This spring, a counter-statement posted on the German website of Future Shorts took public a conflict on the German short-film scene revolving around the practices of the Future Shorts initiative. Setting off the controversy was a programme of short films offered by Future Shorts Germany in that country’s cinemas and other venues. The programme included winners of the esteemed German Short Film Award, to which German film distributors and agencies such as the KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg and interfilm Berlin hold in some cases exclusive, and in others non-exclusive, rights to theatrical release. more 

Prompted by the impression that just a handful of short films scoop up the lion’s share of awards and honours each year all over the world, we published here two years ago a review of the previous year’s award-winners. By analysing the prizewinners listed over the year in our “Awards” section, we were able to quantify this subjective impression using objective figures. We will now attempt to repeat the same procedure in a review of short film awards in 2009. more

Not all too long ago, short film festivals were few and far between. Their organizational form and mode of operation was pretty much the same all over the world. Festivals with international competitions followed similar, if not identical, sets of rules and conventions. Today, however, there are thousands of events and occasions that describe themselves as festivals. Most do not deserve this appellation, many work with obscure regulations, and some even make do without any rules or terms & conditions at all. more...

The European Union has been granting funding for the digital distribution of audiovisual media since 2007 as part of its MEDIA Programme for the support of film and media. Projects eligible for grants are divided into the categories Digital Cinema Distribution and Video on Demand (VoD).

Eight million euros, two million more than the year before, have been set aside for the current funding round, which bears the Eurocratic name “Call for Proposals EACEA 02-2009”. These funds will be made available to the chosen applicants in the form of co-financing of projects by independent production and distribution companies.

The Video on Demand area in particular includes projects that indirectly touch on the short-film sector, or which offer a platform for the short form. Now, in the programme’s third year, it’s worth taking a look back at what has been achieved thus far and reflecting on what the future might hold. more

Brian Eno founded the “Ambient” label in the 1970s, coining the term ‘ambient music’ to denote electronically generated, unobtrusive background sound for private or public spaces. To complement this sound, Eno also produced video works that translate the musical concept onto the visual plane. In analogy to ‘ambient music’, ‘ambient art’ evolved, and finally ‘ambient television’ and ‘ambient video art’.

With today’s omnipresent private and public display screens, and increasingly broad bandwidths for the transmission of image data, this development has now taken on a new dynamic. Large-format flat screens in particular, which can be hung like picture frames on the wall, open up a whole new set of possibilities for the reception of imagery and, in connection with high-definition technology, for image production as well. ‘Video paintings’ produced especially for flat screens might even be considered a whole new genre. more

Prompted by the impression that just a handful of short films scoop up the lion’s share of awards and honours all over the world each year, we published here at about the same time last year a look back at 2007’s award-winners. By analysing the winning films listed in our “Awards” section, we were then able to quantify this subjective impression using objective figures.

It seemed like a good idea to repeat this undertaking in early 2009 and put together a review of the past year.

Analysing the winners inevitably results in a kind of Short Film Hit Parade. This ranking can of course not be used to evaluate the artistic quality of films, but only to measure their popularity based on the votes of expert juries and viewing audiences.

Indirectly, we can also discern from such an overview how and where a film’s festival career gets off the ground. Trends in preferences for certain film genres or themes become evident. Furthermore, the ranking provides insights into the distribution of prizes between the various countries where the films are produced. more

by Karin Wehn

"Carnage Software"

Ego-shooters are digital, 3-D worlds full of terrorists and monsters in which the player only survives by killing as many opponents as possible. Depending on the default settings of the game and the player's keyboard input and/or mouse control, the conditions of the virtual world are continually recomputed and changed in real-time and without pause. "Shoot'em-up" games like these still have a bad reputation amongst the general public and, on occasion, serve as the scapegoat for the players' apparently increasing readiness to use violence. "Carnage Software"-this is how the ego-shooter Counter-Strike was grimly referred to by scholars, teachers and journalists following the killing spree of Robert Steinhäuser in Erfurt in 2002.

