though, is the daily work of training and
making hundreds of people take part in this project. The financing, as well, is a by-product of funding for the whole project. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Being a part of the European cinema community is a great opportunity to expose our film world-wide and locally. We use the support and recognition we get in Europe to bring the film back to the local audience and media. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Ehab: A night of Carlos Reygadas. Yoav: Mike Leigh oldies. What is your next project? Ehab: Currently I’m working on the development of my first drama feature film called THE TASTE OF APPLES IS RED. Yoav: More collaborative and political documentary work.
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Locarno Short Film Nominee
SON OF THE WOLF FILS DU LOUP DIRECTED BY: Lola Quivoron WRITTEN BY: Lola Quivoron & Pauline Ouvrard PRODUCED BY: Margaux Juvénal DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Lucie Ternisien
EDITOR: Félix Rehm SOUND DESIGN: Antoine Bertucci MAIN CAST: Emile Berling, Stéphane Lanneval, Loic Habert, Miglen Mirtchev
France 2015, fiction, 23’ Production, World Sales & Press: La Fémis Géraldine Amgar 6, rue Francoeur 75018 Paris FRANCE g.amgar@femis.fr tel: +33 1 53 41 21 16
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
Between the walls of an ancient military fort, Johnny, a young boy, learns how to train and dominate Iron, his first guard dog. Lola Quivoron Born in 1989 in Paris, Lola Quivoron completed a preparatory school, studied modern literature and obtained a Masters in Cinema. In 2012, she entered the Film Directing Department at La fémis. She also practices photography. After two narrative short films and a short documentary directed within the school, SON OF THE WOLF is her fourth film. How long did it take to make your short? SON OF THE WOLF is a school film I shot during my third year at La fémis. I spent about two months with the instructor at the center where trainees and security guards learn how to handle and dominate attacking dogs. I wrote the script for all the people I met there and then shot the film with them.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? To me, it evokes a huge space of creation opened to the world, without any border. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? RIVER WITH NO RETURN by Otto Preminger, AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD by Werner Herzog, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND by Steven Spielberg, LA BELLE ET LA BETE by Jean Cocteau. What is your next project? I’m currently working on a short movie about two children who behave like adults to survive in their environment. At the same time, I am writing my first feature film. It tells the story of a young boy who is welcomed into a community of bike riders. The bike life community is a growing phenomenon of the rebellious youth based in Paris suburbs. They all have a passion for riding on wheels using motorbikes and quads. It’s kind of a big family. I am writing the script for the riders I met during my investigations.
Grimstad Short Film Nominee
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SYMBOLIC THREATS
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY: Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke & Matthias Wermke SOUND DESIGN: Alexander Heinze
Germany 2015, documentary, 15’ Production, World Sales & Press: Wermke/Leinkauf Mischa Leinkauf Senefelderstrasse 26 10437 Berlin GERMANY studio@wermke-leinkauf.com tel: +49 170 244 44 08
Poetry or threat? An act of surrender or perhaps art? These were the theories that New York puzzled over last summer. How can one incident be interpreted in so many ways? By means of press reports, Symbolic Threats allows the public at large to express their extreme disparity of interpretation. Inspired by the heated debate over the two “White American Flags” that suddenly appeared on the towers of New York City’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge, the film asks what kind of societal scope art has in the present day. What happens when threatened freedom reinstates art with the element of danger? Who or what makes it into a threat? Are we safe in the city? What is next? www.wermke-leinkauf.com Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke and Matthias Wermke Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke and Matthias Wermke grew up in Berlin in the 1990s when they learnt to value and utilise the city’s possibilities. A shared enthusiasm for repurposing urban spaces brought the three together early on. Nowadays, they still focus on the same questions and locations in their work, whether it be as ‘filmmaker‘, ‘curator‘, ‘cultural scientist’ or ‘fine artist‘. They create images and mindscapes, tell stories and dissect events – always in the hope of making the unseen visible and of exploring a place’s fixed meaning and potential use. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? Our artistic intervention, replacing two American flags on top of New York City‘s Brooklyn Bridge by two giant “White American Flags” is a work that actually took us some years to realise. It is our artistic practice to override limitations and stretch the boundaries of public space and that usually takes a lot of time. Besides the artistic piece we wanted to deepen the discourse about what kind of societal scope art has in the present day. Editing the short film SYMBOLIC THREATS made it possible to reach a wider audience by presenting it at film festivals. Was it difficult to get financing, no! It wasn’t financed at all. Getting this kind of non-commissioned pugnacious
artistic projects financed is almost impossible since no institution could be involved. But money can‘t buy what needs to be done. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? There are still somehow funny and weird boundaries between filmmakers and visual artists making films. Fortunately, they fade and this is good to see. So, please let us in. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? One night is way too short! But anyway, let’s start with KOYAANISQATSI: LIFE OUT OF BALANCE by Godfrey Reggio. This breath-taking visual and acoustic compilation about the unbalanced relationship between mankind, nature and technology is a great example for combining visual arts and film making. Please make sure to have one of the 70mm prints. Once you saw it you should continue with his two other Qatsi-films: POWAQQATSI and NAGOYQATSI. A mind-blowing trilogy. What is your next project? No comment. Watch SYMBOLIC THREATS and you‘ll definitely understand why we cannot talk about future projects. But yes, we work passionately on interventions dealing with the hidden possibilities of a city.
