Looking Back 2025

The 71st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen took place from 29 April to 4 May 2025.

Festival impressions

Award Winners

Awards of the International Jury

Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen
worth 8,000 euros

Jailoogo Karay Uzak Jol
(Long Way to the Pasture)
Ilgiz-Sherniiaz Tursunbek uulu
Kyrgyzstan 2025, 23‘35‘‘, colour

Statement:
A cinematic energy is unleashed in a film of a shepherding family’s move to summer pastures in Kyrgyzstan. A way of capturing the moments of this human and animal life’s migration over a wild river. All creatures are revealed in the heat of action, totally immersed in the moment. Moving with the forces of nature and its elements. Remarkable cinematography and use of light and motion.

Principal Prize
worth 4,000 euros

Dvorts∞vaya
(The Palace Sq∞are)
Mikhail Zheleznikov
Israel 2024, 22‘, colour/black and white

Statement:
The Alexander Column is the axis of encounters on the Palace Square in St. Petersburg. Starting from a witty photomontage, the film expands to a broader narrative; a film that equally captures a place and time. The First World War is declared, the Winter Palace is stormed, and in one shock cut, we move from the Russian Revolution to the dismantling of the Soviet Union. For the filmmaker there is never a faceless crowd, always a crowd of individuals with faces that are still watching us today.

Promotional Prize of the International Competition
worth 1,500 euros

Gusarapos
(Crawlies)
Ulysse de Maximy
Mexico 2024, 17‘55‘‘, colour


Statement:
The filmmaker guides us to a family, drawing from his own experiences with madness, centering on the voice recordings and observations of a schizophrenic uncle. We feel a strong individual voice transformed into a unique cinematic language. The story is disturbing and moving at the same time. We feel it more than we read it.

European Film Awards Short Film Candidate

Common Pear
Gregor Božič
Slovenia/UK 2025, 15‘, colour

Statement:
A new generation is awakening in an environment where one cannot survive. They use the archive to study the recent past to achieve knowledge from the previous generations. Voices from the past lead us to a poetic exploration of nature threatened by the climate catastrophe. A near-future fiction film about the loss of nature and how to navigate this reality.

Special Mentions

Será inmortal quien merezca serlo
(Whoever Deserves It, Will Be Immortal)
Nay Mendl
Cuba 2024, 19‘, colour

Statement:
How do we remember a beloved person? A film that relates to the queer present and a previous generation in the name of Winston Hernandez. Old photographs show the history interwoven with the present reality of queer people in Cuba. A repressive government installed detention camps for these people regardless of their political convictions. The film reveals the voices of this community.

Aswin Pyaung Lelkyinn Titehku
(A Metamorphosis)
Lin Htet Aung
Myanmar 2024, 16‘39‘‘, colour

Statement:
In this film the filmmaker transforms the experiences of what it is like to grow up with state television propaganda into a kind of counter-broadcast. An outstanding exploration of the possibilities of AI in the compositions and its narratives.
This distorted, eerie broadcast explores the daily experiences of living in a dictatorship accompanied by a lullaby that might haunt you forever: Yee, lé-lé! Yee, lé-lé!

The International Critics’ Prize

The International Critics’ Prize (FIPRESCI Prize)

Members:
Giuseppe Di Salvatore (Switzerland), Kathrin Häger (Germany), Nini Shvelidze (Georgia)

Common Pear
Gregor Božič
Slovenia/UK 2025, 15‘, colour

Statement:
The FIPRESCI Film Critic Award 2025 goes to a film that focuses on caring for trees and highlights the intergenerational responsibility for the climate breakdown. Also, on the dramaturgical level the vegetables create a visual bridge between science fiction and documentary. A dystopian view filled with a feeling of loss and melancholia introduces us to a place of refuge where we can hope for repair. Here the documentary elements are put at a distance through the analysis of images. The cinematic immersion, enhanced by impressive photography and elaborate framing, leaves room for a reflection about an urgent “common fear” to which anyone can feel connected, and probably re-connected with nature.

Prize of the Jury of the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia

1st Prize of the Jury of the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia
worth 5,000 euros

Members:
Bernd Brehmer (Germany), Stephan Brüggenthies (Germany), Ruth Schiffer (Germany), Silke Schönfeld (Germany), Ulrike Sprenger (Germany)

Myakish
(Crumb)
Elena Kulesh
Russia 2025, 28‘45‘‘, colour

Statement:
The “Njet” as a bracket. Three young men full of longing, looking for a life of their own against all odds. We gain insights into a society in which the wishes and needs of the weaker members are thwarted by patriarchal violence.

2nd Prize of the Jury of the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia
worth 3,000 euros

Jailoogo Karay Uzak Jol
(Long Way to the Pasture)
Ilgiz-Sherniiaz Tursunbek uulu
Kyrgyzstan 2025, 23‘35‘‘, colour

Statement:
A family in Kyrgysztan take their livestock to the summer pasture. Intense, almost magical images make the audience part of this journey. This film always finds the right rhythm, precisely observing the interplay of forces between humans and nature.

Special Mention

Les Fenêtres
(Windows)
Elsa Pennacchio/Etienne De Villars
Frankreich 2024, 13‘42‘‘, Farbe

Statement:
When prisoners’ thoughts set the walls in motion.

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
worth 1,500 euros

Members:
Michael Müller (Germany), Mina Radović (United Kingdom), Valeriia Shakhunova (Poland)

Drogi Leo Sokolosky
(Dear Leo Sokolosky)
Weronika Szyma
Poland 2024, 8‘, colour

Statement:
By employing minimalist animation with live action resurrected from family archives, this film transports the viewer through Ansbach and the inner space of one woman's journey to find her great-grandfather who went through the labour camps of the Second World War. Making the past present, and bringing together history, documentary and critical personal reflection, Drogi Leo Sokolosky is a wondrous cinematic diary that gives us the rare opportunity to pull back the curtain and peer into the depths of a human soul.

Special Mention

Nocturno
(Nocturne)
Sol Muñoz/Ana Apontes
Argentina 2025, 14‘28‘‘, colour

Statement:
Inviting us into the atmospheric carefree world of childhood, the film captures two sisters walking through the night as their father works as a security guard for an affluent neighbourhood. Contrasting the loneliness of locked up condominiums with the freedom of sisters discovering an open and wide world, Nocturno is a delicate work of social critique and an existential reminder of what it really means to live life embraced by love.

ZONTA Prize

ZONTA Prize
worth 1,000 euros
for a female filmmaker in the International or German Competition

She Crossed
Zhang Daisy Ziyan
USA 2024, 20‘, colour

Statement:
A portrait always tells us something about the portrayed and the one portraying. The film in question doesn’t merely portray care work, but creates a cinematic form through rhythm and observation to convey precarity, tenderness and evanescence; the gentle passion as well as aesthetic grandeur of human encounters. Through an homage to a very particular woman, it celebrates intimacy, trust and activities carried out by millions of women around the world without recognition. The protagonist’s love for plants is mirrored in the attention with which the filmmaker turns to the most ephemeral phenomena, be it a raindrop or the passing expression of a face.

Awards of the German Jury

Members of the Jury:
Adrian Figueroa (Germany), Amos Ponger (Germany), Giovanna Thiery (Germany)

Prize of the German Competition
worth 5,000 euros

Hay un dolor
(There’s a Pain)
Froilán Urzagasti
Germany/Bolivia 2024, 39‘51‘‘, colour

Statement:
With great poetic power and subtle observation, the film unfolds a nuanced panorama of work, migration and community. Combining documentary moments with fictional elements in quiet, precisely composed images, it creates a narrative of foreignness, belonging and shared experiences in both public and private spaces.

Promotional Prize of the German Competition
worth 1,500 euros

Haha no tegami
(Mother’s Letter)
Sylvia Schedelbauer
Germany 2025, 25‘05‘‘, colour/black and white

Statement:
In her film, the filmmaker paints a poetic tale of two personal journeys on which mother and daughter are reflected in each other. A journey of emancipation and migration, and a journey of remembrance. Using archive material, the filmmaker weaves an intimate and multi-layered document of longing, transience, freedom and reconciliation.

3sat Emerging Talent Prize
worth 2,500 euros
In addition the award includes a buying option on the awarded work to be broadcast on 3sat.

Monument
Maksim Avdeev
Germany 2024, 14‘45‘‘, colour

Statement:
The film is a reflection on filmmaking itself – as an act of empowerment and an attempt to speak about the unspeakable. In a documentary approach between two generations, a telephone call is interwoven with family videos and becomes a multi-layered mirror of familial, political and emotional tensions. The search for understanding becomes a confrontation with traditional values and ideological constructs, without providing simple answers. The precise interplay of sound and image, present and memory, proximity and distance creates an open space for dialogue, doubt and transformation.

Special Mention

Amanhã não dão chuva
(It Shouldn’t Rain Tomorrow)
Maria Trigo Teixeira
Portugal/Germany 2024, 11‘30‘‘, colour

Statement:
In her poetic work, the filmmaker paints an emotionally complex picture of a mother-daughter relationship. Fear and loss are processed in a lyrical animation.

