Award Winners of the International Competition

69th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, 26 April – 1 May 2023

Award Winners of the International Competition

Award ceremony: Monday, 1 May 2023, 7:30 p.m. CEST, Lichtburg Filmpalast, Elsässer Str. 26, 46045 Oberhausen

High-resolution stills of award-winning films are available in the Downloads section from Tuesday, 2 May, here: www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/presse/

 

Awards of the International Jury

 

Members:

Elene Abashidze (Georgia), Guilherme Blanc (Portugal), Steven Cairns (UK), Alexandra Gulea (Germany/Romania), Mats Stjernsted (Sweden)

 

 

Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen

worth 8,000 euros

 

Chornobyl 22

Oleksiy Radynski

Ukraine 2023, 20', colour

 

Statement:

Chornobyl 22 is an important piece of filmmaking for its documentation of local and global concerns in the region of Chornobyl. The jury recognised Oleksiy Radynski’s ability to create tensions in the retelling of the Russian invasion while bridging histories as well as possible futures without overt aestheticization. The honest and candid interviews in the film make it an important work for today, but also for future generations to look back to. It is communicative and concise, with the possibility to reach a wide audience in different contexts and viewing environments.

 

 

Principal Prize

worth 4,000 euros

 

Camino de lava

(Roads of Lava)

Gretel Marín Palacio

Cuba 2022, 27'48", colour

 

Statement:

In Camino de lava the jury recognised the sensitivity of filmmaker Gretel Marín Palacio in the portrayal of the film’s main character and his tender relationship with his parents. The film's dialogue captures important topics that are elaborated with messages of strength from queer and feminist perspectives. The symbolic depiction of interior and exterior space and ideas of the home as a safe space and one of possible structural change are all crafted with confidence. The struggles conveyed by the parent to the child are intimate but also raise awareness of social injustices and racism in Cuba and in other global contexts.

 

 

Promotional Prize of the International Competition

worth 1,500 euros

 

Xiuhtecuhtli

Colectivo Los Ingrávidos

Mexico 2023, 15'49", colour / black and white

 

Statement:

The jury recognised the artistry and craft of film as a medium involved in the making of Xiuhtecuhtli. The complexity of the film's editing and the sound were an immense feat, connecting us with the indigenous culture explored by Colectivo Los Ingrávidos. The piece is intense and deep, breaking with experimental film history to propose other film ontologies.

 

 

European Film Awards Short Film Candidate

 

I think of silence when I think of you

Jonelle Twum

Sweden 2022, 9', colour

 

Statement:

In nominating I Think of silence when I think of you for the European Film Awards, the jury recognise the importance of Jonelle Twum’s practice in exploring personal histories and archives with the moving image, and its possibility to act as both a tool of self-expression, while also making tangible histories that are little recognised in experiences of Ghanaian migration in Sweden and Europe. The film’s feminist perspective gives a voice to the work's focus while exploring the meaning of silence in an evocative way.

 

 

Special Mentions

 

Saya di Sini, Kau di Sana (a Tale of the Crocodile’s Twin)

(I’m Here, You’re There (a Tale of the Crocodile’s Twin))

Taufiqurrahman Kifu

Indonesia 2022, 18'26", colour

 

Statement:

I’m Here, You’re There (a tale of the Crocodile’s Twin) brings oral history and tradition into the present with an awareness of today's precarious ecological situation. The film looks to the local to talk about wider issues globally in a light-hearted but serious way.

 

Nameless Syndrome

Jeamin Cha

South Korea 2022, 24', colour

 

Statement:

Jeamin Cha developed a delicate and respectful essay on illness with a moving and caring approach to the subject. The way theoretical quotations are integrated into the film is sharp and aesthetically convincing, contributing to the film’s value.

 

Medic

(A Medic)

Alizhan Nasirov

Kyrgysztan 2023, 24', colour

 

Statement:

Medic is an expertly made portrait with exceptional cinematography. The jury were impressed by the filmmaker's ability to convey the persona of the medic against the vast landscapes depicted in the film.

