About the Anniversary Festival

It is possible that without it (the Oberhausen festival), Wim Wenders might have become a conductor. Claudia Hantrop, VDI nachrichten, April 20th, 2004

Regardless of varying artistic and political fashions, this Festival has, year after year, emphasised the pioneering role played by short film in the liberation and renewal of the cinematic language, and that is why Oberhausen has long been as important as Berlin for German and European cinema. Der Spiegel 18/2004, April 26th, 2004

Oberhausen is the granddaddy of all short film festivals, which keep emerging in such large numbers, it is and will always remain the original. Things like that don't exist any more, and will certainly exist for much longer.

Hans Schifferle, Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 6th, 2004

The Festival never defined itself as merely a place where short films are screened but as a place where the short form is presented, evaluated and discussed in all its diversity. And it didn't just show political or social developments, but followed the changes going on within the art form of the short film closely, always with a clearly expressed point of view. Elfriede Schmitt, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, April 29th, 2004

A spotlight which sheds more light than many a political commentary, a prick of the needle which hits the core. In the cinema, only the short film can do this, though you hardly see any short films in the theatres today: Driven out by commercials they lost their place and thus their niche. This has weakened the short film economically but has also made it more independent, unfettered, liberated it from its duties as supporting film. Festivals have become all the more important for the short film. Andreas Rossmann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 6th, 2004

... recommending the Festival as one of the places dedicated to our cultural knowledge of images, that produce a knowledge which precedes the images and becomes part of their constitution. This knowledge, however, is also part of the construction of social reality - the unfinished and unfinishable negotiation of a media disposition revealing the unfinishable character of social reality. Perhaps this is precisely what constitutes a possible current policy of the image - going beyond a policy of linking images and politics. Reinhard Braun, camera austria No. 86/2004

It was the tableaux, the picturesque shots which had their moment of glory in Oberhausen this year. Time for a long and lasting look, here it was granted and appreciated. Kristina Tieke, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, may 5th, 2004

Half a century of short film: The anniversary of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen was celebrated with very artistic films, spirited conversations and fun parties. Monika Idems, Neue Ruhr Zeitung, May 5th, 2004

There is no better place than a short film festival to experience the current heterogeneous quality of what we may be bundling under the heading of "film" only out of habit. ... The "short film" is not the "small" film but the smallest common denominator of film, a reflection of all its colours, aspects and possibilities (or impossibilities). Dietmar Kammerer, die tageszeitung, May 6th, 2004

Those who look for easy answers, instant fun in Oberhausen will not be served. Christina Tilman, Der Tagesspiegel, May 6th, 2004

The focus of the films selected for Oberhausen is often innovation and non-conformity and with short film having attracted as many artists as aspiring feature directors it's perfectly poised to introduce new concepts and visual styles into the cinematic tradition. Andrea Toal, indiewire.com, May 13th, 2004

In its anniversary year, as mayor Klaus Wehling said at the crowded closing night, the Festival was once more an interesting and lively meeting point for filmmakers and media experts from all over the world. Michael Schmitz, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, May 5th, 2004

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen will continue to have "no desire to please", as festival director Lars Henrik Gass emphasised at the anniversary edition's award ceremony. Rather, they want to create more "little Bayreuths" - exclusive places where a minority follows their interests. Still, the screenings were sold out from morning to night and the theatre floor was literally covered by the young viewers at the German music video screenings.

Gabrielle Schultz, Die Welt, May 6th, 2004

Cinephilie is that French love of the cinema which naturally includes learning and reflection. Oberhausen is the German link to this kind of love of the cinema made festival. Michael Girke, Filmdienst 11/2004, May 27th, 2004

In the future, the more interesting alternative cinematic works will come even more often from the periphery of the capitalist world system. The contributions for a Festival like Oberhausen are evidence of this. Andreas Hahn, Junge Welt, May 6th, 2004

(The retrospective) wanted to be more than just a history, it wanted to capture the spirit of Oberhausen - that commitment to a cinema of other possibilities valid until today. Hans Schifferle, Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 6th, 2004

Oberhausen, a fairground of hybrid forms, opens our eyes rather to what has never been shown in the cinemas or on television than for what isn't shown any more. Christian Bartels, www.1000augen.de, May 2004

The volume and diversity of the films on show almost overwhelms individual distinction, although it does provide a very real sense of the energy, possibility, and daring of modern short film. Andrea Toal, indiewire.com, May 13th, 2004

Oberhausen's anniversary edition proved all those prophets of doom who have predicted the extinction of the short form for a long time wrong. Reinhard Kleber, Filmecho/Filmwoche No. 20, May 15th, 2004

So, despite a number of arts-and-crafts mediocrities, the Oberhausen Festival is still young, as it proved once more in its 50th year. Andreas Rossmann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 6th, 2004

Short film as the biotope of stubbornness, where economic efficiency and artistic brilliance are not opposites? ... There may be some lack of that economic efficiency, for well-known reasons, but the competition reveals some high standards as well as some lively, creative and technically well-armed potential feeding on criticism, standards and reality, whether we call it art, film, or media art. Cornelia Fleer, Filmdienst 11/2004, May 27th, 2004

The oldest short film festival in the world has become more open, more free - but it is still a place of discussion. Happy birthday, Oberhausen! Rudolf Worschech, epd film 5/2004

There were very few classic narrative films among the selected works this time, underlining the function of Oberhausen as a "laboratory of the cinema", as festival director Lars Henrik Gass puts it. Oliver Baumgarten, Blickpunkt:Film, 20/2004, May 10th, 2004

Each of the twelve candidates in the German music video competition of the 50th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen had some original elements you don't expect from this genre - and proved that festival director Lars Henrik Gass's hypothesis of the emancipation of music videos from television is justified. Andrea Dittgen, Die Rheinpfalz, May 6th, 2004