Prizes of the NRW Jury

Members of the Jury:
Neriman Bayram (Germany), Oliver Flothkötter (Germany), Lili Hartwig (Germany)

Prize of the NRW Competition
worth 1,000 euros

Overwork
Céline Berger
Germany 2025, 10‘10‘‘, colour

Statement:
Precise movements, mechanical hand movements, small-scale work steps. Always rhythmical, always following a fixed choreography. An arrangement of found images that highlights the significance of work which is becoming more and more intangible in the age of AI and digitization, and which celebrates the craft of montage itself.

Promotional Prize of the NRW Competition
worth 500 euros

Chrysanthemum
Jingyuan Luo
Germany 2025, 9‘20‘‘, colour

Statement:
Impotent grief, concealed and covered up by state censorship. An approach from a distance. Subtle animations and repetitive movement patterns create a poetic attempt to transform the intangible into remembrance.

Special Mention

ghosting mother
Bernard Mescherowsky
Germany 2025, 16‘58‘‘, black and white

Statement:
The development process leaves traces on the 16mm stock, just like the passing of time destroys the grave. In search of remembrance, the filmmaker not only portrays his mother but also the attempt to create his own ritual of mourning.

Prize of the WDR Westart Audience Jury

Prize of the WDR Westart Audience Jury
worth 750 euros, sponsored by WDR Westart

Members:
Reinhard Beckmann, Vera Conrad, Susanne Degener, Agnes Lampkin, Nicole Lohner, Dorothea Musik, Reinhold Radermacher, Torsten Schilinsky, Maren Scheele, Gabriele Sommer, Sandra Walter

ghosting mother
Bernard Mescherowsky
Germany 2025, 16‘58‘‘, black and white

Statement:
A son says farewell, looking for traces. His mother died too early, giving him no more time to ask questions. What does he know about her beyond her role as mother? About her dreams, longings, hopes. What do we know about each other? Which memories will remain?
A very personal film, deeply moving and experimental. The 16mm stock disintegrates like a sick body. The images fade, dissolve.
We were touched by this exploration of grief, the simple words, the visual design, the soundtrack, the idea.

27. German MuVi Award for the Best German Music Video

Members of the Jury:
Lin Htet Aung (Myanmar), Xenia Lesniewski (Austria), Jo Zimmermann (Germany)

1st Prize
worth 2,000 euros

K-BOB STAR (Cardi B)
Hansol Kim
Germany/South Korea 2024, 3‘01‘‘, colour

Statement:
Hansol Kim‘s K-BOB STAR is a precise and playful investigation into the intersections between different generations, the role of women in the K-Pop industry and carework. Working with several generations of women, particularly her grandmother, she creates a multigenerational narrative that subtly undermines traditional notions of age and gender. Employing a pared-down, poignant combination of video and text, as well as ironic references – for example to kimchi as a cultural signifier – Kim questions issues of appropriation and cultural identity. The result is a fresh, idiosyncratic work whose aesthetic otherness and performative eccentricity open new visual spaces of female emancipation.

2nd Prize
worth 1,000 euros

Quand le grenier aura pris feu (Anadol & Marie Klock)
Utku Önal
Germany/France 2025, 6‘13‘‘, colour

Statement:
With Quand le grenier aura pris feux, Utku Önal has designed a poetic, multi-layered work that plays with surrealist nuances and at the same time refuses to be categorized. Image and sound complement each other in irritating and at the same time subtle ways, between daydream and nightmare, between tenderness and distress. Watching it inevitably raises the question: How was this made? The use of AI is not displayed as a spectacle but as a quiet, almost casual performance that re-explores the relationship between human, machine and representation. The result is an enigmatic, idiosyncratic work that eludes any clear definition – which is precisely how its power unfolds.

MuVi Online Audience Award
chosen by online vote on www.muvipreis.de and worth 500 euros

looking @ ghosts (die hunde x prozpera)
Jeremias Heppeler
Germany/Japan 2024, 5‘07‘‘, colour

The MuVi Partners 2025:
3sat
Byte.FM
kaput – Magazin für Insolvenz & Pop
kultur.west
netpoint media

The Awards of the International Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Members of the Children's Jury:
Adam Dadirkh, Carla Hentschel, Lara Seidel, Finja Telge, Carla van Benthem

Prize of the Children’s Jury
worth 1,000 euros, sponsored by Wirtschaftsbetriebe Oberhausen (WBO)

Autokar
Sylwia Szkiłądź
France/Belgium 2025, 17‘, colour

Statement:
What we liked about our winning film was that the girl was courageous enough to go on such a long journey by bus alone. In the film, all the people in the bus change into animals, which we thought was fascinating because they scared the girl less than before. Some of the animals’ characters were not at all what we expected. The she-wolf, for example, was really nice at the end. Our favourite scene was when the girl grew and lifted her house.

Promotional Prize of the Children’s Jury
worth 1,000 euros, sponsored by Energieversorgung Oberhausen AG (evo)

A Small Garden by the Window
Lee Jonghoon
South Korea 2024, 4‘35‘‘, colour

Statement:
Our award winner takes up an important topic: climate change. The issue was well presented even without words. The film shows that one individual can make a real change. We especially liked the green cuties that drank rainwater from the air in one scene. The animation was particularly cool.

Special Mention

Shan Shen De Huang Yan
(The Lie of the Mountain God)
China 2024, 15‘55‘‘, colour

Statement:
What we liked about our Special Mention was that real people acted in the film. In this film, a child has seen the Mountain God, but nobody believes him. It was good to see that the child still believed in the story and gave free rein to his imagination. And it was nice that the grandmother supported the boy at the end. Our favourite scene was when the boy stole the scarecrow.

Prize of the Youth Jury
worth 1,000 euros, sponsored by the Rotary Club Oberhausen

Members:
Dersem Hasan, Phil Laskowski, Danilo Lopez da Silva, Nazanin Semo, Linda Tenge

Ik Zeg Je Eerlijjk
(Honestly)
Eva Nijsten
Netherlands 2024, 24‘16‘‘, colour

Statement:
This documentary really made us think. By creating a space where people can discuss sexual, religious and cultural diversity openly and freely, Peter shows that conflict and force are not the way to solve problems and that a solution need not necessarily be the goal. That’s why the film does not try to instruct, nor does Peter. Instead, his questions and statements inspire us to ask our own questions. They make us laugh, despair and hope, creating a need for exchange. And only when there is exchange will we be able to move towards each other instead of turning away from the other.

SURPRISE. Prize for the most surprising film
worth 1,000 euros, sponsored by Methode Film

Gravity
Robotina
Italy/Mexico 2024, 8‘40‘‘, colour

Statement: 
The SURPRISE goes to a film in which a change of gravity changes the action. While this animation begins in a very imaginative and futuristic way that seems far from our reality, its surprising end is a critique of human consumerism and the irresponsible way garbage is handled. And yet the Italian Banger at the end sounds like hope and solidarity.

Special Mention

Kismet
Žiga Virc
Slovenia 2025, 14‘56‘‘, colour

Statement:
Our Special Mention goes to a film that opens insights into the most intimate moments of a family consisting of women from different generations who disagree about the traditions of their Roma community. While the main character longs for freedom and independence, her grandmothers fears the disintegration of tradition. It was especially interesting to us that all actors are actually part of the community and partly improvised their own stories. While this feature film shows some dark and oppressive situations in the young girl’s life, we quickly realise that she also finds a lot of love and understanding in her family. We think that this is important, because otherwise it would simply be a confirmation of outsiders’ pre-existing prejudices.

Prize of the ECFA Jury

ECFA Short Film Award
(The award consists of a nomination for the ECFA Short Film Award 2025)

Members:
Raluca Bugnar (Romania), Pantelis Panteloglou (Greece), Teresa Lima (Portugal)

Gravity
Robotina
Italy/Mexico 2024, 8‘40‘‘, colour

Statement:
After loving many, many of the selected shorts, our three member jury agreed on a film that surprised us the most.
When the world turns upside down there are things that fly away and things that stand firmly on the ground. This film charmed us with this unexpected plot and its authentic unique aesthetic. We all need a little reminder now and then to become aware of all that is abandoned in our lives and embrace it again.
A film that creates an entire viable universe in under nine minutes, with such creativity and plot twists, that it will be keeping the audience on their toes as they enjoy the ride.

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury of the Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury of the Children’s and Youth Film Competition
worth 1,500 euros

Members:
Andreas Greif (Germany), Jochen Mündlein (Germany), Boglárka Paksa (Hungary)

Autokar
Sylwia Szkiłądź
France/Belgium 2025, 17‘, colour

Statement:
Agata's journey from Poland to Belgium offers a universal perspective on leaving one's homeland and explores identity and tradition with sensitivity. In times of political and social polarisation, the film confronts the fear of otherness and provides a valuable insight into human connection that resonates across all age groups.

