The Short Film - Trends in 2004

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.

 

The predominant theories on short film are often reduced to over-simplified generalizations. The North, with Germany leading the pack, is drawn more towards non-narrative film, formal research and experimental projects. The more conservative South, on the other hand – particularly France – is a hard-line defender of traditional narrative structure. The North is supposedly more open to a variety of forms and formats, using video and digital techniques, whereas the South prefers classic film stock. But these distinctions deserve some closer analysis.

 

As far as narrative tendencies are concerned, whether classic or somewhat less conventional, one might assume that these reflect not only the intentions of the filmmakers, but also the taste of the festival programmers. In Germany, festival selection committees are generally very open to filmmakers coming from the fine arts milieu, whereas French programmers are often hardened cinephiles who see in short films merely a preliminary step toward classic feature film.

 

When it comes to selecting production and presentation formats, the choices made usually depend on the financial support on offer in the respective country, and/or on the equipment available for screening. Technical facilities can vary drastically between countries. While a festival like Oberhausen has been screening all formats for over ten years now, even video, Clermont-Ferrand only started accepting digital works and videos three years ago. In some countries or regions, financial support is dependent on which production and screening formats are chosen.

 

The amount of funding available also varies widely from country to country. Where there is a wide choice of funding options, film is alive and well – while in the less generous nations, filmmakers have to make do with more humble budgets.

 

"Meine Eltern", "7:35 de la ma?ana" und "WASP", the three films that received the most awards last year, are all rather classically structured fiction films that perpetuate, rather than challenge, the traditions of their national cinema. It is also worth mentioning two films from 2003 that have continued to be successful: "L’homme sans t?te" by Juan Solanas (France) and "(A)torzija" by Stefan Arsenijevic (Slovenia). These are two further examples of films that are remarkable more for their controlled direction than the originality of their form.

 

"Meine Eltern", "7:35 de la ma?ana" and "WASP" won many audience awards, which clearly shows that they correspond to the tastes of the festival spectators, who are nonetheless regarded as being more original in their choices than traditional cinema audiences. There would thus seem to be a gulf between the transnational public – even a cinephile public – and certain specialists (journalists, academics, programmers). It is quite revealing to note that the three films mentioned above have been honoured internationally, and not just in the countries where they were produced or where they share the same language. By contrast, there are certain national champions that do not travel well: for example, "Cousines" by Ly?ce Salem, which won awards at all the major French festivals, from Clermont-Ferrand in January to Aix en Provence in December – even in Namur in French-speaking Belgium – but did not receive any significant recognition in any other country.

 

In the same vein, apart from the exception of the classic "Meine Eltern" (which for the record only won awards in its own country thanks to the audiences in Osnabrück and Hamburg), none of the German films recognized in the honours list of a good number of national events aroused similar interest abroad. Formally innovative films may well receive an increasing amount of attention and screen time from festival programmers, but very few of them have met with any considerable success beyond their own national borders. Curiously enough, the most successful such film was a French film that had been largely ignored by national events: the haunting "Obras" by Hendrik Dussolier. It was closely followed by a Belgium film, more in line with classical fiction, which began its career when the year was already well under way: Nicolas Provost’s "Exoticore", which was also neglected initially in terms of national awards. Nicolas Provost was then discovered at Clermont-Ferrand, which presented his two previous films, a perspicacious find from a festival often unjustly regarded as being over-conservative in its selections.

 

Animation is an important domain in the short film world. Here too, if we examine the awards lists, a number of strange discoveries can be made. The introduction of new production technologies would suggest that a new generation of animators is emerging, working in computer-assisted graphics and digital animation. But last year’s big winners tended to come instead from the old school: such as the Norwegian Piotr Sapegin ("Through My Thick Glasses"), the Belgian duo Patar and Aubier ("Les Panique"), the German Gil Alkabetz ("Morir de Amor - Dying of Love") or Georges Schwizgebel from Switzerland ("L’Homme sans ombre"). Other established directors, such as Konstantin Bronzit from Russia ("The God") or the British Mark Craste ("Jojo in the Stars"), openly exploited new technologies, however, notably using digital computer animation.

 

On the documentary front, we can observe that short film festivals have followed current fashions and are increasingly more open to the genre. Several documentaries met with jury approval at Vila do Conde, Tampere, Huesca and Drama. The most successful among them was incontestably "Kola" by Victor Asliuk from Byelorussia.

