CLERMONT-FERRAND – A HOME FOR GERMAN SHORTS
Over the past 13 years, the International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand has developed into a steady platform for the presentation of German short films. Not only were the German Short Film Association (AG Kurzfilm) and German Films on hand with market screenings and a booth at the festival’s film market, but there were also nine German shorts or co-productions competing for the Grand Prix in the two sections International and Lab Competition during the 39th edition of the festival: THE PARTICULAR ABILITIES OF MR. MAHLER by Paul Philipp, ETAGE X by Francy Fabritz, HOMEWORK by Annika Pinske, THE TRANSFER by Michael Grudsky (DE/IL), and WANNABE by Jannis Lenz (DE/AT) were shown in the International Competition. KALTES TAL by Florian Fischer and Johannes Krell, BROKEN – THE WOMEN’S PRISON AT HOHENECK by Volker Schlecht and Alexander Lahl, PERSONNE by Matthias Müller and Christoph Girardet as well as UNITED INTEREST by Tim Weimann were selected for the Lab Competition.
At the German market stand, representatives of international short film festivals and organizations picked up the latest edition of the popular catalogue “German Short Films” and its accompanying preview DVDs. Additionally three programs were presented by the AG Kurzfilm: the 12th edition of the “Soirée Allemande” a French-German cooperation between AG Kurzfilm, German Films, the International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand, the Goethe-Institut Lyon and the KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg celebrated its premiere at the festival on 6 February.
The third edition of the program “EMERGING ARTISTS – Contemporary Experimental Film and Video Art from Germany” was presented as a market screening. This program of AG Kurzfilm and German Films was curated by representatives of notable German film festivals such as Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, International Short Film Week Regensburg and EMAF. It is available for screenings at festivals and art galleries.
A further nine outstanding German short films were presented in the market screening “Matinée Allemande · Coup de foudre – Le court métrage allemand”.