International Competition
Jury: Douwe Dijkstra, Joan Kristin Bleicher, Kate MacKay, Eva Schweizer, Joel Wanek

Hamburg Short Film Award (Jury Award of the International Competition)
Brouillard – Passage #14
Alexandre Larose, Canada 2014, 10:00 min

Jury statement:
Alexandre Larose shows that after over a hundred years of experimentation with film you can still push the boundaries of the medium. Through precise technique and mastery of his materials the filmmaker creates an immersive landscape of colour and light that each viewer can experience in his own way – an experience which is fully realized when ›Brouillard - Passage #14‹ is projected from 35mm film. The jury applauds Larose for reminding us of how beautiful film can be.

Special Mention:

Onni – The Joy of Everyday Life
Sanna Liljander, Finland 2014, 6:50 min

Jury statement:

The jury gives a special mention to ›Onni – The Joy of Everyday Life‹ by the Finnish filmmaker Sanna Liljander.
With a single precise shot Liljander displays her mastery of cinematic language and achieves a nuanced portrait of motherhood.


Audience Award, given to a short film from the International or the German Competition
Symbolic Threats
Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke, Matthias Wermke, Germany 2014, 15:00 min


NoBudget Competition
Jury: Mick Hannigan, Rainer Kohlberger, Elina Rislakki

No Budget Jury Award
La Baracca
Federico Di Corato, Alessandro De Leo, Italy 2014, 27:11 min

Jury statement:
›La baracca‹ is a strong and beautifully photographed film in which children act as both, protagonists and participants in the process of filmmaking. The rich visual language is only one of many complex layers of the film’s strong artistic position. The use of VHS film creates an atmosphere of authenticity, so  that the traditional distinctions between fiction and documentary become meaningless.

Special Mention:

Bétail
Joana Sousa, Portugal 2014, 25:18 min

Jury statement:
The film allows us to get a fascinating insight into rituals common in the everyday life of a livestock farmer, all the more touching in our highly-urbanised culture that has no connection to the origins of our food.
A pregnant cow needs to undergo surgery. With a disengaged camera perspective the director’s steady gaze shows us these events, both shocking and caring.


NoBudget Audience Award ›Optimistic Vision‹
Un cuento de amor, locura y muerte
Mijael Bustos Gutiérrez, Chile 2015, 22:16 min


German Competition
Jury: Susann Maria Hempel, Janina Kriszio, Timo Schierhorn

Jury Award
Symbolic Threats
Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke, Matthias Wermke, Germany 2014, 15:00 min

Jury statement:
The jury award of the German Competition goes to Lutz Henke, Mischa Leinkauf und Matthias Wermke for their film ›Symbolic Threats.‹ Wermke/Leinkauf produced a “bridging error” over night: when NYC went to bed, two American flags flew on top of the Brooklyn bridge, just as usual. But when the city woke up in the morning, the flags had turned white. From the distance this image looked like a capitulation. A closer look, however, revealed the flags suturing two sorts of white and averting any form of symbolic gesture. Instead, the flags squeezed into their outrageous white: all kind of fears. The film choreographs the polyphony of the media coverage about an alleged intention of an “overslept” action. The radical absent of the actual flag swap in the film functions as a contrast – not only regarding the display of a society’s paranoia, but also in reference to a secret longing for freedom.


Hamburg Competition
Jury: Susann Maria Hempel, Janina Kriszio, Timo Schierhorn

Jury Award
36000 Frames RGB, 29th Special: The Manifestation of Capitalism in Our Lives is Sadness
Ray Juster, Nicolaas Schmidt, Germany 2015, 25:30 min

Jury statement:
The Jury Award of the Hamburg Competition goes to Ray Juster and Nicolaas Schmidt for their film ›The Manifestation of Capitalism in Our Lives is Sadness‹. Going beyond the festival’s assumption that Hamburg filmmakers are not afraid of experiments, the film is a plea for the patience with filmmakers who have the boldness to experiment. The filmmakers practice their sadness as filmic extreme sport of decelaration. Maybe this is (also) a strain and provokes an uncomfortable self-perception in the cinema seat.
But cinema is more than a container for films and people who bought a ticket. A plane is more than a pot for passengers who are seated and accelerated. Nicolaas Schmidt and Ray Juster peel the aesthetics, marketing strategic, political and terroristic layers off an aircraft fleet. They rough up simulation methods, editing techniques and visual aesthetics which they navigate nearly unnoticeably into the realm of the unpresentable. The soppy close-ups of those film faces that taught us crying in the cinema are left out to dry.


Three Minute Quickie Competition: Topic ›Based on a True Story‹

Audience Award, funded by the Hamburgische Kulturstiftung
Malekia
Shahin Mohammad Bagher, Iran/Syria 2014, 2:00 min


ARTE Short Film Award
Jury: Barbara Häbe

ARTE Short Film Award - Acquisition of screening rights and broadcast as part of ARTE’s short film programme.
Excursie
Adrian Sitaru, Romania 2014, 19:28 min

Jury statement:
We are delighted to give this year’s ARTE Short Film Award to director Adrian Sitaru. ›Excursie‹ is an extraordinary cinematic and political trip to today’s Romania: charming, smart and funny, at the same time narrated from the perspective of the young boy, ›Excursie‹ is a true excursion to the aliens. The power of the images flooding and manipulating our everyday lives is displayed in its full dimension. We cordially congratulate Adrian Sitaru on this masterpiece!

