Opening Films Short Documentary / Animation / Short Feature Film
Saturday, 1. October, 22pm
Un obus partout / Shell All
France / 2015 / Animation / 9 min
OT French / UT English
Beirut 1982 – a city torn and divided by war. A young man tries to get to his fiancée on the other side. The only way there leads over a bridge with heavy fighting going on and lots of snipers around. It seems that crossing the bridge would be way too daring and dangerous for him and his friend. But there is a moment when the hazardous plan seems feasible: the football world cup is about to begin. While Diego Maradona is making his first move on the field, the men start their old Plymouth.
Director: Zaven Najjar, Producer: Caïmans Productions,
Script: Zaven Najjar, Camille Lugan, DoP: Zaven Najjar,
Editor: Grégoire Sivan, Sound: Fabrice Gerardi, Music: Marc Codsi, Zeid Hamdan
Zaven Najjar graduated from ENSAD in 2010. Since then he has been working either in animation, live action film and illustrations. Art director, photographer, illustrator or film director, Zaven Najjar has been developing his work in several media. He has worked for the Arabic World Institute or the Grand Palais. Shell All is his first short film.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 1
Sunday, 2. October, 16pm
В стороне / The Edge / Abseits
Russian Federation / 2016 / Animation / 12 min
OT ohne Di / UT -
An elderly woman living by a small railway stop. There is no one around for miles on end, just the railway tracks she checks on her daily patrol. The only highlight in her life is the train that passes the station – and doesn't stop.
Director: Alexandra Averyanova, Producer: Nadezhda Kuznetsova, Ilia Popov,
Script: Alexandra Averyanova, DoP: N/A,
Editor: Alexandra Averyanova, Sound: Igor Yakovel, Denis Dushin, Music: Sergey Vasilyev, Marina Landa, Dmitry Byurganovsky
Alexandra Averyanova graduated from Fine Arts Faculty, Graphics Department of the Herzen University in St. Petersburg, and then began to work at the “Melnitsa Studio” as a set designer. She then continued as an animator and then as a director of animation series “Kikoriki” at the computer animation studio “Petersburg”.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 1
Sunday, 2. October, 16pm
Klementhro
Britain / 2015 / Animation / 3 min
OT English / UT German
Who are we? Where do we go? What will we find there? Klementhro is drifting on the endless seas on his raft, greeting everything and everyone who crosses his path. He may not have all the answers, but he surely has a paddle. What would he do, and where would he get, without it? A warning example.
Director: Sue Dunham, Producer: Ben Mitchell,
Script: Ben Mitchell, DoP: N/A,
Editor: Ben Mitchell, Sound: Ben Mitchell, Music: Ben Mitchell
Sue Dunham (aka Ben Mitchell) is a Bristol-based animation/post-production freelancer, independent director, writer and graphic novelist. As an independent director she has produced several multi-award-winning short animated films that have been showcased at over 100 international film and animation festivals.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 1
Sunday, 2. October, 16pm
A Single Life /
Netherlands / 2014 / Animation / 2 min
OT ohne Di / UT -
A mysterious record makes Pia travel all the way through her life. But how far does her curiosity reach?
Director: Job, Joris, Marieke, Producer: Job, Joris, Marieke,
Script: Job, Joris, Marieke, DoP: N/A,
Editor: N/A, Sound: Job, Joris, Marieke, Bob Kommer Sound Studios, Music: Happy Camper Featuring Pien Feith
Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins and Marieke Blaauw (Netherlands) formed a studio for illustration, animation, character design and music called Job, Joris & Marieke. They studied at The Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In 2007 they founded their studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Their work varies from tv commercials, educative films, music videos and short films.
Short Documentary / Animation Film 1
Sunday, 2. October, 20pm
Kaputt / Broken – The Women’s Prison at Hoheneck /
Germany / 2016 / Animation / 7 min
OT German / UT English
Gabriele Stötzer and Birgit Willschütz were political prisoners at Burg Hoheneck, the most notorious women's prison in East Germany. In the film, they talk about the merciless grind of their prison days and the emotional repercussions which haunt them to this day. Their account is centered on the enormous pressure of forced labour they were subjected to. Millions of tights, bedclothes and other commodities were produced by order of West German corporations, yielding material profits on both sides of the iron curtain. The seven-minute extract of voice recordings is paraphrased rather abstractly by monochrome drawings stripped down to the essential; a method that puts the film in the recent tradition of animated documentary.