 

The vitality of short film differs from one country to another, as does quality. France is today the biggest producer in Europe, but French films do not travel much and did not win many prizes last year. Other big producers have scooped up many awards: Germany, for example, with "Meine Eltern" or Spain with "7:35 en la ma?ana". But behind these two champions, there was a shortage of truly remarkable work. Great Britain did very well both in fiction and animation, with a good number of films honoured all through Europe: "Wasp" and "Jojo in the Stars", but also Duane Hopkins’ "Love Me or Leave Me Alone", "Indecision" by Charles Barker, "Little Things" by Daniel Greaves and "Cashback" by Sean Ellis. For the smaller countries, we should note the worthy performances of Belgium and Sweden, but there has been little news of the ten new EU member states. Although short film production is often in an embryonic form in these countries, an improved awareness of their cinemas would surely enable us to discover the odd jewel or two.

 

In any case, there are currently some 2,000 short films circulating through Europe that live up to professional standards. This makes it all the more remarkable that one seems to encounter the same names over and over again at every European festival. The problem can probably be traced to a great extent to the festival programmers, although they alone should not be held to account. There are of course festivals that are always on the lookout for what’s new, that take the time to view thousands of films and make a personal selection. This is certainly the case with Clermont-Ferrand, Vila do Conde, Oberhausen and Tampere. For the innumerable remaining festivals, the situation is not so simple; they have limited budgets for travel and little time to set out in search of innovative, lesser-known films. Their programmes thus frequently reflect what they saw and liked at the big festivals.

 

One might even fear that some festival organizers had become rigid conformists, choosing a film almost without exercising their own discretion, just because it was praised in the trade press and had a successful run at a major festival. No one will deny that participation in competition at Berlin or Cannes opens a great many doors.

 

We must keep in mind that short-film producers as a rule have no training in how to market their films. The major production companies, on the other hand, know their way around the festival landscape and know which events are suitable for the films they have produced. They have personal contact with festival directors and the latter, for their part, are familiar with the company and keep an eye out for its productions. Young filmmakers or producers have no idea which doors they should go knocking on and are more likely to risk having their own VHS or DVD being lost in the deluge of works submitted to every short film festival.

 

Short film is a realm that is primarily subject to the laws of art. Nevertheless, in order to survive there, it is very useful to learn the rules of marketing!

 

Pierre Duculot (Eurofilmfest n°31)

 

 

 

Pierre Duculot (Belgium), communications scholar, film critic and programming associate for several festivals in Belgium and France, is editor-in-chief of EuroFilmFest magazine, published by the European Coordination of Film Festivals.

http://www.eurofilmfest.org

 

 

 

Selection of European Films and their Successes in European Festivals

 

"7 h 35 DE LA MA?ANA" (Nacho Vigalondo, Spain)

Alcala de Henares: CANAL + Prize

Braunschweig: Leo short film music award

Brussels (Europe and Am.Lat.): Espagne Tout Court award

Cinessonne: Short film grand Prix

Clermont-Ferrand: Young Audience award

Drama: UIP Prize

Dresden: Young audience fiction prize

Grimstad: Grand Prix

Larissa: Special mention

Malmö-Lund: Audience short film Prize

Montecatini: Airone d’argento

Montpellier: Jury mention for a short film

Odense: Special Prize

Ourense: Best short film

Salerno: Best short film

Valencia: Bronze Moon

Vendome: Young Audience Award-European competition

 

"ALICE ET MOI" (Micha Wald, Belgium)

Brussels Indep: Best short film

Brussels: Jameson Award, Best actor for Vincent Lecuyer

Critics Week: Rail d’Or

Sienna: Grand Prix

 

"COUSINES" (Lyes Salem, France/Algérie)

Aix-en-Provence: Grand Prix, Prix du public, Prix d’interprétation

Clermont-Ferrand: Prix Attention Talent FNAC

Montpellier: Prix jeune public

Namur: Bayard d'or du meilleur court métrage

Nice: Prix Special du Jury, Prix de la Presse

Pantin: Prix spécial du Jury, Prix de la jeunesse, Prix du public

César du Cinéma français 2005

 

"EN DEL MITT HJÄRTA / PASSING HEARTS" (Johan Brisinger, Sweden)

Berlin: Audience award, short film panorama

Bludenz: Golden Unicorn, professional film

Brest: Prix Européen du Conseil Régional de Bretagne, Young Jury Prize

Odense: Press Prize

Rome – Archip: Best film

 

