Portrait: KURZ-SCHLUSS - the short film magazine on ARTE
No other television station in Europe shows as many short films as the German-French cultural channel ARTE. By its own account, with reruns these amount to over 700 films per year!
The most important slot for short films is called "Kurz-Schluss - Das Magazin (Court-Circuit - le magazine)". A short version of "Kurz-Schluss" is shown every Monday just before midnight and a longer version early Tuesday evening. The show consists of three to four short films and a magazine segment dealing with issues from the world of short film.
Since its launch two years ago, over one hundred "Kurz-Schluss" shows have been produced - #100 was televised at Christmas 2002. Production alternates between Germany and France. Short films for the programme are proposed by ARTE's commissioning editors or stations affiliated with ARTE and then decided on at the ARTE G.E.I.E. Head Office in Strasbourg.
Due to its bi-national character, the different constitutions of the stations in both countries and the federalism of the German side, ARTE's structure is quite complicated. Correspondingly murky -- and by no means just for outsiders -- are the decision-making processes between the various programming departments. The following therefore includes not only a description of the programme's content, but also an attempt at elucidating the station's structure, in particular who is in charge of what, and to whom producers and filmmakers can address queries.
A unique short film programme
In its 90-minute weekly programme, "Kurz-Schluss" offers European television viewers an overview of international short film production and an abundance of background information - on a scale as yet unequalled by any other television programme - or any other medium, for that matter. Presenting as it does the latest films, rarely older than one year, the programme forms an important platform for emerging filmmakers, but also provides a screening place for well-known directors and older films. Thanks to its open concept, no genre is excluded: from animated film to traditional feature films or documentaries and including experimental films, music clips and computer-generated works such as Flash animation - all varieties of the short form are well represented.
A look at the upcoming schedule reveals a readiness to push the boundaries of the medium of television. In early February the project "Sens Dessus Dessous" (Upside Down) was introduced, in which opportunities for non-linear narratives using interactive media are to be tested and explored. In conjunction with short film producer Films du Petit Poisson and the artists' organisation Thécif, five directors were entrusted with this task. Their results will be shown concurrently on the Internet on an interactive platform.
As to the origin of the films that make it onto the show, France and Germany do tend to dominate almost two-thirds of the programme - as can be expected on a French-German channel - but there is still plenty of space allotted to films from the rest of Europe and other continents, especially Africa and Latin America. When selecting films, the French ARTE editors tend to favour Francophone countries, although not exclusively, and the Germans to be interested more in Anglophone sources.
On "Kurz-Schluss" the focus is not only on cutting-edge developments. Retrospectives and thematically oriented programmes also frequently showcase short films by established feature film directors such as Scorsese, Campion or Greenaway. Or famous examples from short film history such as the work of Polanski, Michael Snow or Tarkovsky.
«The aim of Court-Circuit,» in the words of Luc Lagier, producer for the French edition of the magazine, «is a double one: not only to accompany current cinema as it evolves, but also to draft a history of film that also encompasses short film; in any case the objective is to reflect on cinema with the help of the short form.» The unique programming format - a combination of short film screenings and magazine segments, ideally suits this purpose.
ARTE televises short films not only as part of its Kurz-Schluss programme, but also in the context of its theme evenings, in various series, in special festival reports, and lately also in the form of reruns of individual films at the close of the day's programming.
ARTE can also be seen outside France and Germany. It is available via satellite throughout Europe and the countries lining the Mediterranean. In many countries the station is also included in cable networks (available virtually nationwide in Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Luxemburg) and selected ARTE programmes can be viewed on some countries' terrestrial networks (Spain, Central and Eastern Europe). In Germany, ARTE can only be received via satellite and some cable networks. Only in France can ARTE be viewed almost everywhere on terrestrial television, and in addition via satellite or cable, meaning that over 90% of households there have access to the channel.
The magazine and its makers
The 'magazine within the magazine' is produced in France by "mk2 TV" (Paris) and in Germany by Caramba Filmproduktion (Mainz). Since both use the same programme format -- a combination of three to four full-length short films accompanied by magazine segments - they are similar in structure, although quite different stylistically. The relationship between the televised films differs according to programme theme and content. For example, some magazines focus on specific topics or feature small retrospectives of a particular director's work. These are interspersed with shows reporting on festivals or other events.
The segments produced by mk2 TV specialize in portraits of directors and film analyses. This focus has its roots in the experiences of producer Luc Lagier, known for his documentaries on filmmakers and as an author of the film magazine Repérages. Typical here are segments such as: "Michael Jackson par Luc Lagier", "Martin Arnold par Nicolas Schmerkin" or "Jonas Mekas par Pip Chodorov". These segments reflect upon or supplement examples of short films by the directors portrayed.
The television production company "mk2 TV" is one of a consortium of companies belonging to Marin Karmitz (mk), which, with its vertical structure, covers all areas of film, from production to sales, even including a chain of cinemas. The somewhat smaller German share of the magazines is created by Caramba Filmproduktion (Mainz) . The founder and owner of this company is filmmaker and professor for media design Hartmut Jahn. Unlike "mk2", Caramba is a modestly-sized organisation: «We work with a very small team of three people, who work together on editing, camerawork and conception, assisted by a few correspondents. The concepts are usually developed by two-person teams and realised using small DV cameras,» according to Jahn. In this case as well, the segments bear the imprint of their makers and are thus readily distinguishable from the French magazine. Jahn's background in the German video art scene is unmistakable, evidenced for example in the use of electronic means and montages typical for video. Recent segments dealt with topics such as "Flip Books", "Opening Credits as Short Film" and "Flash Animations". But the German magazine likewise offers directors' portraits and event reporting.