Special Mention

Happy Snaps
Tyro Heath
UK 2024, 12‘03‘‘, colour

Statement:
Happy Snaps
offers a sensitive portrayal of a friendship that must face the challenges of separation and loss over the course of the film. It provides an important and inclusive perspective on relationships shaped by the human need to hold on and the emotional process of coping with change.

Competition Films

By countries

Argentina
Canción de Cumbre
 (Summit Song), Federica Cafferata, 2024, 15' 00", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
La última frontera (The last border), Camila Dron, 2025, 10' 14", International Competition
Nocturno (Nocturne), Sol Muñoz, Ana Apontes, 2025, 14' 28", International Competition

Austria
Gleichzeitig Nackt
 (Simultaneously Naked), Ashley Hans Scheirl, Ursula Pürrer, 2024, 3' 00", International Competition
Jelena, Friedl vom Gröller, 2024, 2' 50", International Competition
Some Memories, Lotte Schreiber, 2024, 10' 00", International Competition
Wohnjuwel (Living Jewel), Simon Spitzer, 2025, 16' 30", International Competition

Austria/ Germany
A Provenance
, Katharina Bayer, 2025, 13' 57", German Competition

Brazil
O amor não cabe na sala
 (Not enough for the love inside), Marcelo Matos de Oliveira, Wallace Nogueira, 2024, 17' 36", International Competition
Ri, Bola (Laugh, Bola), Diego Bauer, 2024, 11' 49", International Competition

Cambodia
ក្រូច
 (The Orange), Seakleng Song, 2024, 17' 13", International Competition

Canada
Texas Switch
, Darren Dominique Heroux, 2024, 9' 16", International Competition

China
SHANMAO
 (Ghost Cat), Liu Shubo, 2025, 10' 09", International Competition
Shan Shen De Huang Yan (The lie of The Mountain God), Ma Myers, 2024, 15' 55", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Colombia
Preguntas Frecuentes
 (Frequently asked questions), Sofía Salinas Barrera, 2024, 15' 43", International Competition

Croatia
Všmš
 (Wshmch), Nela Gluhak, 2024, 1' 33", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Cuba/ Brazil
Será inmortal quien merezca serlo (Whoever deserves it, will be immortal), Nay Mendl, 2024, 19' 00", International Competition

Cuba/ Dominican Republic
RITO DE PASO
 (RITE OF PASSAGE), José Luis Jiménez, 2024, 19' 00", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Finland
Aavetuntohetki
 (The Ghost Feel Hour), Eero Tammi, 2025, 10' 57", International Competition
Muistot liikkuvat kuin kaukaiset saaret (Memories Move Like Distant Islands), Saarlotta Virri, 2025, 28' 52", International Competition
Ocean Blvd, Jade Kallio, 2024, 17' 31", International Competition
The Will, Salla Tykkä, 2025, 27' 43", International Competition

France
Adieu Gropius
 (So long Gropius), Bertille Rondard, 2024, 4' 09", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Généalogie de la violence (Genealogy of Violence), Mohamed Bourouissa, 2024, 15' 15", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
J'ai trouvé une boite (I found a box), Eric Montchaud, 2025, 10' 00", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Les fenêtres (Windows), Elsa Pennacchio, Etienne De Villars, 2024, 13' 42", International Competition
Tonada de l’hirondelle (Swallow's Tonada), Daniela Godel, 2024, 4' 11", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Un tilleul parmi les platanes (Back to the Basswood), Mariam Farota, 2024, 4' 13", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

France/ Belgium
Autokar
, Sylwia Szkiladz, 2025, 17' 00", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Germany
113 Bottles of Water in a Nightshop, Leo Rottmann, 2024, 10' 41", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
A Thousand Waves Away, Helena Wittmann, 2025, 10' 00", German Competition
Ansitzen (To Sit On Watch), Franca Pape, 2024, 5' 46", NRW Competition
BIEST, Stefan Panhans, 2025, 9' 27", MuVi Award
Capriccio, Christos Dassios, 2024, 6' 41", NRW Competition
Chrysanthemum, Jingyuan Luo, 2025, 9' 20", NRW Competition
Deutsch+ (German+), Margit Schild, 2024, 5' 25", NRW Competition
Die Unvorzeigbarkeit dessen, was nie hätte geschehen sollen (The impossibility of showing what should never have happened), Silke Schönfeld, 2025, 24' 56", German Competition
Dokhtar'am (My Daughter), Pedram Sadough, 2025, 16' 30", German Competition
Dream In Dream, Christine Gensheimer, 2024, 4' 14", MuVi Award
Eram, Lucien Liebecke, Ole Christian Dreihaupt, 2025, 12' 37", NRW Competition      
GERHARD, Ulu Braun, 2025, 10' 20", German Competition
Gesamtklärwerk Deutschland, Andreas Loff, 2025, 4' 18", MuVi Award
ghosting mother, Bernard Mescherowsky, 2025, 16' 58", NRW Competition    grathwohlbildhübschklang, Nikolaus Grathwohl, 2025, 7' 29", MuVi Award
Könnt ihr noch? (Can you still?), Timo Schierhorn, UWE, 2024, 3' 31", MuVi Award
Mkoum, Peter Ott, 2024, 4' 35", MuVi Award
Monument, Maksim Avdeev, 2024, 14' 45", German Competition
母の手紙 (Mother's Letter), Sylvia Schedelbauer, 2025, 24' 05", German Competition
One Hundred Years Later, Christoph Girardet, 2025, 7' 50", German Competition
OVERWORK, Céline Berger, 2025, 10' 10", NRW Competition         
Piccin Gemellone (lil big Twin), Tibor Koehne, 2024, 19' 24", German Competition
Schwanensee (Swan Lake), Stella Deborah Traub, 2024, 5' 32", German Competition
Shawano, Felix Bartke, 2024, 13' 24", NRW Competition
The internet will break my heart, Markus S Fiedler, 2024, 3' 18", MuVi Award
Vernacular Dreamscapes: Nocturnal Dream Disposal, Marc Richter, 2024, 8' 32", MuVi Award
Vom Ende her gedacht (Thinking From The End), Tom Briele, 2024, 18' 46", NRW Competition
You do not leave traces of your presence, just of your acts, Gernot Wieland, 2024, 16' 21", German Competition
Zu wenig (Too Little), Valeriia Butakova, 2024, 16' 01", NRW Competition     

Germany/ Argentina
Chispa
 (Spark), Vera Kayh, 2025, 11' 09", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Cómo ser Pehuén Pedre (How to be Pehuén Pedre), Federico Luis, 2024, 22' 11", German Competition
Nuestra Sombra (Our Own Shadow), Agustina Sánchez Gavier, 2024, 19' 30", NRW Competition           

Germany/ Bolivia
Hay un dolor (There's a pain), Froilan Urzagasti, 2024, 39' 51", German Competition

Germany/ Burkina Faso/ Argentina
Die ganze Nacht
 (The whole night), Alejo Franzetti, 2025, 15' 22", German Competition

Germany/ Chile
Digo no con Esperanza
 (I say no with hope), Francisca Villela, 2024, 2' 49", MuVi Award

Germany/ France
Quand le grenier aura pris feu
, Utku Önal, 2025, 6' 13", MuVi Award

Germany/ Iran
Mother is a Natural Sinner
, Hoda Taheri, Boris Hadžija, 2024, 15' 00", German Competition

Germany/ Israel
Butterfly Kiss
, Zohar Dvir, 2024, 10' 30", German Competition

Germany/ Japan
looking @ ghosts
, Jeremias Heppeler, 2024, 5' 07", MuVi Award

Germany/ South Korea
K-BOB STAR
, Hansol Kim, 2024, 3' 01", MuVi Award

Germany/ Spain
In Wolken
 (In Clouds), Dagie Brundert, 2024, 1' 21", German Competition

Germany/ Switzerland
Bereinigung II
 (Decontamination II), Franz Wanner, 2024, 4' 40", German Competition

Germany/ Taiwan
Prayer for Taiwan
, Tobias Klich, 2024, 5' 50", German Competition

Germany/ USA
如你所愿
 (Correct Me If I'm Wrong), Zhou Hao, 2025, 22' 59", International Competition

Greece
400 Cassettes
, Thelyia Petraki, 2024, 14' 00", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Hungary
Levelek nagymamámnak, Bibi Ase-nak
 (Letters to my grandmother, Bibi Ase), Amina Abdulrachimzai, 2025, 9' 11", International Competition
Wish You Were Ear, Balogh Mirjana, 2025, 10' 14", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

India
ദിനോസറിന്റെമുട്ട
 (Dinosaur's egg), Sruthil Mathew, 2024, 18' 30", International Competition
Ruse, Rhea Shukla, 2025, 9' 32", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Iran
Baraftoo
 (Within The Sun), Sepideh Jamshidi Nejad, 2025, 28' 15", International Competition
گوسفند (Sheep), Hadi Babaeifar, 2024, 13' 15", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Israel
Дворц∞вая
 (The Palace Sq∞are), Mikhail Zheleznikov, 2024, 22' 00", International Competition