But the genre is also being put to the test for very creative goals as well: a lively cross-continental subculture is producing 3-D animation films with the help of computer games. The community describes its creations as "machinima", a portmanteau word that plays upon the convergence of the words "machine", "cinema" und "animation". more

It’s almost touching to see how the up-and-coming Web 2.0 generation has recently been forced against its will to come to terms in its own naïve way with the theme of content quality. Against its will, because the discussion is being foisted on Web 2.0 operators by the advertising industry. They are now hoping to obtain some good advice by inviting prominent experts from the traditional (off-line) film culture to sound off on the subject. At the recent Mobile World Congress 2008, for example, Robert Redford of the Sundance Institute was asked to provide his input on a short-film initiative launched by the GSM mobile phone association. Redford did not appear particularly impressed by the option of watching short films on the innovative 2.4-inch phone display, but he did emphasize the importance of quality content: “I’m on the side of content because technology needs it – the big thing that comes up that will separate the wheat from the chaff will be quality. YouTube and outfits like that are demonstrating film in wonderful ways but also you have the quality issue. If you want to be known for quality then you want to maintain that because that will be your imprimatur in the future.” more

Anyone who follows the film festival scene and notes the juries' decisions has certainly observed something peculiar by now: the same films seem to win everywhere and much too often!

Is this really so? Based on an evaluation of the prize-winners listed in our ‘Awards’ section during this past calendar year, we have attempted to find an answer to this question.

Our analysis naturally also showed which films won the most prizes. But this is not meant to be a hit parade, since productions from 2005 that won awards in 2006 also figure in this timeframe, while new films have in the meantime been released that only started making the festival circuit in 2008.

Also of interest here is to see how the awards are distributed amongst the various production countries.
 
In the end, the obvious question one has to ask is: How does this kind of accumulation of awards come about? more

The upswing in short film production continues unbroken worldwide. Festivals such as the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen are already taking measures to stem the onslaught of submissions, having long since reached the limits of their capacity for previewing and selection. For the same reason, some feature-film festivals are taking short film off the programme or are forced to supplement their staffs. This demonstrates that the growing rate of short film production cannot be attributed only to rising demand and the distribution possibilities offered by the Internet. After all, the onrush is aiming for the big screen. more

The following article introduces a very interesting project originally developed in the Netherlands and subsequently adapted in Belgium. ‘Dicht/Vorm’ is a crossover between poetry and animated film in which filmmakers were invited to create a filmed version of the poem of their choice.

This article was first published in Flemish on our Belgian partner platform www.kortfilm.be. In her review, Ils Huygens, editor of kortfilm.be, introduces the project and its background. She looks in particular at issues and aspects arising from the confrontation between filmmakers and poets that were explored in a panel discussion at the Animafestival in Brussels. more

In Spain, work in video has had a long and hard road to travel since the late 1960s before managing to visibly establish itself as an artistic form. Its historical development has unfolded against the background of the political and economic conditions of the Franco era as well as the interplay between various institutions, such as museums, cultural centres, art fairs, galleries, festivals and television programmes. In recent years, artistic work in video has experienced a resurgence in step with advances in information technology, but there is still no stable economic and organizational structure for video in which the market would be prepared to invest. more

One of the major homes of experimental film in Europe, Light Cone film distribution, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. For the past quarter-century, Light Cone has been a key partner in the presentation of experimental film for curators, festivals and filmmakers. Light Cone’s archive contains today more than 3,000 experimental films in all formats. The cineaste can find everything here from up-to-the-minute video works to installations to avant-garde classics. With its regular screenings, Light Cone in addition plays an important role in bringing international experimental film to the attention of the public. more

The era of the classic found-footage film has come to an end. What was once an important, albeit marginal, but in any case very special filmmaking practice, has today, in the age of global mass production and digital audio and video availability, become a matter of course. Successors to the found-footage film circulate through the Internet as film remixes and video mashups in a push-and-pull between popular banality, commercialization and high artistic aspirations. more

What has long been possible 'in �real life�, at least since Dada and William S. Burrough�s �Cut-ups� of cultural history, and since �found footage� became part of the cinematic tradition, is now permeating the world of digital film on the Internet: the appropriation and recycling of existing material in new combinations. Based on forerunner software for editing text, graphics and sound, new tools now also enable online video editing right in the browser window. Anything in digital form is fair game: images, graphics and films � owned, purchased or even stolen! The combination of online tools with filesharing is what makes it all possible, and potential worldwide networking of creative filmmakers � from amateurs to artists � in communities gives the whole thing a new socio-cultural dimension.... more

The French system for promoting feature film is often discussed, but rarely the support of short film. On the whole, short film promotion works in a similar fashion. The production and distribution of short films is governed by structures created 20 years ago: the festivals of Clermont-Ferrand, Brest and Grenoble, the Agence du Court M�trage (Short Film Agency), the Maison du Film Court (House of Short Film), the main regional promotional funds in Aquitaine, Midi-Pyr�n�es and Pays de la Loire, television programmes of short films and much more. This seasoned and stable network has led to the professionalization of short film and enabled many films to be made.

