Award Winners 2018

The winners of the 34th Hamburg International ShortFilmFestival
and of the 20th Mo&Friese Children’s ShortFilmFestival

International Competition

Jury: Carolina Ciuti, Per Fikse, Jelena Maksimovic

Hamburg Short Film Award (Jury Award of the International Competition, 3000 Euros)

Flores Jorge Jácome, Portugal 2017, 26:00 min

Jury statement: What if we had to re-imagine colonisation by reversing the all too familiar scenario of human impact on nature? To a film that, through a daring yet gentle language shows us the double face of beauty as simultaneously auratic and fierceful; to a proposal whose non-linear structure brings forth reflections on displacement, separation and the many layers of friendship as something to hold on to. So while flowers keep growing everywhere, we are happy to award the Hamburg Short Film Award to ›Flores‹ by Jorge Jácome.

Special Mention:

Una Luna de hierro Francisco Rodríguez Teare, Chile, France 2017, 28:35 min

Jury statement: To a film doodling around a possible criminal case, by playing with the audience’s expectations through the introduction to misleading clues and interviews with unreliable locals. A poetic reflection on the possible ways to account for the aftermath of a traumatic event and the collision between the presumed reliability of written documents and the slipperiness of oral recollection. The second special mention goes to ›Una Luna de hierro‹ by Francisco Rodríguez Teare.

Special Mention:

Dit Learn Laure Prouvost, Great Britain 2017, 15:00 min

Jury statement: To a film whose visual language speaks truth to our time, without ever being obvious. A powerful, detailed, and smart analysis of the hysterical production of images that characterises our contemporaneity, that calls upon the public by confronting them with a straightforward question: how can we re-learn to read images? Meanwhile a litany goes on (»Memory, memory, memory«) and it stands out as an invitation not to forget, in an age where we seem to have grown oblivious of the past. Hence, we are very happy to award the second special mention to ›Dit Learn‹ by Laure Prouvost.

Audience Award (1500 Euros), given to a short film from the International or the German Competition. ?The award winner 2018 was screened in the International Competition.

Flores Jorge Jácome, Portugal 2017, 26:00 min

Deframed Competition

Jury: Dunja Bialas, Carmen Gray, Vladimir Nadein

Deframed Jury Award (2000 Euros)

Monelle Diego Marcon, Italy 2017, 16:02 min

Jury statement: Within a very challenging Deframed program we got immediately stroked by a film that threw our whole attention by the very absence of image and sound. In the socio-cinematic space between horror genre and terror events vaguely an actual political comment comes up with the means of cinema. The film relies in a stunning way on the double notion of the cinematic shot and the act of violence, bathing us between the single frames in the scary unknown of obscure black.

Deframed Audience Award (1500 Euros)

We Love Me Naween Noppakun, Thailand 2017, 13:13 min

German Competition

Jury: Jonas Eisenschmidt, Delphine Jeanneret, Philip Widmann

Jury Award (2000 Euros)

Die Wirkung des Geschützes auf Gewitterwolken
(The Effect of Cannonry on Thunderclouds) Juliane Jaschnow, Stefanie Schroeder, Germany 2017, 30:30 min

Jury statement: Probing an ecosystem of mediated images and its circulation of fear, the filmmakers create an essay as a form of applied research on the contemporary. The present that seems all too close is put into perspective by excursions into history. A history of efforts to control the natural order. Episode by episode we commence to sense how the social is being imagined as inevitably catastrophic when described by metaphors from nature. Public outrage turns into thunderstorms, perceived threats turn into clouds. To dispel these clouds means to demystify. The film reminds us of our shared responsibility in the fabrication of social climate conditions.

Special Mention:

Confluence Benjamin Ramírez Pérez, Stefan Ramírez Pérez, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia 2017, 20:45 min

Jury statement: The film articulates political, social and architectural conditions through the portrait of a young pop singer who appears to be the product of a collective imaginary, or is it hers?
Reconstructing her image, the film opens a new narrative on contemporary Serbia.

Hamburg Competition

Jury: Jonas Eisenschmidt, Delphine Jeanneret, Philip Widmann

Jury Award (1500 Euros)

Spineless Kingdom Max Sänger, Germany 2017, 29:00 min

Jury statement: A film that develops its very own organic structure of moving between microcosms that are distant and simultaneously closely connected. The filmmaker comes close yet never disturbs, preserving the very fragility of the habitat he observes. He, like the non-human and human protagonists of his film, follows a practice of collecting as a way of accepting the world and surviving in it. A coexistence of solitary states that the film transcends into understanding of being part of an infinite multitude.