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Valladolid Short Film Nominee
THE RUNNER EL CORREDOR DIRECTED BY: José Luis Montesinos WRITTEN BY: José Luis Montesinos & Iakes Blesa PRODUCED BY: Arturo Méndiz & José María Torres DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Marc Zumbach EDITOR: José Luis Montesinos PRODUCTION DESIGN: Carlos Pequerul
COSTUME DESIGN: Ester Palaudaries SOUND DESIGN: Xavi Saucedo ORIGINAL SCORE: Javi Rodero MAIN CAST: Miguel Ángel Jenner, Lluís Altés
Spain 2014, fiction, 12’ Production: Caduco Films Arturo Méndiz C/ Ausias March 56 3º-2ª 08010 Barcelona SPAIN arturo@bastianfilms.com tel: +34 93 486 33 13
World Sales & Press: Marvin&Wayne Short Film Distribution Josep Prim Pelai 9, 2-2B 08001 Barcelona SPAIN fest@marvinwayne.com tel: +34 93 486 33 13
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
Five years ago the boss closed the company and fired 300 workers. The first day that he goes out to run he meets one of them. therunnerthefilm.com José Luis Montesinos Engineer, director and screenwriter. Director for Catalunya Television. Director of several short films such as FINAL (2003), MATAGATOS (2009) and LA HISTORIA DE SIEMPRE (2010). Currently works as director and screenwriter on several feature films, commercials and for television. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took us three months for pre-production and two days for shooting. Then we spent two months in the editing room. The short was financed by the producer José María Torres who believed in the story from the very first day … The best thing that can happen to a director!
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? When I think of a European cinema community I think of co-production, mix of cultures and effort synergy. It’s beautiful when you film a story and people from a lot of different countries can identify with it. I think we’ve got this luck. Also, with THE RUNNER we are trying to change the second chance concept in all of Europe, we think it’s necessary. When you have lost everything, you deserve a second chance. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? All the scenes censored by anyone all through the story of cinema. And then one or two films by Luís García Berlanga. What is your next project? I’m developing a feature film called 86’D. I’m now searching for financial possibilities in the “European cinema community”. I love the characters who survive using their particular gifts, and that’s what this film is about.
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Sarajevo Short Film Nominee
UK/Turkey 2014, fiction, 23’
THE TRANSLATOR ÇEVIRMEN Production & COSTUME DESIGN: Billur Turan SOUND DESIGN: Raoul Brand MAIN CAST: Sherko Ali (Yusuf), Gamze Kaçak (Amina)
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Emre Kayiş PRODUCED BY: Oytun Kal DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Nick Cooke EDITOR: Ricardo Saraiva
Production, World Sales & Press: The London Film School Ginette Harrold 24 Shelton Street London WC2H 9UB UK g.harrold@lfs.org.uk tel: +44 207 836 96 42
Yusuf, a Syrian refugee boy who lives in exile in a remote Turkish border town is chosen for his newfound power but he has to experience how to use it, at the cost of his innocence. www.thetranslator-shortfilm.com Emre Kayiş Born in 1984 in Turkey, Emre Kayiş is an Istanbul-based director and screenwriter. During his studies at the law department of Ankara University, he decided to become a filmmaker after watching BICYCLE THIEVES. Then he moved to London and graduated from the London Film School in 2014 with his final project THE TRANSLATOR. He aims to tell human stories that have a social relevance. Currently he is developing his first feature film entitled Leopard.