Italy/ Germany/ Nigeria
Machine Boys
, Karimah Ashadu, 2024, 8' 50", German Competition

Italy/ Mexico
Gravity
, Robotina, 2024, 8' 33", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Japan
 (Eh), Kiyono Ayaka, 2024, 2' 02", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Light Fragments, Asakura Satomi, 2024, 6' 40", International Competition
Ms.Understoned, Buma Yuki, 2024, 11' 00", International Competition

Kyrgyztan
Жайлоого Карай Узак Жол
 (Long Way To The Pasture), Ilgiz-Sherniiaz Tursunbek uulu, 2025, 23' 35", International Competition

Mexico
Gusarapos
 (Crawlies), Ulysse de Maximy, 2024, 17' 55", International Competition

Myanmar
အသွင်ပြောင်းလဲခြင်းတစ်ခု
 (A Metamorphosis), Lin Htet Aung, 2024, 16' 36", International Competition

Netherlands
Ik Zeg Je Eerlijjk
 (Honestly), Eva Nijsten, 2024, 24' 16", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Netherlands/ Germany
The Beginning of Identification, and its End
, Philipp Gufler, 2024, 19' 02", German Competition

Philippines
Nightbirds
, Maria Estela Paiso, Ashok Vish, 2024, 13' 48", International Competition

Poland
"tłum. it's okay to be quiet"
 ("transl. it's okay to be quiet"), Filip Jakubowski, 2025, 21' 53", International Competition
Drogi Leo Sokolosky (Dear Leo Sokolosky), Weronika Szyma, 2024, 8' 00", International Competition

Portugal
Conseguimos fazer um filme
 (We Made a Film), Tota Alves, 2024, 14' 57", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Maria Henriqueta Esteve Aqui (Maria Henriqueta Was Here), Nuno Pimentel, 2024, 13' 44", International Competition

Portugal/ Germany
Amanhã não dão chuva
 (It shouldn’t rain tomorrow), Maria Trigo Teixeira, 2024, 11' 30", German Competition

Romania
A fost odată un țânțar
 (Once upon a mosquito), Stanca Radu, 2024, 9' 58", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Russia
Мякиш
 (Crumb), Elena Kulesh, 2025, 28' 45", International Competition

Slovenia
Kismet
, Žiga Virc, 2025, 14' 56", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Slovenia/ United Kingdom
Common Pear
, Gregor Božič, 2025, 15' 00", International Competition

South Korea
A Small Garden by the Window
, Lee Jonghoon, 2024, 4' 35", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Being and Nothingness, Kim Jiwoo, 2024, 6' 34", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
심파테르 (Sim Par Terre), Lee Donghyuk, 2024, 20' 07", International Competition
SUPERNOVA, Lim Yerim, Joo Youngwoo, Lee Jiyoon, Kim Minkyung, 2024, 7' 25", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Spain
Retales
 (Snippets), Juanjo Giménez, 2024, 19' 50", International Competition
ULÍA, Laura Moreno Bueno, 2024, 14' 10", International Competition

Sweden
I want to know what love is
, Hanna Järgenstedt, 2024, 6' 27", International Competition

Switzerland
Habitants
 (Inhabitants), Charline Lefrançois, Florian Geisseler, 2024, 15' 00", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Taiwan
秘密森林少年
 (Boy In The Secret Forest), Tseng Tzu Yen, 2024, 16' 07", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Taiwan/ Japan
Dancing in the rain
, Chao-chun Yeh, 2024, 6' 27", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Tanzania
SEEKING DREAMS
, Heidi Li, 2024, 15' 03", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

Thailand
The Slides of Prof. Somkiat Tang-Namo
, Prapat Jiwarangsan, 2024, 6' 24", International Competition

United Kingdom
Happy Snaps
, Tyro Heath, 2024, 12' 03", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
Sinkhole, Kate Liston, 2024, 15' 11", International Competition
The Last Garden, Eloise Jenninger, 2024, 7' 50", Children’s and Youth Film Competition
True Love, Jess Dadds, Sam Giles, 2024, 4' 19", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

USA
Allrecipes (Stuffed Manifesto)
, David de Rozas, 2024, 5' 17", International Competition
ESP, Laura Kraning, 2024, 2' 45", International Competition
Language Decay, Zazie Ray-Trapido, 2024, 2' 55", International Competition
Samantha, Nina Yuen, 2024, 8' 59", International Competition
She Crossed, Zhang Daisy Ziyan, 2024, 20’ 00", International Competition
YouTuber, Josh Weissbach, 2024, 0' 39", Children’s and Youth Film Competition

USA/ China
山的另一面
 (The Other Side of the Mountain), He Shirley Yumeng, 2024, 19' 58", International Competition

Vietnam/ South Korea
Elysium vô bờ
 (Elysium without Shores), Tran Arlette Quynh-Anh, 2024, 10' 08", International Competition

By sections

Internationaler Wettbewerb / International Competition

"tłum. it's okay to be quiet" ("transl. it's okay to be quiet"), Filip Jakubowski, 2025, 21' 53", Poland
အသွင်ပြောင်းလဲခြင်းတစ်ခု (A Metamorphosis), Lin Htet Aung, 2024, 16' 36", Myanmar
Aavetuntohetki (The Ghost Feel Hour), Eero Tammi, 2025, 10' 57", Finland
Allrecipes (Stuffed Manifesto), David de Rozas, 2024, 5' 17", USA
Baraftoo (Within The Sun), Sepideh Jamshidi Nejad, 2025, 28' 15", Iran
CommonPear, Gregor Božič, 2025, 15' 00", Slovenia, United Kingdom
如你所愿 (Correct Me If I'm Wrong), Zhou Hao, 2025, 22' 59", Germany, USA
Мякиш (Crumb), Elena Kulesh, 2025, 28' 45", Russia
Drogi Leo Sokolosky (Dear Leo Sokolosky), Weronika Szyma, 2024, 8' 00", Poland
ദിനോസറിന്റെമുട്ട (Dinosaur's egg), Sruthil Mathew, 2024, 18' 30", India
Elysium vô bờ (Elysium without Shores), Tran Arlette Quynh-Anh, 2024, 10' 08", Vietnam, South Korea
ESP, Laura Kraning, 2024, 2' 45", USA
Gleichzeitig Nackt (Simultaneously Naked), Ashley Hans Scheirl, Ursula Pürrer, 2024, 3' 00", Austria
Gusarapos (Crawlies), Ulysse de Maximy, 2024, 17' 55", Mexico
I want to know what love is, Hanna Järgenstedt, 2024, 6' 27", Sweden
Jelena, Friedl vom Gröller, 2024, 2' 50", Austria
La última frontera (The last border), Camila Dron, 2025, 10' 14", Argentina
Language Decay, Zazie Ray-Trapido, 2024, 2' 55", USA
Les fenêtres (Windows), Elsa Pennacchio, Etienne De Villars, 2024, 13' 42", France
Levelek nagymamámnak, Bibi Ase-nak (Letters to my grandmother, Bibi Ase), Amina Abdulrachimzai, 2025, 9' 11", Hungary
Light Fragments, Asakura Satomi, 2024, 6' 40", Japan
Maria Henriqueta Esteve Aqui (Maria Henriqueta Was Here), Nuno Pimentel, 2024, 13' 44", Portugal
Ms.Understoned, Buma Yuki, 2024, 11' 00", Japan
Muistot liikkuvat kuin kaukaiset saaret (Memories Move Like Distant Islands), Saarlotta Virri, 2025, 28' 52", Finland
Nightbirds, Maria Estela Paiso, Ashok Vish, 2024, 13' 48", Philippines
Nocturno (Nocturne), Sol Muñoz, Ana Apontes, 2025, 14' 28", Argentina
O amor não cabe na sala (Not enough for the love inside), Marcelo Matos de Oliveira, Wallace Nogueira, 2024, 17' 36", Brazil
Ocean Blvd, Jade Kallio, 2024, 17' 31", Finland
Preguntas Frecuentes (Frequently asked questions), Sofía Salinas Barrera, 2024, 15' 43", Colombia
Retales (Snippets), Juanjo Giménez, 2024, 19' 50", Spain
Ri, Bola (Laugh, Bola), Diego Bauer, 2024, 11' 49", Brazil
Samantha, Nina Yuen, 2024, 8' 59", USA
Será inmortal quien merezca serlo (Whoever deserves it, will be immortal), Nay Mendl, 2024, 19' 00", Cuba, Brazil
SHANMAO (Ghost Cat), Liu Shubo, 2025, 10' 09", China
She Crossed, Zhang Daisy Ziyan, 2024, 20' 00", USA
심파테르 (Sim Par Terre), Lee Donghyuk, 2024, 20' 07", South Korea
Sinkhole, Kate Liston, 2024, 15' 11", United Kingdom
Some Memories , Lotte Schreiber, 2024, 10' 00", Austria
Texas Switch, Darren Dominique Heroux, 2024, 9' 16", Canada
Жайлоого Карай Узак Жол (Long Way To The Pasture), Ilgiz-Sherniiaz Tursunbek uulu, 2025, 23' 35", Kyrgyztan
ក្រូច (The Orange), Seakleng Song, 2024, 17' 13", Cambodia
山的另一面 (The Other Side of the Mountain), He Shirley Yumeng, 2024, 19' 58", USA, China
Дворц∞вая (The Palace Sq∞are), Mikhail Zheleznikov, 2024, 22' 00", Israel
The Slides of Prof. Somkiat Tang-Namo, Prapat Jiwarangsan, 2024, 6' 24", Thailand
The Will, Salla Tykkä, 2025, 27' 43", Finland
ULÍA, Laura Moreno Bueno, 2024, 14' 10", Spain
Wohnjuwel (Living Jewel), Simon Spitzer, 2025, 16' 30", Austria

