23rd European Film Awards
EFA Short Film 2010 Nominations
Welcome by Yves Marmion .........................................................
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AMOR .......................................................................................... AMPELMANN (Lights) ................................................................. LES ESCARGOTS DE JOSEPH (Joseph’s Snails) .......................... BLIJF BIJ ME, WEG (Stay, Away) .................................................. ØNSKEBØRN (Out of Love) .......................................................... VENUS VS ME ............................................................................. LUMIKKO (The Little Snow Animal) ............................................. TUSSILAGO ................................................................................. HANOI – WARSZAWA (Hanoi – Warsaw) .................................... MARÍA’S WAY .............................................................................. TALLERES CLANDESTINOS ......................................................... RENDEZ-VOUS A STELLA-PLAGE (Rendez-vous in Stella-Plage) .. DIARCHIA (Diarchy) .................................................................... THE EXTERNAL WORLD ............................................................. ITT VAGYOK (Here I am) .............................................................
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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., Pascal Edelmann (editor) ★ graphic design: Andres Castoldi ★ Unless otherwise indicated, all pictures appear courtesy of the respective production/ distribution companies.
Yves Marmion Chairman, European Film Academy Whether it is as immigrants, as policemen, or as little boys, or between daughters and their mothers’ boyfriends: a lot of this year’s short film nominations deal with our fears, aspirations and desires as human beings. They do so in completely different ways and it is with great pleasure that we present this year’s nominated short films. Once again this selection serves as a fantastic showroom for the creative diversity of European cinema: there is animation, documentary and fiction, and a total of fourteen countries represented. 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 and we would like to use this opportunity to welcome the Locarno International Film Festival as the latest addition to the EFA short film cycle. At each of these festivals an independent international jury presents one of the European short films in competition with a nomination for the European Film Academy Short Film Award. During the past ten years, the interest in the short film initiative and this collection of short films has constantly been increasing. There are more and more festivals interested in joining the initiative and there are four sets of the nominated films travelling from festival to festival across Europe and beyond. We are proud to draw Europe-wide 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. This great short film initiative wouldn’t be possible without our allies 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. The members of the European Film Academy receive all the nominated short films on DVD and select the overall winner. And we will find out who the winner is at the 23rd European Film Awards Ceremony in Tallinn/ Estonia on 4 December!
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EFA Short Film Nominee Ghent 2010
Norway 2009, 14 min., fiction
AMOR WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Thomas Wangsmo PRODUCED BY: Daniel Henriksbø DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Benjamin Loeb EDITORS: Thomas Wangsmo & Benjamin Loeb LIGHTS: John-Erling Fredrisken SOUND: Thomas Wangsmo & Sindre Skollevoll MUSIC: Clemet Rotevatn CAST: Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen, Mattis Herman Nyquist, Ida Elise Broch, Jenny Skavlan, Anders Rummelhoff
Contact: VIDVINKEL FILM Thomas Wangsmo Markveien 25A 0554 Oslo NORWAY tel. +47 41 04 71 64 post@thomaswangsmo.com www.thomaswangsmo.com
Five minutes. € 1,000. Everybody’s happy. In a city where young, rich people will spend whatever it takes to get what they want, Thomas provides them with a service no one else will.
Thomas Wangsmo Thomas Wangsmo is a Norwegian writer and director, currently working with Vidvinkel Film in Norway. He holds a BA (Hons) and an MFA in Film Production, and his short films have been screened at film festivals around the world. He is now working on his first feature-length film. How long did it take to make your short? AMOR was shot in three days and spent about half a year in post-production, as I edited it alongside my school work during my master’s degree. The script was already written a year earlier, over several weeks, if I remember correctly. Was it difficult to get financing? No, the film’s camera operator Henning Høifødt had already received about € 4,000 for another, similar project, but then decided to make AMOR with Daniel producing and myself directing instead. That was the entire budget, so for Daniel and me, it came fairly easily. It was all a lucky accident, you might say, that the film was made at all. 2
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Something that doesn’t quite exist in the way I, and I believe many others, would like it to. There have definitely been some good coproductions between European countries, but rarely do projects fully explore and exploit the opportunities inherent in the different European countries and cultures, even within coproductions. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, TAXI DRIVER, DAYS OF HEAVEN and APOCALYPSE NOW! Four of the best films of the 70s – the greatest decade for films – from four of the greatest directors, all representing high points in their careers. And, of course, a panel discussion with all four directors following the screenings (we’d have to get Robert Altman on a long distance conference call from heaven, I guess). What is your next project? I’m shooting a short film for children about a young boy who meets a strange creature in the woods in September, a mid-length drama about a severe traffic accident and its consequences that occurs in a suburban neighbourhood in October/November, and I’m currently finishing the third draft of my first feature-length project, hopefully moving into pre-production this winter, while editing the two aforementioned films.