Director: Volker Schlecht, Alexander Lahl, Producer: Max Mönch, Alexander Lahl / Die Kulturingenieure,
Script: Max Mönch, Alexander Lahl, DoP: Volker Schlecht,
Editor: Volker Schlecht, Sound: Hannes Schulze, Music: Hannes Schulze
Volker Schlecht (*1968 in Radeberg) works as an illustrator and filmmaker in Berlin. He studied communications design at Burg Giebichenstein Halle and was a teacher for the Animated Film programme at HFF Konrad Wolf for several years. He currently teaches sequential illustration at BTK Design University. Alexander Lahl was born 1979 in East Germany. He studied cultural sciences in Berlin, Wrocław and Frankfurt (Oder). He works as a writer, filmmaker and producer in Berlin and has co-founded a media production firm named Kulturingenieure.
Short Documentary / Animation Film 1
Sunday, 2. October, 20pm
Eye for an Eye / Auge um Auge
Germany / 2016 / Animation / 4 min
OT English / UT German
The second animated documentary in this block is based on an interview with Frederick Baer, a prisoner sentenced to death in Indiana (US), which was published on Youtube. Unobtrusive hand-drawn animation abstracts from the inmate's verbal statements and brings out subliminal and unspoken messages, turning the short film into a more general discourse on guilt and fate. The film, related to other entries in this block, asks questions about justice and atonement.
Director: Steve Bache, Mahyar Goudarzi, Louise Peter, Producer: Markus Kaatsch,
Script: Steve Bache, Mahyar Goudarzi, Louise Peter, DoP: N/A,
Editor: Steve Bache, Mahyar Goudarzi, Louise Peter, Sound: N/A, Music: N/A
Steve Bache – born 1990 in Pirna. Vocational training as a design assistant after finishing High School. Started studying directing at Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2014. Louise Peter – born 1982 in Berlin. Internships in theater, film and media industry after finishing High School, studied Philosophy and Theater, Film and Media Science in Vienna, finished her acting degree in Berlin and worked as a freelance actress for film and theater. Started studying screenplay at Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2014. Mahyar Goudarzi – born 1992 in Düsseldorf. Studied Applied Media Science in Cologne after finishing High School, completed internships in film and television industry and did editorial work for various television formats. Started studying directing at Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2014.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 2
Monday, 3. October, 18pm
Mi ne mozhem zhit bez kosmosa / We Can't Live Without Cosmos / Wir können nicht ohne den Kosmos leben
Russian Federation / 2014 / Animation / 15 min
OT ohne Di / UT -
Two friends who have known each other from their earliest years and share a passion for spaceflight take part in a training camp for cosmonauts. Each one is the best in his group, but it's a neck-and-neck race between them. They share a room, have lunch together and play chess against each other. In the evenings they read “We Can’t Live Without Cosmos”, a book that has accompanied them for almost all of their lives, still together. When the training is completed, they are left as the only two candidates for the space mission. A story about how a dream comes true and much more.
Director: Konstantin Bronzit, Producer: Alexander Boyarsky,
Script: Konstantin Bronzit, DoP: N/A,
Editor: Konstantin Bronzit, Sound: Vladimir Golounin, Music: Valentin Vassenkov
Konstantin Bronzit (* 1965, St. Petersburg, Russia) graduated in 1983 from Art school. In 1992 he graduated from High institute of Art and Design and in 1994 he graduated from High Courses of directors in Moscow. He is a member of French Film Academy and Academy of Motion Pictures.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 3
Tuesday, 4. October, 20pm
The Old Man And The Bird / Der alte Mann und der Vogel
Germany / 2015 / Animation / 7 min
OT ohne Di / UT -
In a lonely cabin in the woods, a very old man braves the driving snow and the cold of the winter, when suddenly a robin collides with his window pane. The bird needs help, but the old man's strength is limited. A film about love, life and passing away.