Deutscher Wettbewerb / German Competition

A Provenance, Katharina Bayer, 2025, 13' 57", Austria, Germany
A Thousand Waves Away, Helena Wittmann, 2025, 10' 00", Germany
Amanhã não dão chuva (It shouldn’t rain tomorrow), Maria Trigo Teixeira, 2024, 11' 30", Portugal, Germany
Bereinigung II (Decontamination II), Franz Wanner, 2024, 4' 40", Germany, Switzerland
Butterfly Kiss, Zohar Dvir, 2024, 10' 30", Germany, Israel
Cómo ser Pehuén Pedre (How to be Pehuén Pedre), Federico Luis, 2024, 22' 11", Germany, Argentina
Die ganze Nacht (The whole night), Alejo Franzetti, 2025, 15' 22", Germany, Burkina Faso, Argentina
Die Unvorzeigbarkeit dessen, was nie hätte geschehen sollen (The impossibility of showing what should never have happened), Silke Schönfeld, 2025, 24' 56", Germany
Dokhtar'am (My Daughter), Pedram Sadough, 2025, 16' 30", German Competition
GERHARD, Ulu Braun, 2025, 10' 20", Germany
Hay un dolor (There's a pain), Froilan Urzagasti, 2024, 39' 51", Germany, Bolivia
In Wolken (In Clouds), Dagie Brundert, 2024, 1' 21", Germany, Spain
Machine Boys, Karimah Ashadu, 2024, 8' 50", Italy, Germany, Nigeria
Monument, Maksim Avdeev, 2024, 14' 45", Germany
Mother is a Natural Sinner, Hoda Taheri, Boris Hadžija, 2024, 15' 00", Germany, Iran
母の手紙 (Mother's Letter), Sylvia Schedelbauer, 2025, 24' 05", Germany
One Hundred Years Later, Christoph Girardet, 2025, 7' 50", Germany
Piccin Gemellone (lil Twin), Tibor Koehne, 2024, 19' 24", Germany
Prayer for Taiwan, Tobias Klich, 2024, 5' 50", Germany, Taiwan
Schwanensee (Swan Lake), Stella Deborah Traub, 2024, 5' 32", Germany
The Beginning of Identification, and its End, Philipp Gufler, 2024, 19' 02", Netherlands, Germany
You do not leave traces of your presence, just of your acts, Gernot Wieland, 2024, 16' 21", Germany

NRW-Wettbewerb / NRW Competition

Ansitzen (To Sit On Watch), Franca Pape, 2024, 5' 46", Germany
Capriccio, Christos Dassios, 2024, 6' 41", Germany
Chrysanthemum, Jingyuan Luo, 2025, 9' 20", Germany
Deutsch+ (German+), Margit Schild, 2024, 5' 25", Germany
Eram, Lucien Liebecke, Ole Christian Dreihaupt, 2025, 12' 37", Germany
ghosting mother, Bernard Mescherowsky, 2025, 16' 58", Germany
Nuestra Sombra (Our Own Shadow), Agustina Sánchez Gavier, 2024, 19' 30", Germany, Argentina
OVERWORK, Céline Berger, 2025, 10' 10", Germany
Shawano, Felix Bartke, 2024, 13' 24", Germany
Vom Ende her gedacht (Thinking From The End), Tom Briele, 2024, 18' 46", Germany
Zu wenig (Too Little), Valeriia Butakova, 2024, 16' 01", Germany

Kinder- und Jugendwettbewerb / Children’s and Youth Film Competition

113 Bottles of Water in a Nightshop, Leo Rottmann, 2024, 10' 41", Germany
400 Cassettes, Thelyia Petraki, 2024, 14' 00", Greece
A fost odată un țânțar (Once upon a mosquito), Stanca Radu, 2024, 9' 58", Romania
A Small Garden by the Window, Lee Jonghoon, 2024, 4' 35", South Korea
Adieu Gropius (So long Gropius), Bertille Rondard, 2024, 4' 09", France
Autokar, Sylwia Szkiladz, 2025, 17' 00", France, Belgium
Being and Nothingness, Kim Jiwoo, 2024, 6' 34", South Korea
秘密森林少年 (Boy In The Secret Forest), Tseng Tzu Yen, 2024, 16' 07", Taiwan
Canción de Cumbre, (Summit Song), Federica Cafferata, 2024, 15' 00", Argentina
Chispa (Spark), Vera Kayh, 2025, 11' 09", Germany/ Argentina
Conseguimos fazer um filme (We Made a Film), Tota Alves, 2024, 14' 57", Portugal
Dancing in the rain, Yeh Chao-chun, 2024, 6' 27", Taiwan, Japan
 (Eh), Kiyono Ayaka, 2024, 2' 02", Japan
Généalogie de la violence (Genealogy of Violence), Mohamed Bourouissa, 2024, 15' 15",France
Gravity, Robotina, 2024, 8' 33", Italy, Mexico
Habitants (Inhabitants), Charline Lefrançois, Florian Geisseler, 2024, 15' 00", Switzerland
Happy Snaps, Tyro Heath, 2024, 12' 03", United Kingdom
Ik Zeg Je Eerlijjk (Honestly), Eva Nijsten, 2024, 24' 16", Netherlands
J'ai trouvé une boite (I found a box), Eric Montchaud, 2025, 10' 00", France
Kismet, Žiga Virc, 2025, 14' 56", Slovenia
RITO DE PASO (RITE OF PASSAGE), José Luis Jiménez, 2024, 19' 00", Cuba, Dominican Republic
Ruse, Rhea Shukla, 2025, 9' 32", India
SEEKING DREAMS, Heidi Li, 2024, 15' 03", Tanzania
Shan Shen De Huang Yan (The lie of The Mountain God), Ma Myers, 2024, 15' 55", China
گوسفند (Sheep), Hadi Babaeifar, 2024, 13' 15", Iran
SUPERNOVA, Lim Yerim, Joo Youngwoo, Lee Jiyoon, Kim Minkyung, 2024, 7' 25", South Korea
The Last Garden, Eloise Jenninger, 2024, 7' 50", United Kingdom
Tonada de l’hirondelle (Swallow's Tonada), Daniela Godel, 2024, 4' 11", France
True Love, Jess Dadds, Sam Giles, 2024, 4' 19", United Kingdom
Un tilleul parmi les platanes (Back to the Basswood), Mariam Farota, 2024, 4' 13", France
Všmš (Wshmch), Nela Gluhak, 2024, 1' 33", Croatia
Wish You Were Ear, Balogh Mirjana, 2025, 10' 14", Hungary
YouTuber, Josh Weissbach, 2024, 0' 39", USA

MuVi-Preis / MuVi Award

BIEST, Stefan Panhans, 2025, 9' 27", Germany
Digo no con esperanza, (I say no with hope), Francisca Villela, 2024, 2' 49", Germany, Chile
Dream In Dream, Christine Gensheimer, 2024, 4' 14", Germany
Gesamtklärwerk Deutschland, Andreas Loff, 2025, 4' 18", Germany
grathwohlbildhübschklang, Nikolaus Grathwohl, 2025, 7' 29", Germany
K-BOB STAR, Hansol Kim, 2024, 3' 01", Germany, South Korea
Könnt ihr noch? (Can you still?), Timo Schierhorn, UWE, 2024, 3' 31", Germany
looking @ ghosts, Jeremias Heppeler, 2024, 5' 07", Germany, Japan
Mkoum, Peter Ott, 2024, 4' 35", Germany
Quand le grenier aura pris feu, Utku Önal, 2025, 6' 13", Germany, France
The internet will break my heart, Markus S Fiedler, 2024, 3' 18", Germany
Vernacular Dreamscapes: Nocturnal Dream Disposal, Marc Richter, 2024, 8' 32", Germany

Catalogue

Festival Catalogue 2025

The Festival Catalogue 2025 is available as PDF for Download here.