EFA Short Film Nominee Valladolid 2010
AMPELMANN LIGHTS
DIRECTED BY: Giulio Ricciarelli WRITTEN BY: Soern Menning PRODUCED BY: Sabine Lamby & Cornelia Partmann DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Max Penzel EDITOR: Wolfgang Weigl PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Sven Gessner & Petra Ringleb COSTUME DESIGNER: Jürgen Knoll MUSIC: Alessandro Ricciarelli CAST: Lisa Martinek, Johann von Bülow, Sven Walser, Beat Marti
Germany 2009, 14 min., fiction
Contact: Sabine Lamby naked eye filmproduction gmbh & co. kg Dachauer Straße 233 80637 München GERMANY tel. +49 89 17 99 92 20 fax +49 89 17 99 92 13 sabine.lamby@nakedeyefilm.de www.nakedeyefilm.de
LIGHTS is a comedy. It is the story of a small-town police officer with big dreams of being a hero. His only problem is that the peaceful village at the end of the world offers no opportunity for heroism. So he decides to take matters into his own hands.
Giulio Ricciarelli Giulio Ricciarelli was born in 1965 in Milan, Italy and grew up in Munich, Germany. In 2000, he founded naked eye filmproduction with Sabine Lamby. He works as a director, scriptwriter, actor and producer. He directed his first short film, VINCENT, in 2004/2005 and LOVE IT LIKE IT IS (short film) in 2008. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? Five days of shooting and four months in postproduction. Yes, it is never easy. We had important help from FFF Bayern, BKM (German State Minister for Culture and the Media) and Kuratorium junger deutscher Film.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? In these turbulent times, European cinema can and should be a strong voice for a Europe of peace, solidarity and respect for our diversity. Our values are shaped by our culture, and, to me, a theatre, dark rows filled with people, a story told on the bright screen, is a magical place for this to happen, a place where everything is possible. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? METROPOLIS by Fritz Lang (restored version with full orchestra). What is your next project? I am developing a script for a feature-length film, a political theme taking place in Germany in the 60s.
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EFA Short Film Nominee Cork 2010
France 2009, 12 min., animation
LES ESCARGOTS DE JOSEPH JOSEPH’S SNAILS WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Sophie Roze DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Sara Sponga EDITOR: Colombe Nicolas PUPPETS: David Thomasse & David Roussel BACKGROUNDS: Maëlle Bossard, Fabienne Collet, Jeanne Hadorn & Aurélie Charles ANIMATION: Pierre-Luc Granjon, Gilles Coirier, Elmer Kaan & Cédric Mercier COMPOSITING: Mathieu Brisebras SOUND: Loïc Bürkhardt, Julien Baissat & Loïc Moniotte MUSIC: Nicolas Bernard
Contact: Jean- Pierre Lemouland Jpl films 31 avenue chardonet 35000 Rennes FRANCE tel. +33 2 99 53 16 98 fax +33 2 99 53 05 76 jplfilms@wanadoo.fr www.jplfilms.com
Joseph is a shy, introverted little boy who collects snails. One day he gets swallowed up by his own tummy-button and discovers the disturbing world of the “navel-gazers”, people who, by only communicating with their navel, curl in on themselves and turn into snails…
Sophie Roze Sophie Roze was born in 1979. After studying history and art history, she decided to get into animation and in 2004 entered the Poudrière Animation School in Valence, France. Since then she has worked on institutional films and co-directed the pilot of the series ARIOL in 2006. JOSEPH’S SNAILS, which won the Arte Award in the Annecy Festival’s projects competition in 2007, is her first film.
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How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took two years to do it. One year to find the money, which was long but not so difficult, and one year to do the film properly (including making the puppets, the sets, the shoot, etc..)
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Maybe it would be interesting to find a kind of solidarity in order to make films more easily. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? OPENING NIGHTS (John Cassavetes), SHERLOCK JUNIOR (Buster Keaton), BLOW-UP (Michelangelo Antonioni), THE HEDGEHOG IN THE MIST (Yuriy Norshteyn), LA TRAVERSEE DE L’ATLANTIQUE A LA RAME (Jean-François Laguionie). What is your next project? It is a DVD-book for children. The film is an animated one, in cut papers filmed under camera, and I do the illustrations for the book.