Encounters with filmmakers, interviews directly linked with the films being broadcast, reports from today's short film scene or research into the history of the short form, brilliant analyses alongside visual gags, cross-connections to the music and arts scene, as well as an international window on other continents - all this makes "Kurz-Schluss" an entertaining and captivating television programme, in a class all its own.
The magazine Objectif Cinéma called it, «one of the most passionate programmes in the current television landscape» and «tr?s recommandable», but still posed the obvious question: why is it scheduled at such a late hour?
Editorial departments in charge of short film and ARTE's structure ('in a nutshell'!)
ARTE (Association Relative ? la Télévision Européenne) is a consortium of European economic interests (G.E.I.E.) with a Head Office in Strasbourg. ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH and ARTE France are equal shareholders.
ARTE France (formerly La Sept ARTE) has two subsidiaries: the feature film production company ARTE France Cinéma and the audiovisual publishing and production company ARTE France Développement. ARTE France is a shareholder in TV5 and Canal France International.
German member ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH (headquartered in Baden-Baden), in which the public service channels ARD and ZDF are equal partners, coordinates the German programming. ZDF and ARD each supply 50% of the German ARTE programme. A further subdivision results from the structure of the ARD, or "Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands" (Consortium of German Public Broadcasting Stations), which is made up of ten regional broadcasters. These regional stations have a share in ARTE commensurate with their size. The largest share in the ARD programme (22%) is contributed by WDR (Cologne). All eleven regional ARD channels have ARTE representatives.
The situation in France is quite straightforward: programmes are provided by ARTE France, the so-called "Pôle français" and coordinated in Strasbourg. Hél?ne Vayssi?res is in charge of short film at ARTE France (Paris). In Germany things are more complicated!
The task of short film coordination at ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH, the "Pôle allemand", belongs to Thomas Neuhäuser. But the actual contact people - for filmmakers and producers, for example - are the producers at the individual stations.
At ZDF/ARTE (Mainz), editor Anke Lindenkamp is in charge of "Kurz-Schluss". At NRD it's Andrea Preusche-Dubois (ARTE editorial department, Hamburg); at SFB, Sören Schumann (ARTE editorial department, Berlin); at WDR, editor Jutta Krug (Cologne); at SWR it's Brigitte Dithard (Baden-Baden) and at BR, Monika Lobkowicz.
The ZDF short film group, comprised of editors in charge of feature films and theme evenings, purchases 40 German and international short films each year to present in the short film magazine "Kurz-Schluss". Additionally about 14 medium length films (35 - 55 mins) are purchased and about 5 German short fiction films per year are co-produced. Since ZDF also produces about 30 theme evenings for ARTE each year, short films that are submitted are also evaluated with a view toward their possible suitability for this programming slot.
At the ARD stations, by contrast, short films are not purchased only for ARTE. Accordingly, there are other (additional) criteria influencing film purchases there (for further tips, please see the URLs listed below!).
Lest there be any misunderstanding: the above-named production companies responsible for creating the magazine segments do not themselves buy or produce films for the ARTE programme! But they are certainly viable contacts for news and views from the short film scene.
All programming proposals from the above-mentioned television partners and their editors come together at ARTE G.E.I.E, where short films fall under the domain of l'Unité Cinéma (the feature film department). Director of the Head Office is Andreas Schreitmüller. His deputy director Barbara Häbe and Frank Beauvais are in charge of short films. The proposals are presented in programming conferences at which the final decisions are reached.
ARTE G.E.I.E. purchases about 60 short films per year. They are looking for short feature or animated films, or fictionalized documentaries of international origin, between 5 - 25 minutes long. Pre-sales (pré-achats) are rare, and actual production or co-production of a short film is normally not undertaken. The selection thus tends to take place at short film festivals as well as by means of submissions or direct contacts with filmmakers or film schools.
In order to get an impression of which genres, types of films or styles are preferred, I recommend having a look at ARTE's TV schedule, or clicking on our section "Faits Divers", in which we list the current monthly programme for "Kurz-Schluss".
Reinhard W. Wolf
Practical tips and contacts
Kurz-Schluss/Court Circuit is on every Monday just before midnight (exact time varies) in a short version lasting 45 minutes. On Tuesday a longer version (90 min.) is shown at 5:25 p.m.
Reception information (satellite frequencies, etc.): (F) und (D)
Programme:
Court-Circuit, c'est quoi ? (contacts, Fr. and German)
Producer of the German magazine
Producer of the French magazine
ARTE G.E.I.E.
Redaktion Spielfilm / Unité de Programme Cinéma / Feature films department
Frank Beauvais
2A, rue de la Fonderie
F-67080 Strasbourg CEDEX
Tel: +33 388 14 20 76
Fax: +33 388 14 21 10
Sources:
ARTE publications, interviews and events presented by the German-French Short Film Rendezvous: «Courtcircuit - KurzSchluss» and «Kurzfilm bei arte» (Mainz, 12 + 13 July 2002).