Three Minute Quickie Competition: Topic ›Scandal‹

Audience Award (1000 Euros), funded by the Hamburgische Kulturstiftung

Null Komma Sieben Moritz Boll, Germany 2018, 3:00 min

ARTE Short Film Award

Jury: Barbara Häbe, Catherine Colas

ARTE Short Film Award (up to 6000 Euros). Acquisition of screening rights and broadcast as part of ARTE’s short film programme. The award winner 2018 was screened in the International Competition.

After School Knife Fight Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel, France 2017, 21:00 min

Jury statement: The ARTE Short Film Award goes to as film which convinced the jury with its stylistic maturity and strong individual signature. The film is deeply rooted in the now. How to tell about love, fragility and the ephemeral in the 21st century? The film ›After School Knife Fight‹ offers a cinematographic answer.

20th Mo&Friese Children’s ShortFilmFestival

These prizes are awarded by both children’s juries.

Friese Jury: Okke Glatz, Levi Paschmann, Jana Kreyer, Lina Lau, Matteo Engel

Mo Jury: Theo Rogge, Paula Gunst, Ava Betz, Romy Twickel, Jonathan Ohlrogge

Friese-Award (Jury award, 1250 Euros, age 4 to 8)

The Theory of Sunset Roman Sokolov, Russia 2017, 8:48 min, Animation

Jury statement: The Friese Award of the 20th Children’s Short Film Festival goes to Roman Solokov’s ›The Theory of Sunset‹. The film convinced us with its beautiful narration. The story lasts a day and contains the whole of life, you can see birth and death. Death isn’t scary at all, but rather nice, and we liked that a lot. Even though the film has no words, it is easy to understand. The film maker had a very creative idea on the workings of night and day, and the film’s drawing style complemented the story rather well. After it was over, we thought about what may have been happening before and after the film, which is something that doesn’t happen with every film.


Mo-Award (Jury award, 1250 Euros, age 9 to 13)

Cry Rosa Imogen Murphy, Ireland, Great Britain 2017, 20 min, Fiction

Jury statement: We, the jury, give the Mo Award to the film ›Cry Rosa‹ because the film’s content was easy for kids of our age to understand and made us think. The film deals with racism, and we liked Rosa’s role a lot. She always bounces back and shows strength. She can be a role model for other people. The film is exciting and very sad and we never got bored watching it. Watching it was like a trip to the past, everything looked very real. We especially liked the happy end, because it shows that you should never allow yourself to get cowed by others.


Special Mention:

Travelling through Brush and Ink Annlin Chao, Taiwan 2017, 3:13 min, Animation

Jury statement: We would like to award a special mention to the animated film ›Travelling through Brush and Ink‹. You can see how much work went into the film. You feel like you are in the middle of the images and stories. The transformation of the main protagonist and the pictorial worlds were especially beautiful.

6th Youth programme FreiStil
Jury: Jendrik Ehlers, Luca Kropp, Dana Ohlrogge, Zoe Bankole, Malte Kreyer

›Freischwimmer‹ (Jury award 1000 Euro, from age 14)

Sirene Zara Dwinger, Netherlands 2017, 26:14 min, Fiction

Jury statement: The film had a strong impact on us right away, and yet it was a close decision, since there were a lot of highly diverse and very good films. This made comparing them very difficult. We would like to use this opportunity to everybody who submitted films. We know it was a lot of work to produce these films, so a round of applause would be in order. In the end, we went for ›Sirene‹, since it was the most convincing for us. Right away, the film captivates with its flawlessness. Super camera, super lightning, super sound, super actors. It touched us with its idea and story. A great compliment to everybody involved in the making of this film. A round of applause for ›Sirene‹!

Special Mention: Kiem Holijanda
Sarah Veltmeyer, Netherlands 2017, 14:07 min, Fiction

Special Mention:

Carlotta’s Face Frédéric Schuld, Valentin Riedel, Germany 2018, 5:00 min, animated Documentary

HIGH FIVE! Competition
Short film competition for children under 14 years. Films running max. 5 minutes, produced solely for this competition. Topic 2018: ›Phantasia‹.
A total of 600 Euros is awarded, presented by the Mo-Jury and the Friese-Jury.

1st Prize (300 Euros)
Monkey in a Car
Felix Tomte Korth, Deutschland 2018, 2:56 min, Animation

2nd Prize (200 Euros)
Blackbird
Doveton College, Australien 2018, 2:04 min, Animation

3rd Prize (100 Euros)
Colorscapes
Lilith Jörg, Maya Fiedler, Deutschland 2017/18, 3:22 min, Experimental