EFA Short Film Nominee Angers 2010
BLIJF BIJ ME, WEG STAY, AWAY WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito PRODUCED BY: Connie Pingen & Ruth Heida DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Menno Mans EDITOR: Saskia Kievits PRODUCTION DESIGN: Anna-Anna Soeters & Sanne van der Hoeven LIGHTS: Robbie van Brussel SOUND: Evelien van der Molen CAST: Katrien van Beurden, Raymond Thiry, Caro de Jonge
The Netherlands 2009, 24 min., fiction
Contact: NFTA - The Netherlands Film and Television Academy Marion Slewe Markenplein 1 1011 MV Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS tel. +31 20 52 77 333 fax +31 20 52 77 344 m.slewe@ahk.nl www.filmacademie.nl
Five fragments describing the relational problems between three family members, in particular the struggle of the mother, split between her partner and her daughter.
Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito (born in Amsterdam, 1982) went to Paris at the age of eighteen to study theatre at the drama school Acting International, led by Robert Cordier. After a few years of studying and several different jobs in Paris she applied for the directing course at the Dutch Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam. She got accepted and in 2009 she graduated with the short film STAY, AWAY, to which she also wrote the script. Besides directing and writing she’s also working as an actress. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took me almost a year to make this film. When I approached the actors I had only written down the outline of the story. Through improvisation and rehearsals we developed the further script. Because it was a graduation film, we had a fixed budget.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? What makes European cinema special is the diversity of Europe; the different countries, their cultures and the reflections upon their societies. Fortunately it is too complex to define it as a “community”. And yet, on a political level a lot of European countries are dealing with the same issues. Therefore I think European filmmakers share the responsibility to reflect on this rapidly changing world and the very urgent themes that play a part in our lives. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? All the films of Tony Gatlif. His stories should be seen by everbody, everywhere. What is your next project? I’m developing a script for a feature film about a Chilean/Dutch little girl growing up in a socialist/communist artistic community of South American political refugees in Amsterdam in the 80s. I’m experimenting with the structure using personal documentary footage from that time and fictional elements.
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EFA Short Film Nominee Rotterdam 2010
ØNSKEBØRN OUT OF LOVE
DIRECTED BY: Birgitte Stærmose WRITTEN BY: Peter Asmussen PRODUCED BY: Jesper Morthorst DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Marek Septimus Wieser EDITOR: Anne Østerud SOUND DESIGNER: Kristian Eidnes Andersen MUSIC: Jomi Massage
Denmark 2009, 29 min., documentary fiction
Contact: Alphaville Pictures Copenhagen Jesper Morthorst Badstuestraede 17,1 1209 Kobenhavn K DENMARK tel. +45 33 91 91 59 fax +45 33 91 91 86 alphaville2@alphavillepictures.com www.alphavillepictures.com
Fusing documentary and fiction, OUT OF LOVE depicts the lives of children trying to survive the aftermath of war in Kosovo by selling cigarettes on the street. Through monologues performed by the children against the eerie backdrops of Pristina, the film tells their gripping and sad story of memory, loss and fear.
Birgitte Stærmose Birgitte Stærmose was born in 1963, in Denmark. With an MFA in film and media arts from Temple University in Philadelphia, her previous work includes the award-winning short films NOW, LOOK AT ME (2001), SMALL AVALANCHES (2003), LETTERS FROM DENMARK (2006), PRINCIPLES OF ATTRACTION (2006) and SOPHIE (2006). SMALL AVALANCHES was nominated for the European Film Awards in 2004. OUT OF LOVE has been awarded at Berlin IFF, Rotterdam IFF, Melbourne IFF, Cinema de Brive and Odense FF in 2010.
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How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? I worked on the idea for the short for a couple of years. The actual period from research till postproduction took a little over a year. The film is fully financed by New Danish Screen, a subsidy scheme at The Danish Film Institute.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I feel very much like a European filmmaker, but I fear that the concept of a European cinema community may be more of a nostalgic idea than a current lively one. I would love to be part of changing that. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I would screen IN VANDA’S ROOM by Portuguese Pedro Costa, since it inspired me to make OUT OF LOVE the way I did. Then maybe SUNRISE by F. W. Murnau and INTIMACY by Patrice Chéreau. What is your next project? I am in post-production on my first feature with the working title THE MORNING AFTER, which will premiere in spring 2010. It is a multi-plot story that takes place in a hotel with a script by Kim Fupz Aakeson. The film has an international cast (Ariadna Gil, Mikael Birkkjaer, Stine Stengade, Leon Lucev, Yfsenija Marinkovic, David Dencik a.o.). I am also in development on a modern version of Strindberg’s MISS JULIE with Trine Dyrholm in the lead and script by Peter Asmussen (BREAKING THE WAVES).