3rd Youth programme FreiStil

Jury: Pilar Erviti, Nele Winter, Hannah Fuduric, Eva Carlotta Schumacher, Maja Meßtorff

›Freischwimmer‹ (Jury Award, from age 14)
Rodløs (›Wayward‹)
Kira Richards Hansen, Denmark 2014, 19:30 min, Fiction

Jury statement:
The award winning film of this year’s competition for the ›Freischwimmer‹ award is a short fiction film, which convinced us because of its’ surprising and exciting story. The film discusses an interesting topic, which is personally for us really appealing because we can identify with it. Additionally the performance of the main actress is remarkable and we like that the search of identity as well as the relationship to the parents play an important role. On top the film has a proper length for its’ content and stays interesting from the beginning until the end. Last but not least we liked the open and surprising ending very much. The prize goes to the Danish short fiction film ›Rodløs‹ (›Wayward‹) by Kira Richards Hansen. Congratulations!

Special Mention:

The Bigger Picture
Daisy Jacobs, Great Britain 2014, 7:05 min, Animation

Jury statement:

Furthermore we would like to honour ›The Bigger Picture‹ of Daisy Jacobs from Great Britain because of this extraordinary and loving animation work.


17th Mo&Friese Children’s ShortFilmFestival
These prizes are awarded by both children’s juries.

Friese-Award (Jury Award, age 4 to 8)
Porosenok. Nyanya (›Babysitter‹)
Natalya Berezovaya, Russia 2014, 6:14 min, Animation

Jury statement:
The seventeenth Friese-Price goes to the shortfilm ›Porosenok. Nyanya‹ by Natalya Berezovaya. Of all the films that we watched, this one was the most fun. Its story is funny and we liked how it’s told from the perspective of the little pig – especially because everything that you watch is totally different from this story. The graphics and the animationswork are great, the story is well constructed from the beginning. Pigs are also the favourite animal for one of us and we liked how the babysitter got scared of the children.


Mo-Award (Jury Award, age 9 to 13)
Nieuw (›New‹)
Eefje Blankevoort, Netherlands 2014, 19:14 min, Documentary

Jury statement:
This year, we give the Mo Award to the documentary ›Nieuw‹ by Eefje Blankevoort. The Dutch film is about a boy from Uganda who comes to the Netherlands and happily discovers a totally new way of life ... but we don’t want to tell too much. So far, we weren’t that much into documentaries yet, but this film has changed that. It has really touched us and given us interesting impression of a young refugee’s life. At some moments, the film almost made us cry and at other moments we just laughed with the boy and shared his excitement about the discoveries in his new everyday-life. We are looking forward to more films like this!

Special Mention:

Mahi Va Man (›The Fish and I‹)
Babak Habibifar, Iran 2014, 5:55 min, Fiction

Jury statement:
Further more, we want to compliment on the film ›Mahi Va Man‹ by Babak Habibifar. His film is about a blind man who saves his gold fish’s life. What we like about this Iranian short fiction is that it makes it possible for us to share the everyday life of a blind person. The protagonist cares so tenderly for his fish - we wish for more people treating each other like this! That the film was shot in black and white nicely underlines the “blind” experience and helps visualizing the focus of the story. But the best about this film really is the turning point in the end, it is funny and almost everyone of us would have expected something else.

HIGH FIVE! Competition
Short film competition for children under 14 years. Films running max. 5 minutes, produced solely for this competition. Topic 2015: ›Breathless‹.
A total of 600 Euros is awarded – sponsored by GEOlino, presented by the Mo-Jury and the Friese-Jury.


1st Prize
Außer Atem
Paula Fabian, Germany 2015, 2:50 min, Fiction
Jury statement:
The winner of the HIGH FIVE! Children's Competition is the short fiction ›Außer Atem‹ by Paula Fabian. We really enjoyed the thrilling chase and are impressed by the acting of the girl playing the main character. The film is greatly edited and the making of at the end much fun. 

2nd Prize
Die zerstörte Zukunft
Manuel Kleebauer and the Moviebande, Germany 2013, 5:00 min, Animation
Jury statement:
Our second prize goes to Manuel Kleebauer and the Moviebande with the animation ›Die zerstörte Zukunft‹. You can see how much effort the makers put into this film. The topic, environmental destruction, regards all of us and has been realised amazingly in this film. The idea of a time travel is interesting and packed with imaginative visions of a (destroyed) future.

3rd Prize
Pizza für den Türmer
Katharina Kessler and the Moviebande, Germany 2014, 4:58 min, Fiction
Jury statement:
Also our third winner belongs to the Moviebande: Our third prize goes to the short fiction ›Pizza für den Türmer‹ by Katharina Kessler. In this film, we get to know a job we didn’t even know would exist nowadays: A caretaker in a city tower! We like the story the film tells about this special and a little lonesome job and the different film tricks make it even more interesting.