How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took us about a year from pre-production to final cut. The film was financed mainly by the London Film School. It was also supported by the Turkish General Directorate of Cinema. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Diversity, cultural heritage and a rich collaboration between countries. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? ALICE IN THE CITIES by Wim Wenders, BICYCLE THIEVES by Vittorio De Sica, FANNY AND ALEXANDER by Ingmar Bergman, COME AND SEE by Elem Klimov. What is your next project? Currently I’m writing a feature film, LEOPARD, set in a wintry landscape, the story revolves around a middle-aged zoo manager, Fikret, and a young waitress, Gamze, who dreams about becoming a stewardess.
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Krakow Short Film Nominee
THIS PLACE WE CALL OUR HOME DIRECTED & PRODUCED BY: Thora Lorentzen & Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Thora Lorentzen & Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen
EDITOR: Mik Stampe SOUND DESIGN: Mathias Dehn ORIGINAL SCORE: Nikita Ogurtsov
Denmark 2014, documentary, 30’ Production: Tove & Sylvia Filmkompagni Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen Sassvej 16 2820 Gentofte DENMARK sybilla.marie@gmail.com tel: +45 305 02 575
Tove & Sylvia Filmkompagni Thora Lorentzen Prinsesse Charlottes Gade 39 3. th. 2200 København DENMARK thoralorentzen@gmail.com tel: +45 263 62 659
A documentary film from Ukraine, summer 14. In this film war is an atmosphere, rather than journalistic facts. Through music we visit all layers of society. In the form of a poem we show how it feels when your country is in an invincible conflict. Deafening silent is Ukraine, before the boys are leaving. War is strange, people try to make sense, in this place we call our home.
“War” is normally understood as action, and the images we think of are the ones from a battlefield. In this film, “war” is something else. It is depicted as most people will experience it; something out of your control, far away from you, something you worry about. A worry you try to suppress, while trying to continue living. Something that might separate you from someone near to you. With a main focus on imagery over dialogue and with a fragmented storyline, the film depicts the conflict in Ukraine, and how it affects everyday life of those who stay at home; of those who are waiting.
Thora Lorentzen and Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen Thora Lorentzen (left, born in 1986) and Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen (right, born in 1990) study documentary filmmaking at the National Film School of Denmark (2013-2017). How long did it take to make your short? From idea to final cut it took a little less than a year. We borrowed the equipment and we funded it ourselves. We spent time beside the school to finish the
film, while the conflict in Ukraine was still topical. Unfortunately it still is. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Europe is not static; it’s constantly influenced by impressions from outside. Through film we can look closer at this constant movement and cultural diversity. Art knows of no borders. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES by Nagisa Oshima, THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES by Sergei Parajanov, HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR by Alain Resnais, ANTICHRIST by Lars Von Trier, IMPORT EXPORT by Ulrich Seidl. What is your next project? We have two years left at film school, on the side, we are developing our second project. Again we will approach a political topic in a poetic and personal way. The last film was an experiment that resulted in an interesting form and we want to develop this further.
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
Two friends on the floor proud pine trees and current rivers grenades without detonation. In the staircase dust is dancing. Women bring home sunflowers.
Ghent Short Film Nominee
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Greece 2014, fiction, 24’
WASHINGTONIA COSTUME DESIGN: Kika Karampela SOUND DESIGN: Persefoni Miliou ORIGINAL SCORE: Panou Manouilidis, drog_A_tek MAIN CAST: Mamadou Diallo, Eutychia Stefanidou
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Konstantina Kotzamani PRODUCED BY: Artemis Pattakou DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Giorgos Karvelas & Giannis Kanakis EDITOR: Leonidas Papafotiou PRODUCTION DESIGN: Nefeli Livieratou
Production, World Sales & Press: squared square Artemis Pattakou Stournari 4 10683 Athens GREECE artemispattakou@gmail.com tel: +30 69 79 04 81 16
WASHINGTONIA starts when the giraffe’s heart can no longer be heard. WASHINGTONIA is an alternative name for Athens, a place where people, like animals, fall into summertime sadness because of the heat. WASHINGTONIA is the only palm tree that its heart is not devoured by the red beetle. Because its heart is small and dry and no one likes small and dry hearts. Konstantina Kotzamani A graduate student of the Film Department of Fine Arts of Thessaloniki, Konstantina Kotzamani’s shorts have participated in several international festivals and have won several awards. In 2012, she was a participant of the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Sarajevo Talent Campus as well. Her short film MORNING PRAYERS, co-directed with Katarina Stankovic premiered at Sarajevo FF 2013.