EFA Short Film Nominee Berlin 2010
Belgium 2009, 27 min., fiction
VENUS VS ME WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Nathalie Teirlinck PRODUCED BY: Xavier Rombaut & Nathalie Teirlinck DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Rik Zang ART DIRECTOR: Gert Stas EDITOR: Dieter Diependaele MUSIC: Peter van Laerhoven CAST: Sarah van den Berghe, Brit van Hoof, Thomas Ryckewaert, Geert van Rampelberg
Contact: Emerald Films Xavier Rombaut Graslei 12/bus 303 9000 Ghent BELGIUM tel. +32 473 59 85 31 xavier@emeraldfilms.be info@emeraldfilms.be www.emeraldfilms.be
Picture: Wart Dewaele
Entangled in a realm of thought, 12-year-old Marie has trouble growing up. When her young mother brings home a new boyfriend, questions remain unanswered and communication seems impossible. Frenetic, Marie tries to win back her mother while she silently finds solace in a world of memories.
Nathalie Teirlinck Nathalie Teirlinck (born in Brussels, 1985) graduated with great distinction from the Belgian film school KASK in 2007. One year earlier, her first short film ANEMONE won several awards and was also internationally acclaimed at film festivals in Locarno, Cuenca, London, Bucharest a.o. In 2007, her graduation film JULIETTE got awarded as Best Student Film at the IFF Ghent and won the Wild Card Award allowing her to direct her latest short film VENUS VS ME in 2009. VENUS VS ME was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin IFF and rewarded with the nomination of the European Film Academy. In the meantime Nathalie directed some music videos (e.g. NOVASTAR and ADMIRAL FREEBEE) and two pieces for theatre. Nowadays Nathalie is writing her first feature film. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took about ten months to write, produce, shoot and edit the film (seven days of actual shooting). I got the financing before I started to write the short, thanks to an award of the
Flemish Audiovisual Fund, it’s an award based on your student films that allows you to make a new film without going through the regular process of filmfunding submission. Part of the post-production was financed thanks to a prize I received with my previous short film involving post-production facilities. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? A platform where the passion for film unites everyone. An atmosphere to exchange ideas and experiences, fruitful encounters between the young and more established generation of European filmmakers, a place for debate, interesting lectures and workshops. Trying to make the European film vivid as “film” is a fastchanging medium. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? PARIS, TEXAS by Wim Wenders, BOY MEETS GIRL by Leos Carax, RED DESERT by Michelangelo Antonioni, THE LOSS OF SEXUAL INNOCENCE by Mike Figgis, THE PIANO TEACHER by Michael Haneke. What is your next project? I’m currently working on the script of my first feature film and I’m writing and directing my second piece for theatre.
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EFA Short Film Nominee Tampere 2010
Finland 2009, 19 min., documentary
LUMIKKO THE LITTLE SNOW ANIMAL
Contact: Aalto University School of Art and Design Hämeentie 135 C 00560 Helsinki FINLAND tel. +358 50 331 77 54 fax +358 50 331 77 54 info@taik.fi www.taik.fi/elo Picture: Matti Aikio
DIRECTED BY: Miia Tervo PRODUCED BY: Mahsa Malka DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Päivi Kettunen EDITOR: Okku Nuutilainen SOUND: Jussi Rantala ANIMATION: Ami Lindholm DRAMATURGIST: Emilia Pöyhönen
It’s not wrong to want love – you just need to look for it in the right place.
How long did it take to make your short? About four years, from vision and idea to premiere. Miia Tervo Miia Tervo (born in 1980) grew up in Lapland and studied film at the Turku Arts Academy as well as majoring in documentary filmmaking at the School of Art and Design in Helsinki. Her previous short films SEAL and LITTLE SNOW ANIMAL have both been extremely successful and internationally awarded. She is now working on her first feature documentary. Also, her poetry has been published in several collections and anthologies. 8
Was it difficult to get financing? The film was financed by the university. It is not allowed to apply for financing for the first university film. Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Clowds, and something distant from here, Finland. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Sally Potter’s ORLANDO and Päivi Hartzell’s THE SNOW QUEEN. What is your next project? My next project is about Karelian magic.
EFA Short Film Nominee Cracow 2010
Sweden 2010, 15 min., animation
TUSSILAGO DIRECTED, DESIGNED & EDITED BY: Jonas Odell PRODUCED BY: Linda Hambäck & Niklas Adolfsson DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Per Helin INTERVIEWS: Richard Dinter ANIMATION: Jonas Odell, Per Helin, Marcus Krupa, Susanne Sturesson, Martin Nyberg, Johan Sonestedt, Mikael Lindbom, Jakob Bastviken, Lindor Tidäng & Kaspar Christophersen MUSIC: Martin Landquist CAST: Malin Buska, Camaron Silverek
Contact: Linda Hambäck FilmTecknarna F. Animation AB Renstiernas Gata 12 116 28 Stockholm SWEDEN tel. +46 8 442 7300 fax +46 8 442 7319 linda.hamback@filmtecknarna.se www.filmtecknarna.se
Recent history with a personal angle. A relationship and a string of events seen through one person’s eyes.
