The winners have been announced!
Young filmmakers from film, art, and media schools in Switzerland, France, and Germany had submitted 620 films in advance for the film festival organized by the Media Department at Hochschule Offenburg. From these, the preliminary jury selected a total of 72 films for the competition, which vied for prizes totaling 10,000 euros at Forum Cinemas Offenburg from April 12 to 24.
The films were screened in 13 competition blocks: seven blocks featuring a mix of short, medium-length, and animated films; five blocks dedicated exclusively to documentaries; and, following last year’s great success, another block dedicated solely to animated films. Through creative impulses, bold perspectives, and innovative forms of cinematic expression, the audience gained insight into the multifaceted and compelling issues that currently move these film students. This youthful perspective on the world is at times skeptical, accusatory, and dystopian, but also curious, brazenly cheeky, and intelligent—it reveals realms of reality and, above all, opens up realms of possibility. In times of unsettling change within our democratic societies, this is more important than ever.
Once again, selecting the winning films was an exciting task for the festival jury. For the short films, medium-length films, and animated films, the jury consisted of Pepe Danquart (filmmaker), Thorsten Schaumann (Artistic Director of the International Hof Film Festival), Urte Zindler (animator, writer, and illustrator), Max Disbeaux (writer and director). The documentary film jury consisted of Gudrun Hanke-El Ghomri (SWR’s Arte representative for documentary film), Michaela Kobsa-Mark (documentary filmmaker), and Erik Winker (film producer). The Sound jury consisted of Karolina Trybala (singer) and Max Schlichter (musician).
The award-winning films in the individual categories, each of which received a prize of 1,000 euros, are:
Best SHORT
FILM: *Engine of Love* by Mira-Belle Rose Bryld | University of Television and Film Munich | DE
Best MIDDLE-LENGTH
FILM *Roadkill*
Louis Gering | University of Television and Film Munich | DE
Best ANIMATED FILM
*City in the Fox*
Mikael Lindskov Jacobsen | Film Academy Baden-Württemberg | DE
Best SOUND
- sensemaking+
Lena Marie Rheinländer | Zurich University of the Arts | CH
FREEDOM AWARD from the City of Offenburg
Halima - A Guide to Being Strong
Linda Verweyen | Dortmund University of Applied Sciences | DE
Best Cinematography
: From Ecuador With Love
Jonathan Brunner | Film Academy Baden-Württemberg | DE
Best Production from Hochschule Offenburg
: Could We Be Friends?
Sandra Heiberger | Hochschule Offenburg | DE
Special Jury
Prize: A MEMORY OF SOMETHING THAT NEVER EXISTED
Elias Bötticher | Zurich University of the Arts | CH
Best DOCUMENTARY FILM
Our Name Is Foreigner
Selin Besili | Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art | CH
Offenburger Tageblatt
READERS’ CHOICE AWARD: SUSURROS
Alexandra Pewinski, Marie Lombard, Florian Reignier, Emma Pluchard, Lisa Francillon, Alice Parmentier | Rubica | FR
In addition, an Audience Award was presented in each of the 13 competition blocks, each carrying a prize of 100 euros. The winners of the Audience Awards are:
Tuesday, April 21:
Old White Ping-Pong Balls – Short Film
by Kira Held | Film Academy Baden-Württemberg | DE
Halima – A Guide to Being Strong – Docu-fiction
by Linda Verweyen | Dortmund University of Applied Sciences | DE
LOU ADORÉE – Medium-Length
Film by Kévin Corbou | Fémis | FR
Wednesday, April 22:
Champions and Us – Medium-Length Film
by Paul Hordych | KONRAD WOLF Film University Babelsberg | DE
Engine of Love – Short Film
by Mira-Belle Rose Bryld | University of Television and Film Munich
Mother of a Son - Short Film
by Kevin Koch | Ludwigsburg Film Academy | DE
Spielberg – A German Village – Documentary
by Adrian Sagolla | Film Academy Baden-Württemberg | DE
Line 12 – Animated
Film by Sarah Schulz and Christopher Schmier | KONRAD WOLF Film University Babelsberg | DE
Thursday, April 23:
Don’t Understand
Anything by Linus Kuttruff | Hochschule Offenburg | DE
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
by Tokay | University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Lucerne | CH
The Time Afterward
by Fabian Siegl | Hochschule Offenburg | DE
Djemtë e Ilirit
Robert Decani | IFS International Film School Cologne | DE
The Man Who Never Cries
Pascal Hoffmann | Hochschule Offenburg | DE