Director: Dennis Stein-Schomburg, Producer: Roland Fischer,
Script: Dennis Stein-Schomburg, DoP: Christoph Neugebauer,
Editor: Dennis Stein-Schomburg, Sound: Tobias Böhm, Christian Wittmoser, Music: Thomas Höhl
Dennis Stein-Schomburg was born 1985 in Hamburg. He has been a student of animated film at Kassel Art University since 2008. The old man and the Bird (2015) is his graduation film.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 4
Thursday, 6. October, 18pm
Manoman
Britain, United Kingdom / 2015 / Animation / 10 min
OT ohne Di / UT -
Glen is doing a primal scream therapy to get closer to his manliness. Surrounded by crying men, he's unable to utter a single scream until he finally feels so cornered that he can't help it anymore. He spawns a creature, a smaller version of his self, that goes beyond all limits and does the impossible and unthinkable. Together with this companion, Glen feels strong, wild and unrestrained. The consequences are fatal, to the bitter end.
Director: Simon Cartwright, Producer: Kamilla Kristiane Hodol,
Script: Simon Cartwright, DoP: Steven Cameron Ferguson,
Editor: Paco Sweetman, Sound: Dayo James, Music: Terence Dunn
After graduating from Edinburgh College of Art Simon Cartwright wrote and co-directed the acclaimed stop-motion short The Astronomer's Sun (2010). He returned to study at the NFTS in 2013, resulting in his film MANOMAN. Currently working in London, Simon Cartwright is involved in both animated and live-action work.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 4
Thursday, 6. October, 18pm
Ono / It / Es
Russian Federation, Belarus / 2015 / Animation / 8 min
OT English / UT -
A monster crawls into a young man's daily life. It doesn't take very long until he can't live with it on his side anymore – nor is he able to be without it. A struggle against addiction and his own fears ensues.
Director: Genadzi Buto, Producer: Alexander Gerasimov,
Script: Genadzi Buto, DoP: N/A,
Editor: N/A, Sound: Genadzi Buto, Music: Stanislav Makovsky
Genadzi Buto is a director, animator, artist and designer. Born in 1983 in Minsk, Belarus. In 1998 he graduated from art school. In 2006 graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Arts in Minsk, Belarus. In 2011 he moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is now engaged in his own animation projects.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 5
Friday, 7. October, 20pm
Islander´s Rest
Switzerland / 2015 / Animation / 18 min
OT ohne Di / UT -
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean lies a windswept island full of strange customs – an island between rest and desire with a little boy right in the middle. ISLANDER’S REST is a rough and tender animation dealing with growing up, the loss of innocence, weird desire and the comfort of recycling. "The boat goes out so often it comes back drunk from the sea." (a proverb from the island)
Director: Claudius Gentinetta, Frank Braun, Producer: Claudius Gentinetta,
Script: Claudius Gentinetta, Frank Braun, DoP: Claudius Gentinetta,
Editor: Marcel Ramsay, Sound: Peter Bräker, Music: Seamus Fogarty
Claudius Gentinetta (*1968 in Lucerne, Switzerland) completed several study programmes in graphics and animation in Lucerne, Liverpool and Kassel, Germany. In 1995 he received a 'studio year' scholarship in Krakow, Poland. Claudius works as an aminator and graphic novelist in Zurich. Frank Braun (*1965 in Winterthur, Switzerland) lives and works in Zurich. He is programme director for the cinemas Riffraff (Zurich) and Bourbaki (Lucerne). Frank established the Fantoche International Animated Film Festival in Baden, Switzerland. After being a board member to the festival for many years, he is now head of the festival's funding agency.
Short Feature Film / Animation Film 5
Friday, 7. October, 20pm
Eggplant / Aubergine
United States / 2015 / Animation / 7 min
OT English / UT -
Durian was born with a facial expression that distinguishes him from all other children. We follow him through his real life and the imaginary world inside his head into early adulthood. A film about being different.
Director: Yangzi She, Producer: Yangzi She,
Script: Yangzi She, DoP: N/A,
Editor: Yangzi She, Sound: N/A, Music: Jennifer Dirkes
Yangzi She (*1989, Beijing, China) was raised in Beijing and moved to Los Angeles to study animation at UCLA since 2011. Eggplant is her thesis film. She currently works as a freelance storyboard artist and visual designer.