Jonas Odell Jonas Odell was born in Stockholm in 1962. Since forming FilmTecknarna studio in Stockholm in 1981, Jonas Odell has directed and co-directed a number of short films, mostly working in mixed media techniques. His latest, highly acclaimed shorts are NEVER LIKE THE FIRST TIME!, LIES and TUSSILAGO. He has also directed a number of music videos for such artists as The Rolling Stones, Goldfrapp, U2 and Franz Ferdinand. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? The film took a year to complete from the idea to the first screening. It was not so difficult to get the financing for TUSSILAGO, although with shorts it’s always a lack of money. Shorts are never fully financed.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? There are many different European cinema cultures, so a “European cinema community” – I guess – would be a lot about sharing with each other and spreading the fruits of these cultures as well as pooling resources to allow them all to develop and grow. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? Hopefully a programme of new exciting films that push the boundaries of cinema a bit further, films that haven’t been produced yet but will be by the next generation of filmmakers. Films that would surprise me and make me hope for the future of cinema. What is your next project? I’m still working on different ideas, so it’s too early to know.
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EFA Short Film Nominee Grimstad 2010
HANOI – WARSZAWA HANOI – WARSAW WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Katarzyna Klimkiewicz PRODUCED BY: Bogusław Kisielewski DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Andrzej Wojciechowski EDITOR: Andrzej Dąbrowski SOUND: Paulina Bocheńska, Kamil Radziszewski & Jarek Wójcik MUSIC: Marzena Majcher CAST: Thu Ha Mai, Le Thanh Hunh, Michał Podsiadło, Klaudia Barcik, Przemek Modliszewski, Viet Dung, Łukasz Pruchniewicz, Tran Thi Thanh Minh, Irwin Wojciechowski
Poland 2009, 30 min., fiction
Contact: Katarzyna Wilk Krakow Film Foundation ul. Basztowa 15/8a 31-143 Kraków POLAND tel./fax +48 12 294 69 45 katarzyna@kff.com.pl www.kff.com.pl
Smuggled across borders, cheated by immoral intermediaries, trailed by police, at the mercy of foreigners – such is the fate of illegal immigrants from Vietnam who try to settle in Poland. Among them is young Mai Anh, whose boyfriend now works at a bazaar in Warsaw. Their meeting in a foreign country will not transpire as they had imagined. got extra financing from Munk Studio and SFP, the latest co-producers of the film. Katarzyna Klimkiewicz Katarzyna Klimkiewicz was born in 1977. She graduated from the directing department of the Polish National School of Film, Television and Theater in Łódź. Her documentary WASSERSCHLACHT – THE GREAT BORDER BATTLE, co-directed with Andrew Friedman, received the Berlin Today Award at the 2007 Berlinale. Her documentary works include KRYSTIAN LUPA’S LABYRINTH (2003) and NOTHING TO LOSE (2009).
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How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? HANOI - WARSAW took almost two years to make from the idea to the first screening. The script won the competition organised by Kino Polska TV and was then produced by the private TV station. The co-producers were: Mastershot Studio, who secured the red camera and postproduction facilities and Film 1,2 Association (artistic support). In post-production the film
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? When I hear “European cinema community” I think of my favorite cinema in Warsaw, Muranów, where I’ve discovered the most amazing films. Before every screening they show the Europa Cinemas credit and seeing Warsaw among other cities makes me feel part of this “European cinema community”. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? I would screen: APOCALYPSE NOW by Francis Ford Coppola, HIDDEN by Michael Haneke and 9 SONGS by Michael Winterbottom. What is your next project? My next project is FLYING BLIND, a UK production. It’s a story of high-flying aerospace engineer Frankie, who is in absolute control of her life, until she meets and falls passionately in love with Hassan, a French-Algerian student twenty years younger than her. Love is blind, and Frankie fails to see the warning signs as she stumbles into danger.
