Jury Award of the International Competition, 3000 Euros

Bahari

Ahmed Ghoneimy, Egypt 2011, 12:39 min., Fiction

Jury statement: With his deeply personal short fiction piece, the director gives us a glimpse into a society in almost constant transition. Creating a dense atmosphere of allegation and fear, he tells the story of a surreal encounter close by the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Communication seems only possible in a fragmented way. This film won the jury over with its highly proficient, poetic and confident representations of locale, human interaction, and its delicate and deliberate timing.

Special Mention:

L’Ambassadeur & Moi (The Ambassador & Me)

Jan Czarlewski, Switzerland 2011, 15:35 min., Documentary

With a trembling camera and a stuttering voice, a young man confronts his idolized – but cold and distant – father. This is a sad, comical, brave and deeply human film where, in just under 16 minutes, the director shows us that big achievements on a grand scale can mean huge sacrifices on a personal level. The father's fights throughout his professional career have given him a shelf full of medals. We, the jury, now wish to give a nod of recognition for filmmaking excellence to the son.

Liberté-Audience Award (1500 Euros), presented by Gauloises, given to a short film from the International ort he German Competition

The Centrifuge Brain Project

Till Nowak, Germany 2011, 6:35 min., Fiction

The Audience Award (EUR 1.500,-) will be given to a film from the International or the German Competition.

25km2

Jana Mináriková, Slovak Republic 2011, 12:21 min., Experimental Fiction

Jury statement An intelligent and crazy meta-film with a great sense of humour, turning into a self-reflexive piece of filmmaking, unfolding a complexity of layers. Employing an excellently developed narrative with intertextual references, its elegance and style establish a unique universe.

Like Rats Leaving a Sinking Ship

Vika Kirchenbauer, Germany 2012, 24:29 min., Documentary

Jury statement: A personal story is set free to travel. The montage of images, sound, and identity as sonimage turns out to drill down on the autobiography. Humorous moments keep the balance between the author and the viewer. Kirchenbauer considerately applies cinematic methods and reflects their language form. Upright images are woven together, the subtitles work as karaoke text lines. Kirchenbauer tells her story in an unpretentious way without illustrating it.

Special Mention:

Escape

Rosa Hannah Ziegler, Germany 2011, 21:03 min., Fiction

Jury statement Nothing is provocative about “Escape”. Rosa Hannah Ziegler’s film is a version of adolescent violence and social alienation. By the director’s choice of Bach’s “The Art of Fugue” the film allows the viewer to bare the escalation within the story’s construction: Both contrasting main themes of the Fugue reflect the two different characters of the girls.

The previously implemented cell phone images develop a picturesque quality: the only sensual view the world’s searchers exceeds the boundaries of a common abstract picture. The topos of criminal youths, who are re-socialised in the unspoiled countryside, is rejected by the powerful mis-en-scène depicting barbarity. The coda, i.e. the ending, drives the fugue in repetition back to the beginning: “Escape” as “fugue” – a hopeless getaway.

Tarazoo (Scale)

Ramin Rahbar, Iran 2012, 2:03 min., Animation