How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? One and a half months from the very first idea up to the final edit ... The film was made with EUR 5,000 from the Greek Film Centre and with a very small team of close friends. But I guess this is WASHINGTONIA, if there was more time and logical thinking it would be something completely different, less magical. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? If it was a summer night, it would be TROPICAL MALADY by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, if it was autumn, it would be A CASA by Sharunas Bartas … What is your next project? I am shooting a short film project at the moment. It is called LIMBO. 13 kids and a whale washed ashore.
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SHORT MATTERS!
The EFA Short Film Initiative The short film initiative is organised in co-operation with a series of film festivals throughout Europe. At each of these festivals, an independent jury presents one of the short films in competition with a nomination in the European Film Awards’ short film category. In 2016, the initiative includes the following festivals:
To be considered for a nomination, a short film has to screen in competition at one of these festivals. Eligible are directors born in Europe or with a European passport* whose films do not exceed a running time of 30 min. and match the genre regulations of the respective festival. When the annual cycle is complete in September, the members of the European Film Academy − more than 3,000 European film professionals − get to watch all nominated short films and it is they who elect the overall winner: the European Short Film, which will be presented at the 29th European Film Awards Ceremony on 10 December 2016 in Wroclaw (Poland). * European, in the sense of the European Film Academy, means geographical Europe, both EU and non-EU, and shall include Israeli and Palestinian
SHORT MATTERS! Short Film Nominees on Tour
SHORT MATTERS! is the European Film Academys short film tour which has brought the nominated short films to audiences across Europe in Alcala de Henares, Batumi, Bitola, Braunschweig, Bristol, Brühl, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Budva, Drama, Dresden, Girona, Grimstad, Izmir, Jerusalem, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Krakow, Lecce, Leeds, Münster, Nicosia, Nijmegen, Oberhausen, Palic, Paris, Podgorica, Prizren, Pula, Riga, Sarajevo, Siauliai, Sofia, Tabor, Tallinn, Tampere, Timisoara, Trondheim, Uppsala, Viana do Castelo, Vienna, Vila do Conde, Vilnius, Wiesbaden, Winterthur and Zadar – and to Brazil, China and Colombia!
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
★ 13 - 24 Oct. 2015: Film Fest Gent (Belgium) ★ 19 - 25 Oct. 2015: Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Sweden) ★ 24 - 31 Oct. 2015: Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain) ★ 6 - 15 Nov. 2015: Cork Film Festival (Ireland) ★ 27 Jan. - 7 Feb. 2016: International Film Festival Rotterdam (the Netherlands) ★ 5 - 13 Feb. 2016: International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand (France) ★ 11 - 21 Feb. 2016: Berlin International Film Festival (Germany) ★ 9 - 13 Mar. 2016: Tampere Film Festival (Finland) ★ 29 May - 5 Jun. 2016: Krakow Film Festival (Poland) ★ 9 - 17 Jul. 2016: Curtas Vila do Conde - International Film Festival (Portugal) ★ 3 - 13 Aug. 2016: Festival del film Locarno (Switzerland) ★ 12 - 20 Aug. 2016: Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia & Herzegovina) ★ 31 Aug. - 10 Sep. 2016: Venice Film Festival (Italy) ★ 19 - 24 Sep. 2016: International Short Film Festival in Drama (Greece) ★ 20 - 25 Sep. 2016: Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival Bristol (UK)
Founded in 1988, the European Film Academy (EFA) now unites more than 3,000 European film professionals with the common aim of promoting European film culture. Throughout the year, the EFA initiates and participates in a series of activities dealing with film politics as well as economic, artistic, and training aspects. The programme includes conferences, seminars and workshops, and a common goal is to build a bridge between creativity and the industry. These activities culminate in the annual presentation of the European Film Awards.