EFA Short Film Nominee Edinburgh 2010
UK/Spain 2009, 16 min., documentary
MARÍA’S WAY DIRECTED, PRODUCED & EDITED BY: Anne Milne DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Julian Krubasik SOUND RECORDINGS, TRANSLATION: Hannah Hüglin DUB MIX: Rob Walker COLOURIST: John Sackey
Contact: Anne Milne 52/2 Marchmont Crescent EH9 1HE Edinburgh UK tel. +44 77 94 70 98 02 anne@annemilne.com www.annemilne.com
MARÍA’S WAY is an observational documentary which allows a glimpse into the ways of the modern pilgrim and a woman who awaits their arrival at her small slice of the Camino de Santiago. funds. The film was very low budget, as all the equipment and edit space was provided by my school. Anne Milne Anne Milne is an award-winning Scottish filmmaker whose career has spanned several decades and continents. In addition to being a director and editor, Anne has produced webbased content and video games, and taught New Media for a number of years in California. Her current passion is meeting people in obscure places doing interesting things. In 2010 she completed a two-year MFA in Film Directing at the Edinburgh College of Art. She is currently participating in Engage, a MEDIAfunded programme for international coproduction where she is developing a featurelength documentary. How long did it take to make your short? The film was shot over the course of seven days. Was it difficult to get financing? I was given a small amount by my school, approx. 1,000 €. The rest of the money for the production came from my own personal
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? A diverse range of filmmakers whose vision encompasses the breadth of European culture in all of its myriad forms. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? VERTIGO by Alfred Hitchcock, THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE by Krzysztof Kieslowski, and MEGACITIES by Michael Glawogger. What is your next project? I recently finished another short documentary, A SENSE OF REALITY which was shot in the Californian desert and is about a man who spends his days grappling with questions of existence and humanity’s place in the world. I am currently developing a longer version of this film. In addition, I won a pitching competition in London with WorldView’s Broadcast Media Scheme, and will go to Nepal in February 2011 to make a short film about women who are changing their lives through training to be11 come trekking guides in the Himalayas.
EFA Short Film Nominee Vila do Conde 2010
Austria/Argentina 2010, 40 min., fiction
TALLERES CLANDESTINOS WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Catalina Molina DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Klemens Hufnagl PRODUCED BY: David Bohun ART DIRECTOR: Carolina Mardones EDITOR: Matthias Halibrand SOUND: Juan José Suárez SOUND DESIGNER: Ina Nokolow MUSIC: Patrik Lerchmüller CAST: Juan José Choque, Juana Salgueiro, David Bracamonte, Sandra Rocha
Contact: sixpackfilm Neubaugasse 45/13 P.O.Box 197 1071 Wien AUSTRIA tel. +43 1 526 09 90 0 fax +43 1 526 09 92 office@sixpackfilm.com www.sixpackfilm.com
A job as a seamstress tempts Juana, a young Bolivian woman, to neighbouring Argentina. Her husband and child remain behind in their homeland. It doesn’t take long for the illusion of financial gain to burst – Juana is being exploited and must produce textiles for a luxury brand. Her employer’s demands become ever more absurd, working conditions become unbearable. When her son falls ill, Juana starts making plans to return, but as far as her employer is concerned, leaving is not an option. TALLERES Clandestinos was part of her Bachelor’s degree at the Vienna Film Academy. At the moment she is working on the script of her diploma movie. Catalina Molina
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Catalina Molina was born in 1984 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of six she emigrated with her family to Austria and spent her childhood in the mountains and forests around a small Styrian village. Later she lived in the city of Graz, where she graduated from the Technical College of Art and Design Ortweinschule with a focus on audiovisual media. After graduation in 2004 she went to Vienna to study directing with Michael Haneke and spent her third year of studies in an exchange programme at the Argentinian Film University ENERC.
How long did it take to make your short? From the very first draft to the finished film it took us around two and a half years. Was it difficult to get financing? With a story set outside Austria and the main funding from Austria it was not very easy to convince the funders to support this project. After filming we ran out of money and had to apply for extra funds to post-produce the film, which was only possible because of the high quality of this film. What is your next project? My next project will be a story located on the Mediterranean Sea, showing it as the big interspace between despair and illusion.
EFA Short Film Nominee Sarajevo 2010
France 2009, 18 min., fiction
RENDEZ-VOUS A STELLA-PLAGE RENDEZ-VOUS IN STELLA-PLAGE WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Shalimar Preuss PRODUCED BY: Emmanuel Chaumet DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Elin Kirschfink EDITOR: Antoine Scannapiego SOUND: Olivier Touche MIX: Frédéric Thery CAST: Anna Lien, Jonathan Heckel, Laure Duthilleul
Contact: Ecce Films Emmanuel Chaumet 16, rue Bleue 75009 Paris FRANCE tel. +33 1 47 70 27 23 fax +33 1 47 70 43 91 eccefilms@yahoo.fr
Volunteers hold funerals for unknown or forgotten deceased. Stella-Plage. On the beach, a phone booth is ringing. A young couple strolling by picks up the receiver. At the other end of the line, a mother is trying to reach her daughter.
