In the beginning, we found ourselves in front of a mountain which consisted of the nearly 800 contributions to the German competition. That’s a lot to dig through, necessitating our retreat from the world over the winter so that we could watch them all and tunnel our way through. In this time, we were overwhelmed by visual cascades as we debated, reflected and occasionally bored ourselves to tears. And yet we were always happy to have the privilege of being in a position where we can immerse ourselves in this mass of ideas and stories. In the end, our selection of films from 2018 and the first weeks of 2019 found its way to the silver screen. These films are eminently solid, courageous and surprising in both aesthetics and form, and they formulate their ideas in idiosyncratic and pointed manners. And since we are based in Hamburg, we always focus our attention on interesting new film productions by local film makers.
Every year, aesthetic tendencies and current issues close to the heart of the German short film scene emerge. This year, there is a trend towards religion and religious effects, economic and ecologic uncertainties as well as uprooting and the causes and realities of refugee movements.
The German competition presents prominent short film makers as well as newly discovered talents and showcases productions by film academies next to independent productions: documentaries and narrative shorts, animations and cinematic experiments. In 2019, 22 films are competing in five programmes for the jury award of the German competition.

1 Ghosts
Wednesday, 5th of June | 7 pm | Zeise 1
Wednesday, 5th of June | 8.15 pm | Filmraum
Friday, 7th of June | 7.30 pm | 3001
 
2 Vanishing Point Future
Thursday, 6th of June | 7 pm | Zeise 2
Thursday, 6th of June | 8.15 pm | Filmraum
Friday, 7th of June | 10 pm | 3001
 
3 Perpetuum Immobile
Thursday, 6th of June | 9.30 pm | Zeise 1
Friday, 7th of June | 8.15 pm | Filmraum
Saturday, 8th of June | 3.30 pm | Zeise 2
 
4 Framing the Beast
Friday, 7th of June | 5.30 pm | Zeise 1
Saturday, 8th of June | 7 pm | Filmraum
Saturday, 8th of June| 9.30 pm | 3001

5 Yearning in Instalments
Friday, 7th of June | 7.45 pm | Zeise 1
Saturday, 8th of June | 4.30 pm | 3001
Saturday, 8th of June | 9.15 pm | Filmraum

Best of Deutscher Wettbewerb:
Sunday, 9th of June | 7 pm | Filmraum
Monday, 10th of June | 9.30 pm | Zeise 2