Today, 20 years later, there is perhaps a risk of French short film becoming �mummified� as economic and salary restraints are imposed and certain more daring and creative production methods are blocked. more

Today the buzz is all about You Tube, but in fact other offers have also come onto the scene during recent weeks and months, particularly in Germany, that promise to improve the exposure of short film in a completely different way. These platforms promote works by younger filmmakers, many of whom are just launching their professional careers and for the most part have not yet begun or not yet completed their studies. Shortfilm.de presents some of these opportunities and examines their potential. more

Kortfilm.be, a Belgian website exclusively devoted to the short film, has been online since November 2005. Under headings such as Reviews, Festival, Interview or Short Film Online, Kortfilm.be reports in Dutch on the latest developments in short film production. A user forum and festival guide for professionals round out the services. The focus of Kortfilm.be is on film criticism. This makes Kortfilm.be not merely the only Flemish website for short film, but also one of the few magazines anywhere in the world that regularly publishes reviews of shorts. more

In the early days of cinema, all films were short films. This is a banal acknowledgement and really nothing remarkable as such. But what is interesting is that, after over one hundred years of technical and aesthetic advances, some of the characteristics and criteria that identified short film back then are still valid today: short film is defined by its length. The short form is also a medium for innovation, as versatile as cinema itself. Looking at things from this historical perspective, we can perhaps succeed at circumventing some of the difficulties we face in defining what exactly short film is. more

In May 2005, Europe�s leading trade fair for �interactive content�, MILIA, launched an initiative highlighting the topic of mobile content. Conferences were held on the theme and, at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, representatives of the major mobile phone manufacturers and network operators showed micromovies for the first time at the fair. This is just one more demonstration that the industry is booming. Does this moment perhaps represent an historic opportunity for short film producers? Who will be the key players in the big business with short film? continue

Have technology, need applications - Now that the mobile phone industry has succeeded in creating phones capable of video recording and playback, it�s looking for the answers to a few questions: Is this a gadget consumers really want to use, and how? What kind of content would they like to see? Still up in the air is where this content is going to come from and who will produce it. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking away and the race is on to find ways to get the stagnant mobile phone market moving again. continue

Recently, many film festivals have made changes in the way they present short film. At the same time, some of the most prestigious festivals have announced that they are reorienting their programmes more toward the art sector, while others have already completed this change in course. It can be assumed that these festivals are not responding to competition from each other but are rather realizing independently that a virtual relaunch is called for in order to adapt to the changing content in today's film world. more

More and more these days, short films are not only being digitally recorded or post-produced, but are also being distributed on digital media. At the same time, the development of broadband networks is booming worldwide, enabling rapid transmission of large quantities of data down to the last mile, i.e. to the last end-user. Now, digital films can be distributed in steadily improving audio and video quality over telephone lines or cable networks.

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Almost by definition, short film is a thriving, innovative, active and even turbulent genre. The emergence of new technologies, accessible to a wide range of budding filmmakers, complicates the situation even further. It is therefore not easy to get a clear picture of what the major trends in 2004 consisted of. Nevertheless, we can certainly draw some interesting conclusions by taking a closer look at the winners at the major European film festivals.

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In the first part of this article, we looked at the latest developments on the market and the current selection of short films on DVD. Now we would like to examine the DVD as a tool for marketing and selling short films, from the point of view of filmmakers.

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We would like to devote this issue�s leading article to making an important announcement on our own behalf: the relaunch of shortfilm.de. The expansion and relaunch of the Short Film Magazine has been made possible by a collaborative agreement between the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and the German Short Film Association, or AG Kurzfilm for short, as well as the support of the State Minister for Cultural and Media Affairs (BKM) and German Films (known as Export-Union of German Cinema).

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These days, hardly a week goes by without the release of yet another DVD of short films. Now that the DVD has conquered the consumer market as the prime data medium, the distribution of short films on DVD is also gaining in significance. Videotape has been almost completely replaced by DVD as film distribution medium.

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Imagine the day when you are logging on to your e-mail account and suddenly you have 50 new messages, none of which are junk mail. You are told that your short film has been watched by over 100,000 people on the Internet last night and you react as if you won an Oscar.

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Niche, special-interest programming, ratings poison: the short film doesn�t exactly have the best reputation on the German television scene. Particularly disappointing is the utter lack of concern with which the television editors have left it up to festival organizers to foster this important source of film culture.

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