Shalimar Preuss Shalimar Preuss lives and works in Paris. She studied art and film in the US as well as in France, notably at Le Fresnoy, National Studio for Contemporary Arts (2004-2006). RENDEZ-VOUS A STELLA-PLAGE is her third short after L’ESCALE (Fade Far Away) in 2007 and SEUL A SEUL (Self to Self) in 2005. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took me a year to make this short from the moment I wrote it to the time we screened it for the first time. And if there were any difficulties in finding funds, my producer didn’t let me feel them.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? Huillet & Straub, Pedro Costa, or Ken Loach? Otar Iosseliani, Krzysztof Kieslowski, or perhaps Michael Haneke? If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? FACES (John Cassavetes), LOS MUERTES (Lissandro Alonso), GREY GARDENS (Maysles Brothers), LA COMMUNE (PARIS, 1871) (Peter Watkins), A SPECIAL DAY (Ettore Scola), MOTHER AND SON (Aleksandr Sokurov), one of Naomi Kawase’s films, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (Sydney Pollack), TROPICAL MALADY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), THE LAST TYCOON (Elia Kazan). But the night is too short. What is your next project? I’m working on my first feature film, UN MEDIANOCHE (A Midnight Supper). 13
EFA Short Film Nominee Locarno 2010
DIARCHIA DIARCHY
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino PRODUCED BY: Marco Morabito, Luca Guadagnino & Riccardo Scamarcio DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Daria D’Antonio EDITOR: Walter Fasano PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Francesca Di Mottola COSTUME DESIGNER: Antonella Cannarozzi SOUND: Ivano Mataldi CAST: Riccardo Scamarcio, Louis Garrel, Alba Rohrwacher
Italy 2010, 20 min., fiction
Contact: First Sun Vicolo del cefalo 12 00186 Rome ITALY tel. +39 069 79 93 347 +39 333 317 00 20 fax +39 069 79 93 349 firstsun@firstsun.it ferdinando.dto@gmail.com
Giano and Luc hardly know each other. They are driving through the woods, about to take shelter from the rain in Luc’s immense villa. After having broken the tension talking, disagreeing, they start wrestling playfully, but suddenly an accident happens. Panic-stricken, Giano doesn’t know whether Luc is dead or unconscious. Luc’s sister arrives home unexpectedly. Giano hides, struck by guilt. Then he works up the courage to talk to the girl, but she virtually ignores him. Taking advantage of her wandering around in the villa, Giano recovers Luc’s body and silently carries it out to the car. He sets off again for the woods they came from and he finds the courage to look at the lifeless body. shooting took only six days, but the production and post-production took a good seven months, and the hunt for financing right in the middle. It’s very hard to get a short financed in Italy. Ferdinando Cito Filomarino Born und raised in Milan, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino lived several years in Boston and London; he later graduated in film history at the University of Bologna. After working as an assistant director on Richard Eyre’s THE OTHER MAN and Luca Guadagnino’s I AM LOVE, he made several short videos. DIARCHY is his first short film.
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How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took two years from when I started writing to when we finished the post-production. The
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? A community of filmmakers that live the medium of cinema both as an art form and a market, balancing the two according to the project, and ideally never forgetting either. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? A selection of the best works by Hitchcock and Lang, in random order. First screening: M. What is your next project? A feature-length film set in 17th century Italy. A road movie on foot.
EFA Short Film Nominee Venice 2010
Germany 2010, 15 min., animation
THE EXTERNAL WORLD WRITTEN, DIRECTED & DESIGNED BY: David OReilly CO-WRITTEN BY: Vernon Chatman PRODUCED BY: Henning Kamm & David OReilly ANIMATION: Tobias Von Burkersroda, Jim Levasseur, Max Stöhr SOUND DESIGN & MUSIC: Bram Meindersma
Contact: David OReilly Animation Köpenicker Str 183, 10997 Berlin GERMANY tel. +49 1577 33 55 276 mail@davidoreilly.com www.davidoreilly.com
A boy learns to play the piano.
by awards from my previous film, but it was still difficult. Funding applications in Germany cause more heart attacks than smoking. David OReilly David OReilly (born in 1985 in Kilkenny) is an Irish animator based in Berlin. At the age of 15 he began working as an assistant at local animation studios, teaching himself 3D software in his spare time. He discovered cinema in 2005 when he was given the keys to an unused private theatre with an enormous film library. Since then he has created a wide variety of independent short films. Noted for his disregard of conventions his work is regarded as a groundbreaking force in contemporary 3D animation. How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? It took a long, long time. It was mainly financed
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I’m not sure, the best directors I know are all isolated cinema nerds and borderline alcoholics. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? MIRROR by Christoph Girardet & Matthias Müller, THE TASTE OF TEA by Katsuhito Ishii, HOLY MOUNTAIN by Alejandro Jodorowsky, PERSONA by Ingmar Bergman, STALKER by Andrei Tarkovsky and FINAL FLESH by Vernon Chapman. What is your next project? I would like to go back to making something explicitly for the web. The cinema audience for short films just isn’t big enough at the best of 15 times.
