Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 17, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The Berlin Today Award short film competition is entering the next round with a new objective: On the occasion of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which will mark its 20th anniversary in 2009, the coming competition round will be under the theme “My Wall”. The five best short film ideas are to be realised by young production companies from all over Germany.
A new component of the competition is a one-month material and project development phase (residency) for the young directors. Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier has assumed patronage of the Berlin Today Award 2009. Director Wim Wenders will accompany the competition as a mentor. The Berlin Today Award is supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Federal Foreign Office.
Participants in the Berlinale Talent Campus and producers from all over Germany can now apply to realise one of the short film projects. Online applications are possible on the award website, where the conditions of participation can also be viewed.
As part of a “Producers’ Meeting” during the Berlinale Talent Campus 2008, a selection of 15 talents will have the chance to convince the producers present of their film idea. The five projects that make the leap into practice will be realised by the end of 2008. The short films will celebrate their world premiere at the opening of the Berlinale Talent Campus 2009. Afterwards, worldwide exploitation of the short films in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut is planned.
Three short films by campus talents were produced by the Berlin production company zero fiction film as part of this year’s competition round: Maheen Zia from Pakistan tells a gripping story about the strength of trust and the power of prejudice in “Match Factor”; Dane Ole Bendtzen is on the trail of Berliners’ hairstyles in “Berlin Hair Today”. Finn Ville Jankeri stages a comedy about an unusual suicide attempt with “The Last Wash”. The short films will premiere at the opening of the Berlinale Talent Campus on February 9, 2008. The organiser of the Berlin Today Award is boxfish events, Berlin.
Further Links:
- Berlin Today Award
