Networks

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen is a member of numerous national and international networks.

Association of German Film Festivals

More than 60 German film festivals joined forces to found a film festival association (AG Filmfestival) on 4 July 2019 in Kassel, Germany. The aim of the association is to network with each other, to create better conditions for film festivals in Germany and, together with filmmakers and other associations, to strengthen and promote film culture. Oberhausen is a founding member.

The founding members of the AG Filmfestival include the largest and oldest film festivals in Germany, film festivals from all regions and sectors.

Representing AG Filmfestival:
Svenja Böttger - director Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis
Dr. Lars Henrik Gass - director Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen

Federal Association of German Short Film

The Festival is a founding member of the AG Kurzfilm. The AG Kurzfilm represents the interests of members from the short film sector. It was founded in 2002. Members are: organizers of film festivals; film schools; art schools; companies that distribute short films; companies that sell short films; institutions of the film industry; institutions of the movie theatre industry.

The tasks of AG Kurzfilm include: improving the perception of German short films in Germany and other countries; marketing German short films in Germany and abroad; supporting media education work at schools etc.

AG Kurzfilm is the point of contact for politics and the film industry and a service provider for short film makers, film festivals and film theatres.

AK Film Archiving North-Rhine Westphalia

The Festival is a member of the Arbeitskreis Filmarchivierung NRW. This working group comprises around a dozen representatives of various types of archives. The working group's tasks are to exchange information on the development of film archiving and film restoration, to pass on information to the institutions represented in the working group, and to discuss with the Film Department of the State Chancellery the problems of preserving film copies, video tapes and other carrier materials in the collections and archives in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition, it raises public awareness of the problem of the ephemerality of cinematic works.

Bundesverband kommunale Filmarbeit e.V.

The Bundesverband kommunale Filmarbeit e.V. is the association of municipal cinemas, non-commercial film theaters, student film clubs, film festivals and film cultural initiatives and institutions in Germany. More than 150 members have joined together to form a network of film culture. The association's headquarters and office are located in Frankfurt am Main.

 

European Children’s Film Association (ECFA)

ECFA is the open network organisation for a wide range of professionals in the field of children and youth film as well as film and media education, based upon sharing knowledge and mutual solidarity among its members. The Festival is a member since 2007 and will host the ECFA Board Meeting during the 65th edition in May in Oberhausen.

Furthermore, the festival has initiated the ECFA Short Film Award in 2017. Each year, a jury nominates a short film shown in Oberhausen for the short list of the ECFA Award.

European Short Film Network

In 2018 the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen founded the European Short Film Network together with other European short film festivals. The partners of the network are:  Go Short Nijmegen, Vienna International Shorts and Short Waves. The goals of the network are:

a) The development of a joint European promotional strategy for European filmmaking with the aim of taking sustainable measures within the European festival map

b) The development of innovative market access opportunities for professionals in the (short) film and media art industry, both physical and digital, including the development of a set of online tools for professionals

c) Making (short) films and media art permanently accessible to a wide-ranging audience throughout Europe and the world, including non-core audiences

European Short Film Portal THIS IS SHORT

On April 1, 2021, the network launched the newly developed online portal THIS IS SHORT, which made the respective festivals' content as well as new joint content accessible on just one platform. With this project, the ESFN, a EU-funded film festival network, is formulating a counter-model to the fragmented film culture on the net.

Kulturrat NRW

The Festival is a member of the Kulturrat NRW, an association of over eighty organizations in the sections of music, dance, theater, media, literature, visual arts and interdisciplinary culture/social culture. The Kulturrat NRW sees its task in giving art and culture in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia more recognition and promoting the conditions for their development.

Network for Media Art NRW

Oberhausen has been a member of Medienwerk NRW since 2014. Medienwerk.nrw is the network for media art in North Rhine-Westphalia. The aim of medienwerk.nrw is to promote media art in NRW and the exchange between artists and institutions from the fields of research, education, production, presentation, archiving and mediation in the context of media art.

Short Film Conference

The Festival is a member of the Short Film Conference. The Short Film Conference is a world-wide organisation which was founded in 1970, and which has the task of promoting the distribution and screening of short films, calling attention to and improving the position of short films at international film festivals, providing support for festivals with a positive attitude towards short films, increasing the exchange of ideas and information between festival organizers and national short film funders, as well as spreading world-wide information on new short films and their production in different countries. In a nutshell, the Short Film Conference works to promote the status of the short film by all the means at its disposal.