EFA Short Film Nominee Drama 2010
ITT VAGYOK HERE I AM
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Bálint Szimler PRODUCED BY: Miklós Bosnyák, András Pires Muhi & Gábor Osváth DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Marcell Rév EDITORS: Wanda Kiss & Róbert Gradvolt SOUND: Bence Bükki MUSIC: Esclin Syndo CAST: Viktor Vida, Szilvi Murányi, Juli Villányi, Gáspár Bonta, Hans Van Villet, Marianna Szalay, Tamás Lengyel, Kata Wéber, Zsolt Máthé, Dalma Berger, Dániel Eke
Hungary 2010, 37 min., fiction
Contact: János Xantus, Intl. relations Színház-és Filmmüvészeti Egyetem Szentkirályi u. 32/a 1088 Budapest HUNGARY tel. +36 20 52 92 082 fax +36 13 17 10 52 xjanos@gmail.com
Viktor can’t sleep, so he wanders around in the city. He meets various friends as well as strangers. He is looking for something. Just like the rest of us.
Bálint Szimler Born in 1987, Bálint Szimler spent most of his childhood in the United States. He got enrolled in the University of Theatre and Film, Budapest in 2006, where he is currently a year four student. HERE I AM is his third-year project. Bálint is currently developing his first feature project.
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How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing? We had very little money, very little time, but everything came together with a lot of help from the school, the producers András Pires Muhi and Gábor Osváth, and a really enthusiastic crew. Of course we all asked for lots of favours.
Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”? I just came back from “A Sunday in the Country”, arranged by the EFA as well. It was great to meet and talk with filmmakers from all around Europe. And now I have some more people to call if I need to crash on a couch somewhere abroad. If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen? BREATHLESS (Jean-Luc Godard), FUCKING ÅMÅL or TOGETHER (Lukas Moodysson), THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU (Cristi Puiu), LIBERO − ALONG THE RIDE (Kim Rossi Stuart), ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen), TIME STANDS STILL (Péter Gothár) are the first few films that come to my mind but there’s much more to show. What is your next project? I’m working on the script for my first feature film, trying to figure out how the big mess of ideas, impressions, and thoughts in my head become a final script.
The EFA Short Film Initiative Ever since the European Film Academy (EFA) was founded it has been its intention not only to honour the outstanding achievements of established filmmakers, but also to support and promote talented newcomers. To draw the attention to a new generation of European directors means to build up the future of European cinema. This is why, in 1998, EFA established the presentation of the European Short Film Award as a part of the annual European Film Awards, in cooperation with several partner festivals across Europe. Each of these festivals presents a short film award which includes an automatic nomination in the European Film Awards’ short film category. In 2010 the initiative included the following festivals: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ghent International Film Festival, Belgium (October 2009) Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain (October 2009) Corona Cork Film Festival, Ireland (November 2009) Premiers Plans – Festival d’Angers, France (January 2010) International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands (January/ February 2010) Berlin International Film Festival, Germany (February 2010) Tampere Film Festival, Finland (March 2010) Krakow Film Festival, Poland (May/ June 2010) Norwegian Short Film Festival Grimstad, Norway (June 2010) Edinburgh International Film Festival, UK (June 2010) Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival, Portugal (July 2010) Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia & Herzegovina (July 2010) Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland (August 2010) Venice International Film Festival, Italy (September 2010) International Short Film Festival in Drama, Greece (September 2010)
Eligible are directors born in Europe or with a European passport*, whose films match the genre regulations and time limits of the respective festival. When the annual cycle is complete, the nominees are presented to the EFA Members. The 2,300 members of the European Film Academy (including Europe’s finest directors, producers, distributors, writers, actors, etc.) form the high-profile jury to screen the nominees and elect the overall winner: the European Film Academy Short Film, which is presented at the annual Awards Ceremony in one of Europe’s film capitals on the first weekend of December. * European, in the sense of the European Film Academy, shall include Israeli and Palestinian.
SHORT MATTERS! Short Film Nominees on Tour SHORT MATTERS! is the European Film Academy’s short film tour which brings the short films nominated for the European Film Awards to a series of film festivals across Europe and beyond. In the past this programme has brought the nominated short films to audiences in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey, and to Australia, Brazil and Colombia!
Founded in 1988, the European Film Academy (EFA) now unites more than 2,300 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.