Press review 2025

An enormous variety of subjects ranging from climate change to queerness and work to the political situation in Russia.
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, 26 April 2025

The Festival […] tells of a globalisation in details. While the big platforms integrate the world from the top down and in their technology-based silos, world cinema creates connections on a different level, for which short and medium-length films in particular provide an outstanding format.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, 7 May 2025

What stays with you are image burnt into your mind, unexpected associations and personal reference points to films that release your own creative impulses.
Filmdienst, Germany, 15 May 2025

Almost 500 short films impressively demonstrate the extraordinary range and heterogeneity of the format: restrained documentary, […] delicate narrative and attentive observation.
Jungle World, Germany, 15 May 2025

Despite political tension in the run-up and ongoing debates, the Festival remained true to its core, a dedication to short film as an aesthetic field of experimentation. The range this format is capable of emerged between AI-generated visions, closely observed documentary and familial self-questioning.
Film & TV Kamera, Germany, June 2025

It is the combination of curated reflections of the present, a historical dimension and the accompanying discussions – not just at the panels, but after every competition screening – that offers an opportunity to think with the different forms in opposition to the political and aesthetic consensus.
Jungle World, Germany, 15 May 2025

A lovingly curated film festival where every film was at least an original, if not fantastic, viewing experience; added to this were an ultra-sympathetic team and audiences as well as additional offers that went beyond the films (discussions etc.).
kaput – Magazin für Insolvenz und Pop, Germany, 12 May 2025

Now led by a female team — Madeleine Bernstorff and Susannah Pollheim — Oberhausen continues to explore fresh ways in which stories can be told through the medium of film.
Modern Times Review, Norway, 23 May 2025
https://www.moderntimes.review/report-oberhausen-2025/

… what the two main axes of the Festival are today: on the one hand a passionate and romantic search for cinematic dazzlement and, on the other and parallel to this, a fundamental work on what was forgotten and on a collective blindness […] by unearthing and reflecting on a variety of archives.
Brefcinema, France, 9 May 2025

Searching as a Statement: The Oberhausen Short Film Festival 2025
Filmdienst, Germany, 20 May 2025

Now in its 71st edition, the Oberhausen Festival remains an indispensable forum for experimental short films. The energy of the equally unpretentious and charming opening not only whet the appetite for this year’s edition, but has an effect that goes beyond it.
taz, Germany, 6 May 2025

This year once more illustrated the extraordinary freedom inherent in the short film format. From formally severe documentary works to free artistic approaches to the more classical narrative formats, the competitions presented a wide variety of works.
SchirnMag, Germany, 19 May 2025

The 71st edition, partly still initiated by Gass, […] was marked by programmes and talks that reflected the contradictions between artistic freedom versus political repression respectively cancel culture both in historical and current contexts.
epd film, Germany, June 2025

[An international competition] that offered a host of advanced formal experiments and an enormous variety of ideas.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, 7 May 2025

The „political“, which otherwise often comes across as worn or hackneyed today, sometimes makes it hard to view that this might arise from quite diverse formats. In this sense, it was good to see Madeleine Bernstorff accompany her presentation of the new edition of “CineZines” with films by Hollis Frampton. In “Gloria!” (1979), Frampton operated between word, voice, memory and visual imagination, wittily and cleverly testing the limits of the structural logic of the medium.
Junge Welt, Germany, 7 May 2025

Oberhausen continues to reshape how we view the world. While many of the International Competition’s films explore the human relationship with the non-human world, they sometimes convey contradictory messages. Therefore, it seems that short films are engaged in discussion with each other.
Modern Times Review, Norway, 23 May 2025
https://www.moderntimes.review/report-oberhausen-2025/

In her opening speech of the 71st Festival edition in Oberhausen’s Lichtburg cinema, Bernstorff mentioned the departure of her predecessor and the political quarrels following an anti-Israel-motivated boycott campaign only in passing. Her view was that it was more important to question and reflect on viewing habits and, in the process, specifically identify gaps.
Neues Deutschland, Germany, 5 May 2025

Oberhausen has always stood for keeping a dialogue open, above and beyond political camps. Madeleine Bernstorff intends to continue to lead the Festival in this sense: She wants to preserve the Festival’s aesthetic stubbornness.
3sat Kulturzeit, Germany, 30 April 2025

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen are one of the most important short film festivals in Europe and known for promoting experimental films that look for new languages.
O globo, Brazil, 23 March 2025

The Oberhausen Festival is a place for filmmakers, aspiring young talents or established names who have not given up the short form, and they are also a good place for film curators interested in the history of experimental cinema or archives.
7 meno dienos, Lithuania, 19 May 2025

The Long Way to the Neighbour

Without doubt one of the highlights of this year’s Festival.
Deutschlandradio Fazit, Germany, 1 May 2025

Mende, who got to know the GDR through films, approached the pool of films from the GDR which the Festival screened, wanted to screen but couldn’t or did not want to screen between 1955 and 1990 with an unprejudiced eye.
Filmdienst, Germany, 20 May 2025

Thus, “The Long Way to the Neighbour” was not designed along the boring GDR viewpoints of dissidence and party-lines, but with a view to quite particular beauties.
Der Tagesspiegel, Germany, 29 April 2025

 “The Long Way to the Neighbour – GDR Films in Oberhausen” offered, in addition to a roughly chronological cross section of 35 years of GDR filmmaking, a programme that could be described as – in the best possible sense – mixed, confidently fragmentary and marked by pronounced personal preferences.
critic.de, Germany, 12 May 2025

The Theme programme of this year’s Oberhausen Festival, compiled by the Cologne-based Felix Mende, is both politically relevant and profitable in terms of film archaeology.
Stadtrevue Köln, Germany, May 2025

Susanna Wallin

An obsession with the individual take, a choreographed montage, an aquatic atmosphere of gliding and shimmering and a series of sumptuously framed motifs of humans or nature. A hypnotic cinema that’s even better when enjoyed from the front row.
Brefcinema, France, 9 May 2025

Dóra Maurer

Dóra Maurer’s films, which are now available on DVD, are enthralling even today: They allow us to comprehend how an abstract painter conquers the medium of film and its own specific means and possibilities – precisely not as a mere documentation or surrogate for other artistic forms of expression.
SchirnMag, Germany, 19 May 2025

The Making of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah

Unearthing interviews threatened by oblivion is an exercise that is as much the gesture of a conscientious moralist and historian who considers all witnesses/testimonies as that of a documentary film director who justifies every decision made in the editing process. It is a truly labyrinthine undertaking that could take several years and pave the way to a kind of ad libitum-rewriting of a film (the same, but not the same). The result is a wealth of hypotheses, of historical, moral and aesthetic reflections.
Brefcinema, France, 15 May 2025

MuVi Award

When things get really exciting just before midnight, it’s either New Year’s Eve – or the Oberhausen Short Film Festival once more awarding the prize for the best German music video.
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, 5 May 2025

Dietrich and Katharina Schubert

This retrospective not only [underlines] the topicality of the films – as well as the urgent necessity to digitize the Schuberts’ works – but also how important it is for public television to give adequate space to artistic documentaries in their smaller form, too.
critic.de, Germany, 5 May 2025

Other programmes

Theme

Since the 1990s, a central and successful part of our profile has been the Theme, an extensive programme on annually changing issues.

The Long Way to the Neighbour – GDR Films in Oberhausen

The Oberhausen Festival was founded in 1954, the first films from the GDR were screened as early as 1955. This marked the beginning of a complex relationship: Until 1990, more than 150 films from the GDR were screened in Oberhausen; nowhere else was East-German filmmaking available to Western audiences with this continuity and breadth. Yet this chapter of festival history has hardly ever been examined to date.

The “Way to the Neighbour”, to quote the Festival’s long-standing motto, was a special one when it came to the GDR, because it always mirrored the self-concepts of both German states. Cooperation was rarely free of conflict and in many respects a political issue. The GDR’s struggle for diplomatic recognition had to be balanced with West German politics, while the difficult process of film selection frequently exposed aesthetical and ideological fault lines.

Curated by Felix Mende, the big Theme programme of the 71st Festival consists of ten programmes, including one for young people, featuring numerous works from the GDR that were particularly important to Oberhausen. The selection ranges from the equally inventive and ethically highly ambivalent agitation films produced by Studio Heynowski & Scheumann to the essayistic first film school exercises by Helke Misselwitz through to experimental works by Jürgen Böttcher or Lutz Dammbeck which were invited by the Festival but not approved by the GDR authorities. In all, the programme, which is expected to be attended by many guests, will draw a clearer picture of how this German-German relationship helped shape film history.

The film programmes will be complemented by a Podium discussion.

Supported with funds from the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany.

The Curator

Felix Mende, born in 1994, lives in Cologne and is a freelance curator of historical film programmes. He has been a member and programme designer at Filmclub 813 e.V. since 2012 and has also worked on the content and organisation of numerous film festivals, often with a focus on marginalised German cinema. In 2022 he together with Carolin Weidner was responsible for the DOK Leipzig retrospective on the ‘Documentarists of the GDR’.

