69th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, 26 April – 1 May 2023
A quarter of a century of German music video history:
Oberhausen celebrates 25 years of the MuVi Award for the best German music video
The MuVi Award for the best German music video turns 25 this year; 25 years in which the music video has continually redefined itself and found new platforms. Oberhausen is celebrating the anniversary with a retrospective of all first prizes since 1999 and examines the past, present and future of the format in a panel discussion. In addition, the 25th MuVi Award will be presented, for which twelve clips have been nominated. On Saturday, 29 April, the award ceremony will be followed by a party in the Festival Bar. But before that, a whole range of clips will go online: Starting on 1 April, the festival will be posting the award-winning clips since 1999 one after the other on its Channel. On the same day, all twelve currently nominated clips will go online at www.muvipreis.de to gather votes for this year's audience award.
25 years of the MuVi Award
When it was introduced in 1999, the MuVi Award was the first ever film festival award for music videos. MTV and VIVA were still broadcasting music videos, and there was controversy about whether a prestigious film festival should devote itself to such a "commercial" format at all. "The festival shows the clips in a new context that allows their artistic quality to be perceived and is removed from the immediate interests of advertising and exploitation. Thus the clips are taken out of their familiar context of music television and placed in the unexpected context of the different genres, forms and artistic intentions presented at a festival." That's what festival director Lars Henrik Gass wrote when introducing the world's first festival award for music videos in 1999, and the music video has long since proven its artistic quality.
MTV and VIVA as music television are history, the music video has sought and found new platforms on the internet. Its aesthetic development can be traced from the very first winner, the opening and closing garage doors by Oliver Husain and Michel Klöfkorn for Star Escalator (Sensorama), to Julia Crescitelli's split-screen clip Flourish for Lotic (2022). The list includes music videos for Rocko Schamoni, Chilly Gonzalez, Die Goldenen Zitronen, Mouse on Mars or Kreidler; directors like Christoph Girardet, Heinz Emigholz, Klaus Lemke, Svenja Rossa or Deborah Schamoni have taken home the MuVi Award. The diversity of the genre is reflected in the artistic approaches, from animations of all kinds to found footage works and short feature films.
Starting on 1 April, Oberhausen will put an award-winning clip online every day at www.kurzfilmtage.de, accompanied by contributions from the prize winners – a journey through German music video history since 1999, which can also be seen on the big screen at the festival on 30 April.
"25 Years of the MuVi Award: Saving Pop Culture" is the title of a talk on Saturday 29 April, when video makers, labels and journalists will talk about the past and future of music videos.
With: Timo Schierhorn (video maker), Uwe (video maker/musician), Thomas Venker (cultural journalist) and others. Moderated by Liz Remter (cultural journalist).
Hosted by ByteFM
The 25th MuVi Award
Twelve clips were nominated for the 25th MuVi Award. They include works by directors such as Christine Gensheimer, Oliver Pietsch and Markus Wambsganss, Schorsch Kamerun and Helena Wittmann. They can all hope to win prizes worth a total of 3,500 euros. An international jury will award the first and second prizes, and the audience will vote online for their favourite for the audience prize. From 1 April, all nominated clips will be freely accessible online at www.muvipreis.de.
The 2023 candidates:
Almost Puppet (Puppet Ginger), Maxim Franks, 2022
Anima Overdrive (Anima Overdrive), Stefan Panhans/Andrea Winkler, 2022
Auch im Bentley wird geweint (Deichkind & Clueso), Timo Schierhorn/Uwe, 2023
Das eigensinnige Kind (Raison), Schorsch Kamerun, 2022
Gravity (Laima Adelaide), Duc-Thi Bui, 2022
In the Dark (Frank Bretschneider & Giorgio Li Calzi), Markus Wambsganss, 2022
La Vita (Beverly Glenn-Copeland), Oliver Pietsch, 2023
Lamentierendes Schwein (Frau Kraushaar), Helena Wittmann, 2022
Maschinenbauergemetzel (Paul Sies), Julian Paul, 2022
Der Stoff aus dem Legenden sind (Bobby Fletcher & Koljah), Kay Otto, 2022
Timetravellers (The Bomb), Christine Gensheimer, 2023
Was du gesehen haben wirst (Katja Sophie Ditzler), Katia Sophia Ditzler, 2022
Online voting on www.muvipreis.de from 1 April.
The jury:
Lori Felker (filmmaker, Chicago)
Tolouse Low Trax (musician, Paris)
Thomas Venker (cultural journalist, Köln)
The MuVi partners 2023:
3sat
Byte.FM
Kultur.West
netpoint media
strobo.ruhr
The MuVi Retro:
Starting on 1 April on www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/channel with Star Escalator. A new prize winner will go online daily in chronological order. Years refer to the festival year.
Star Escalator (Sensorama), Oliver Husain/Michel Klöfkorn, 1999
Prowler (Bohren & Der Club of Gore), Mark Sikora, 2000, ex-aequo
Der Mond (Rocko Schamoni), Svenja Rossa, 2000, ex-aequo
Why (Donna Regina), Graw/Böckler, 2001
Take Me to Broadway (Gonzales), Nina Rhode, 2002
It Never Was You (Thomas Brinkmann), Sandeep Mehta, 2003, ex-aequo
Perpendicular/Vector (Anti-Pop Consortium), Markus Wambsganss, 2003, ex-aequo
Let’s Push Things Forward (The Streets), Martin Sulzer/Andi Triendl/Julia Weiger, 2004
The Zoo (Funkstörung), Zeitguised, 2005
It’s All Blooming Now Mt. Heart Attack (Liars), Markus Wambsganss, 2006, ex-aequo
Black Lead (Death in Vegas), Corine Stübi, 2006, ex-aequo
Domin, libra nos (The Space Lady), Oliver Pietsch, 2007
Ich bin der Stricherjunge (Stereo Total), Simone Gilges, 2008
Pasajeros peregrinos pilotos (Porter Ricks), Thomas Köner, 2009
Lightning Strikes (Felix Kubin), Sönke Held, 2010
One Minute Soundsculpture (Ryoji Ikeda), Daniel Franke, 2011
uni acronym (alva noto ft. Anne-James Chaton), Carsten Nicolai, 2012
Therapeutikon (The Schwarzenbach), Heike Aumüller, 2013, ex-aequo
Palimpsest (Smog), Zeljko Vidovic, 2013, ex-aequo
Moth Race (Kreidler), Heinz Emigholz, 2013, ex-aequo
Der Investor (Die Goldenen Zitronen), Ted Gaier/Katharina Duve/Timo Schierhorn, 2014
Lost and Found (Mouse on Mars & Eric D. Clark), Klaus Lemke, 2015
All Day (Drunken Masters ft. Tropkillaz), Andreas Hofstetter, 2016
Second Chance Man (Tindersticks), Christoph Girardet, 2017
Limerence (Yves Tumor), Oliver Pietsch, 2018
Trying to Forget you (Aérea Negrot), Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau/ Aérea Negrot, 2019
Eurydike (Kreidler), Andreas Reihse, Zaza Rusadze, 2020
Junge Milliardäre (UWE), UWE, 2021
Flourish (Lotic), Julia Crescitelli, 2022
Oberhausen, 31 March 2023
Press contact: Sabine Niewalda, T +49 (0)208 825-3073, niewalda@kurzfilmtage.de