"EXOTICORE" (Nicolas Provost, Belgium)

Uppsala: Special Jury Prize

Vendome: Grand Prix, international competition, best performance: Isaaka Sawadogo

Vila Do Conde: Special mention

 

"FISICA II" (Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, Spain)

Alcala: Alcala town Prize, Audience award, Best performance

Huesca: Golden Danzante

Sienna: Special mention

Valencia: Best Spanish short film

 

"FLAT LIFE" (Johan Geirnaert, Belgium)

Aix-en-Provence: Mention

Brussels Anima: Audience Prize, Grand Prix de la SACD

Brussels Indep: Best animated film

Cannes: Prix du Jury, official competition

Leuven: Best Flemish animation

Utrecht: Second Prize, film school films

Vendome: Audience award, Film school prize

 

"FRAGILE" (Jens Jonsson, Sweden)

Aarhus: Audience award for best fiction short

Odense: Grand Prix

Reykjavik: Special mention

Vila Do Conde: Grand Prix, fiction

 

"GJENNOM MINE TYKKE BRILLER" (Pjotr Sapegin, Norway)

Annecy: Mention Speciale

Bilbao: Mention for animation

Grimstad: Jameson Award

Tampere: Grand Prix

Utrecht: Anizone Prize

 

"THE GOD" (Konstantin Bronzit, Russia)

La Bourboule: Professional Jury Prize

Malmö-Lund: Audience animation Award

Roma – Archip. Best computer animation

Siena: Audience award

Trebon: Audience award

 

"GREEN OAKS" (Ruxandra Zenide, Switzerland-Rumania)

Bludenz: Jury Prize

Brest: Mid-length film Award

Drama: Special mention

Olympia: Best fiction short

 

"JOJO IN THE STARS" (Marc Craste, United Kingdom)

Bradford: Grand Prix

Bristol: Best British film

Clermont-Ferrand: Best animation

London: BAFTA 2004 short animation

Rome (Castelli Animati) :Best European film, Audience award

 

"KOLA" (Victor Asliuk, Byelorussia)

Drama: Grand Prix

Huesca: Special Jury Prize

Paris-Réel: Short film award

Tampere: Diploma of Merit, animation

 

"L’HOMME SANS OMBRE" (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland-Canada)

Cannes Critics’ Week: "Regards jeunes" Prize

Geneva: Kodak Prize for best Swiss short film

Namur: Bayard d'or for best musical composition

Utrecht: AnyZone Prize

Valladolid: Special Jury Prize

César du Cinéma 2004

 

"MEINE ELTERN / MY PARENTS" (Neele Leana Vollmar, Germany)

Brest: junior Jury mention, Fondation GAN Audience award

Brussels: Audience award

Clermont-Ferrand: Audience award, Canal+ Prize, Prix du rire "Fernand-Raynaud"

Creteil: Paris XII Jury Prize, best European short film

Drama: Second Prize

Hamburg: Audience award

Leeds: Audience award

Osnabrück UFF: Audience award

St. Petersburg: Centaur – first film competition

Torino (women’s film festival): Mention

Valencia :Bronze Moon

Winterthur: Audience award

 

"MORIR DE AMOR" (Gil Alkabetz, Germany)

Cologne: Audience award, international competition

Leipzig: Special mention, Audience award

Rome (Castelli Animati): Special Jury Prize

Utrecht: AnyZone Prize

 

"OBRAS" (Hendrick Dusollier, France)

Badalona: Prix Spécial du Jury

Berlin Interfilm: Best animation

Brest: Special Jury mentions

Lutin: Lutins du meilleur film

Roma-Archipelago: best digital video short

Scam: Prix de l’?uvre d’art numérique

St. Petersburg: Centaur, first film competition

 

"WASP" (Andrea Arnold, United Kingdom)

Amiens: Young European authors’ Award

Cork: Grand Prix, Audience award

Cracow: Grand Prix Golden Dragon

Creteil: Paris XII Jury mention (best European short film)

Foyle: Special mention

Gyor: Best short film

Oberhausen: Special Prize, Nord Rhin-Westphalie Ministry for Culture Prize

Regensburg: Bavarian television Grand Prix

St. Petersburg: Best actress Award: Nathalie Press

Turin (Women’s film festival): Second Prize