Profiles

The Oberhausen Profiles are traditionally dedicated to the works of outstanding filmmakers, some of whom have dealt with short films for decades.

The Cohering Force of an Artwork: The Films of Dóra Maurer

Dóra Maurer, born in 1937, is considered one of the major figures of the Hungarian Neo-Avant-garde. As an artist, filmmaker and exhibition organiser, she works with print, painting, photography – and experimental film. Oberhausen will present the most comprehensive show outside Hungary to date of Maurer’s cinematic works, including seminal pieces like Timing (1973-1980), Looking for Dózsa (1972-73) and Space Painting (1983).

The two programmes will represent two ways of understanding the role of film in Maurer’s oeuvre. One will be from the background of rhythm and structure, and the other will be a kind of extension of painting, films done in the spirit of fine art. Curated by film critic and curator Simon Petri-Lukács.

Dietrich Schubert. From Coal to Trees and Never Back

Oberhausen marks the occasion of Dietrich Schubert’s approaching 85th birthday by presenting a retrospective of his (and Katharina Schubert’s) works from a career as a filmmaker and political documentarist spanning almost 50 years. It is a return to Oberhausen that follows several red threads which intertwine to form a complete picture: Political departure, dead ends and lessons from the past, environmental issues, working conditions in the city and in the country, the narrowness of the urban environment and the promise of salvation offered by vast spaces, the newly found home, but also what it means to those who were always there.

Compiled by film critic André Malberg and curator Lydia Kayß, the Profile consists of four programmes following, in chronological order, Schubert’s development as a filmmaker, from early works like Soldat (Soldier, 1966) or Lieder gegen Rechts (Songs against the Right, 1973) to later works produced in his chosen home of the Eifel like Blumenthal – vom Eisen in der Eifel (Blumenthal – of Iron in the Eifel, 1983).

Susanna Wallin

Swedish-American filmmaker Susanna Wallin was born in Lund, Sweden, and currently lives and works between London and Tampa, USA. Her award-winning films have been shown in both cinema and gallery contexts, Oberhausen has regularly screened her films in competition, from Night Practice (2006) in 2007 to Lizzy (2023) in 2024.

Wallin’s main interest is in film’s ability to alter our ways of looking at the world, our subjective experience of time. Her range of subjects is wide, from the staging of wild animals in Marker (2009) to the re-enactment of preparations for a light show in the multiple award-winning Electric Light Wonderland (2010) through to teenagers’ rehearsals of being other people in Someone Else (2011).

Oberhausen will present a selection of her works in two programmes.

Podium

In its Podium series 2025, Oberhausen will discuss topics including ideology machines (in cooperation with the ESFN), GDR films and globalism.

30 April
Who Goes Fascist?
This podium discussion asks about psychological and neurological predispositions that drive people into extremism – and what these might be.
With Prof. Emilie A. Caspar, Lecturer in Social and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Ghent; Dr. Agnieszka Golec de Zavala, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Goldsmiths, London; Artur Zmijewski, artist, Warsaw; Rod Dickinson, artist, Bristol.
Moderated by Galit Eilat.

1 May
The Long Way to the Neighbour – GDR Films in Oberhausen
This panel explores the strong presence of GDR filmmaking in Oberhausen: never a matter of course, never free of conflicts!
With Helke Misselwitz, filmmaker and professor, Film University Babelsberg; Wolfgang J. Ruf, festival director from 1975-1984; Felix Mende, curator of the Theme programme.
Moderated by Cornelia Klauß.

2 May
Ideology Machines. The Conformism Trap in Culture and its Institutions
A conversation with author Harry Lehmann about his book “Ideologiemaschinen” (Ideology Machines) and the question how cultural institutions can maintain their independence in the midst of digital outrage, political scandals and inner pressures to conform.
With Gertrud Koch, Professor of Film Studies (ret.), Berlin; Harry Lehmann, writer / Research Fellow at the University of Luxembourg, Berlin.
Moderated by Jonathan Guggenberger.
In cooperation with the European Short Film Network (ESFN).

3 May
The Aesthetics of Resistance: Really?! Aesthetic Strategies between Immunity and Resilience
A panel with filmmakers about the state of political aesthetics today. Where are its forms still resistant and where does it become a gesture - an empty promise of radicality, progress and healing in a world full of crises.
With Elena Kulesh, Director (Мякиш (Crumb), International Competition); Roee Rosen, artist and filmmaker, Tel Aviv; Franz Wanner, artist, Berlin.
Moderated by Michel Wagenschütz and Jonathan Guggenberger.

4 May
Critical Closeness, Productive Distance: Festival Films and their Interrelationships
Oberhausen x-rays itself in a talk with filmmakers, jury members and members of the selection committee. The core question is: How do you put your own perspective in a context? And vice versa: What does context do with your own perspective?
With Philipp Gufler, artist, Amsterdam/Munich; Silke Schönfeld, filmmaker, Amsterdam/Dortmund; Philbert Aimé Mbabazi Sharangabo, filmmaker, Kigali.
Moderated by Michel Wagenschütz and Jonathan Guggenberger.

Expanded

In cinema, no one is surprised anymore!

Philosophical toys are objects and instruments that make processes and interdependencies sensorially perceptible and relatable, clear and comprehensible. Unlike models, which primarily serve as demonstrations, philosophical toys belong to the tradition of experimental culture. They are not so much end products of insight as tools of insight. As their name implies, they are designed to be used playfully in a manner that stimulates thought and the imagination. Philosophical toys have been very popular since the 18th century. Many of these toys were initially made for scientific observations, only later becoming sought-after objects for young and old. Among the most fascinating ones are surely the optical-kinetic toys and the jouets séditieux: figures — often steles, seals or walking-stick knobs —  turned from wood in whose silhouettes, when cast on a wall using some source of light, one can recognise profiles of political personages, for example. With the programme Expanded, we investigate the question of how philosophical toys look and function today. As part of this interrogation, we show experimental set-ups in which autonomous machines create a shadow play on an overhead projector that makes visible the process of sound production by means of interactions of hand and movement. In an electrochemical machine performance, a mesh of molten metal is filmed by several cameras and projected live on to a  screen. An accompanying soundscape generated by a direct conversion of the electrochemical processes of the liquid invites us to speculate on a heterogeneous technological culture, while the humorous duet between a robot goat and a performance and installation artist stupefies and unsettles us, ultimately calling familiar habits of viewing and listening into question.

Expanded: Time-Based Experimental Culture with Shiny Toys

Oberhausen continues its Expanded series with a presentation of Shiny Toys, the Festival for Time-Based Experimental Culture. Positions of local and international artists, curated by international media artist Jan Ehlen, extend the screen through performances, installations or audiovisual concepts. The limits of the medium are re-thought, explored – and knocked on their head. The focus is on what Werner Nekes, who accompanied Shiny Toys until his death in 2017, called “cinema as an optical toy”.

Experimental music, performance, light art, autonomous machines and electro-chemical machine performances expand the film projection; projectors become musical instruments, cordless screwdrivers drive a praxinoscope: playful projects that challenge familiar viewing and listening habits.

The series will premiere in Oberhausen and continue in June and September at the Theater an der Ruhr and in the Kunsthaus Macroscope Mülheim and the Künstlerraum Dortmund.

Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westfphalia and New Arts Ruhr.

The Curator Jan Ehlen fills in here and there when someone has to cancel. He has been able to nurture his passion for audiovisual media through his work for the Nekes Collection for many years. As a member of the RaumZeitPiraten for over ten years, he describes himself as a professional dilettante who is constantly overwhelmed.

Travelling Companions – Omnibus Films in Film History

Historically speaking, the omnibus film is one of the most important forms of presenting short films: the only “regular” commercial exploitation option open to the short format. But even though the genre dates back to the 1930s and comprises around 100 productions, the omnibus film tends to lead an existence in the shadows of film history. In an age where short film conquers new platforms in the digital world on an almost daily basis but is practically absent even from the niches of regular cinema programming, Oberhausen is launching this multi-part series to champion the specific form of attention of concentrated distraction generated by the hybrid format of the omnibus film as a cross between long and short film.

“Travelling Companions”, curated by film critic and curator Lukas Foerster, is not intended to offer a representative history of the genre, but focuses on key motives, narrative and production-related aspects. Where, when and for whom did omnibus films become an interesting form of presentation? What subjects and interests are primarily served by the genre? Under what conditions do these productions become a commercially relevant format?

The first part of the series, entitled “Counter Glances”, focuses in four film programmes on West German omnibus films from the 1980s by predominantly female directors, including Chantal Akerman, Valie Export, Monika Funke Stern, Ebba Jahn, Ulrike Ottinger, Maxi Cohen, Renate Sami or Helke Sander. Featured films: Aus heiterem Himmel (Out of the Blue, 1982), Sieben Frauen – sieben Sünden (Seven Women – Seven Sins, 1986), Die Gedächtnislücke. Filmminiaturen über den täglichen Umgang mit Gift (The Memory Gap. Film Miniatures About the Daily Handling of Poison, 1983) und Ama Zone (1983).