 

 

1st Prize of the Jury of the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia

worth 5,000 euros

 

Members:

Bernd Brehmer (Germany), Soso Dumbadze (Georgia), Angelika Lepper (Germany), Ruth Schiffer (Germany), Ulrike Sprenger (Germany)

 

Untitled

Sweatmother

UK 2022, 8'45", colour

 

Statement:

A person in front of an arrangement of old video equipment. We follow a dialogue with an avatar of stereotypical femininity. Sweatmother confronts attributions of gender identity personally, biographically and poetically. We award a film that opens up questions of identity to the maximum with minimalist means.

 

 

2nd Prize of the Jury of the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia

worth 3,000 euros

 

Xiuhtecuhtli

Colectivo Los Ingrávidos

Mexico 2023, 15'49", colour / black and white

 

Statement:

Hypnotic interlacing of sound and image rhythms. Vitalization of cinema into a consciousness-expanding space. Film as a collective, ritual flash.

 

 

Special Mention

 

Lopte

(Balls)

Gorana Jovanović

Serbia/Slowenia 2022, 22'30", colour

 

Statement:

How does a society cope when war and unleashed violence have destroyed peaceful coexistence between neighbours? Using football as an example, Lopte by Gorana Jovanović explores the fine line between playful confrontation and escalating violence with documentary means that are as sober as they are precise.

 

 

The International Critics’ Prize (FIPRESCI Prize)

 

Members of the Jury:

Elaine Guerini (Brazil), C.J. Johnson (Australia), Hannes Wesselkämper (Germany)

 

2720

Basil da Cunha

Portugal/Switzerland 2023 29'44", colour

 

Statement:

For creating an astonishingly vibrant portrait of a community through the beauty and poetry of masterful narrative storytelling.

 

 

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

worth 1,500 euros

 

Members:

Christian Gürtler (Germany), Polina Kundirenko (Ukraine), Christian Murer (Switzerland)

 

Let’s be friends

Arno Coenen, Rodger Werkhoven

Netherlands 2022, 5'26", colour

 

Statement:

This year the Ecumenical Jury decided to recognize the courage and the contribution to the development of a future path for the entire film industry. Our winner movie impressed all of the team members with a relevant topic, meta ironic approach, integrity and completeness of the theme revelation. In an experimental yet persuasive way, the filmmakers managed at the same time to create a statement and argue on it also establishing a vividly impressive visual style. We greatly appreciate the brave gesture and significant input into the discussion of modern technologies (AI) that influence our everyday life more and more, while occasionally leaving us with a feeling of powerlessness.

 

 

Special Mention

 

Every Sunday, GrandMa

Laure Prouvost

France/Belgium 2022, 7'17", colour

 

Statement:

We would like award a Special Mention to a film which left an unforgettable impression on the whole female part of our jury and both Christians, too. The representation of a woman of age in such a delightful and playful way sets a new tone for the film industry. Previously unfairly forgotten and now rising again with all the power of beauty, the aging woman becomes a new trend for the youth-obsessed male-perspectived world of cinema. Thank you for your inspiring masterwork, dear Laure Prouvost. Every Sunday, GrandMa should feel same as the protagonist in the nearest bright future.

 

 

ZONTA Prize

worth 1,000 euros

for a female filmmaker in the International or German Competition

 

Noita miettin

(Thinking about that)

Mox Mäkelä

Finland 2023, 20'48", colour

 

Statement:

Few plants were trampled in the production of this film. An oral, gutturally spoken waterfall of words that even in the original Finnish – let alone in the English subtitled version – works with absolute overload, with word inventions and leaps of thought: a rant on a world of commercial slime hooks. The film also exceeds all expectations on the visual level.

 

Oberhausen, 1 May 2023

 

Press contact: Sabine Niewalda, niewalda@kurzfilmtage.de, Tel. +49 (0)208 825-3073