What’s Left – Maulwürfe des Archivs

Film history begins with the cessation of labour – la sortie de l’usine – and the surveillance of the proletariat, since it was the owners of the factory, the Lumière brothers, who filmed this separating moment between labour and spare time. This symbolic origin forges an unbreakable bond between cinema – a literal and figurative mass movement itself – and labour struggles.

In this spirit, What’s Left delves into our archive to honour films that were present at places of exploitation, consumption, education and spare time to ignite a spark of collective self-realization of women, workers, students and others. In a wider sense, the series explores what it means to be politically left – and to be left in an archive. The two programmes will show a dispersive variety of cinematic works echoing the West German spirit of 1968, including Für Frauen – 1. Kapitel (For Women – Chapter 1, Christina Perincioli, 1971), Helfen können wir uns nur selbst (We Can Only Help Ourselves, Gardi Deppe, 1974), Maulwürfe der Revolution (Moles of the Revolution, Horst Schwaab, 1969) and Von der Revolte zur Revolution (From Revolt to Revolution, Filmemacher Cooperative Hamburg, Kurt Rosenthal, 1969).

The Making of Claude Lanzmann’s “Shoah”

A workshop event conceived by Christoph Hesse which takes a close look at the outtakes of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah to illuminate the film’s conception as it unfolded in the process of its making. 210 hours of footage, the complete filmed material, have recently become accessible – hitherto unknown interviews, testimonies of rescue and resistance, footage that was unusable for technical or legal reasons. To begin with, we will take a look at two very different examples: at extracts from the Einsatzgruppen interviews and from the long conversation with Inge Deutschkron who talks about the persecution of Jews in Berlin where she had survived in hiding.

Distant Images, Far-Out Sounds

The Berlin-based sound researcher Dirk Schäfer presents experimental film soundtracks – the screen is dark; the film plays in the head.

Individual consultation with Filmbüro NW for filmmakers from NRW

A free offer to all filmmakers from NRW who can consult members of the Filmbüro NW on all questions of production, funding and festival placement of short films. Prior registration required!

Register: dw@kurzfilmtage.de

More

Here you can find a colourful mix of fixed programme elements that have become indispensable to our festival, but also always new and diverse interesting offers.

Distributors‘ Collection

This new format is a successor to our Distributors’ Screenings. International distributors of experimental short film will continue to present works from their catalogues. The newly introduced focus, however, will not be exclusively on new acquisitions but also on older works from the distributors’ catalogues or archives. The first edition will present Arsenal­­­ – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. (Germany), EYE Experimental (Netherlands), Filmform (Sweden) and sixpackfilm (Austria).

ESFAA Shorts

Nine audience award winners from other European short film festivals demonstrate the creative diversity of European cinema in two programmes.

European Short Film Network (ESFN)

As the European Short Film Network (ESFN), Oberhausen runs the THIS IS SHORT streaming platform together with five other European short film festivals. For a change, the network is showing a programme in the cinema on the origins of digital film. The selection will be shown at all network festivals in the course of 2025.

This program presents a diverse selection of experimental audiovisual works that explore the complexity of digital image processing. By combining a wide range of techniques and concepts, the programme offers insight into the ongoing development of digital image processing techniques and how artists have explored them over the past decades.

Filmgeflacker

Oberhausen’s Filmgeflacker art collective presented films from this year’s competitions, and the filmmakers will be invited to discuss their works with the audience.

The Team Favourites 2025

To mark the conclusion of the festival, the Oberhausen team will personally introduce their favourites from this year’s competitions.

MuVi International

Since 1998, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen shows a selection of trend-setting international music videos and formally exceptional works - a showcase of current developments in the music video genre.

MuVi 14+

A programme of international music videos for kids aged 14 and older. MuVi 14+ is a rich and varied cross section of recent video clips ranging from handmade to computer-generated. 

NRW in person

Filmmakers from North Rhine-Westphalia get carte blanche for a programme of their own films and formative works by other filmmakers. This year by and with Katharina Huber from Cologne, the winner of the 2020 German Short Film Award for her animated film The Natural Death of a Mouse. Katharina Huber was also recently honoured as best up-and-coming director for her first feature film A Good Place at the Locarno Film Festival 2023.

Award Winners 2025

On the day after the award ceremony, we will show the most important award winners of the five competitions of the Short Film Festival 2025 in one programme.

Award Winners of Other Festivals

On its first day, Oberhausen traditionally shows short films that have received awards at other festivals. A cross-section of the past festival season.

The One Minutes

In cooperation with the One Minutes Foundation, Oberhausen presents one-minute films in two series curated for the festival.

The One Minutes Jr.

42 one-minute films from Europe, made by and for young people.

Kinemathek im Ruhrgebiet

The Kinemathek im Ruhrgebiet/FilmArchiv has been collecting and restoring historical film material from the former coal-mining area for more than 40 years. In Oberhausen, the initiative will once again show highlights from its holdings, this year including works on the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 and the diversion of the lower reaches of the Emscher in the late 1940s. Presented and introduced by its director, Paul Hofmann.

From the Festival's Film Archive

A program of award-winning, animated short films in which the filmmakers often articulate themselves primarily politically despite pop-cultural references. The program takes a journey through the history of the genre. Many of the works shown here have long since become classics of the genre. They come from the Short Film Festival's film archive and at the same time reflect Oberhausen's festival history.

From the Festival's Film Distribution

The Short Film Festival's distribution programme is based on one of the oldest and most important short film collections in the world. Every year, the Short Film Festival purchases around 50 new works from the current festival programme. Here we are showing a selection programme with five films from the 2024 International Competition, in which the relationship between humans and nature and animals plays a central role.

MuVi-Online

Nominated Films 2025

BIEST
Music: Jannik Giger
Director: Stefan Panhans
2025, 9'27"

Digo no con esperanza
Music: F.V. te llaman por teléfono
Director: Francisca Villela
2024, 2'49"

Dream In Dream
Music: Saeko Killy
Director: Christine Gensheimer
2024, 4'3"

Gesamtklärwerk Deutschland
Music: MEESE x Hell
Director: Andreas Loff
2025, 4'18"

grathwohlbildhübschklang
Music: Carl Ludwig Hübsch
Director: Nikolaus Grathwohl
2025, 7'29"

K-BOB STAR
Music: Cardi B
Director: Hansol Kim
2024, 3'1"

Könnt ihr noch?
Music: Deichkind
Director: Timo Schierhorn, UWE
2024, 3'31"

looking @ ghosts
Music: Die Hunde X Prozpera
Director: Jeremias Heppeler
2024, 5'7"

Mkoum
Music: Jeano Elong
Director: Peter Ott
2024, 4'35"

Quand le grenier aura pris feu
Music: Anadol & Marie Klock
Director: Utku Önal
2025, 6'13"

The internet will break my heart
Music: Chris Imler
Director: Markus S Fiedler
2024, 3'18"

Vernacular Dreamscapes: Nocturnal Dream Disposal
Music: Black To Comm
Director: Marc Richter aka Neue Deutsche Kunst
2024, 8'32"

MuVi Audience Award

MuVi Audience Award
determined by voting on www.muvipreis.de and endowed with 500 euros

looking @ ghosts (die hunde x prozpera)
Jeremias Heppeler
Germany/Japan 2024, 5‘07‘‘, Colour

looking @ ghosts
Jeremias Heppeler

2024, 5'7"

Programme

Trailer

Seminar

In 2025, our Festival is organising the Oberhausen Seminar for the eleventh time. The Oberhausen Seminar 2025 was lead by Galit Eilat.

Galit Eilat, a researcher, writer, and curator, is known for her projects that aim to create conditions for collective encounters and experiences with a critical perspective on the existing status quo. Central to these projects is her unwavering belief in the power of art to spark social imagination, driving the dissemination of knowledge. Eilat was the founding director of the Israeli Center for Digital Art and the inaugural artistic director of the Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne. She co-founded Maarav, an online arts and culture magazine; She co-initiated the traveling seminars Liminal Spaces, a platform for joint work and dialogue between Palestinians, Israelis, and international artists. She curated and co-curated projects such as VideoZone 4 – Video Art Biennial in Tel Aviv, the Polish Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, the 32nd October Salon in Belgrade, and the 31st Sao Paulo Biennial.

Her current research focuses on extreme environments and future ecologies. In addition to her curatorial work, Eilat teaches and has written extensively about art and politics. Eilat received the Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism at Bard College for the 2017-18 academic year.

An overview of the participants and content of the Oberhausen Seminar 2025 can be found here

Festival publications

The Festival Magazine is available here as a scrollable PDF (German only).

The separate programme information is available here as a scrollable PDF.

Posters

A Thousand Waves Away
Helena Wittmann

BIEST (Jannik Giger)
Stefan Panhans

One Hundred Years Later
Christoph Girardet

Common Pear
Gregor Božič

The Orange
Seakleng Song

RITO DE PASO
José Luis Jiménez

Partner