European Film Awards - SHORT MATTERS!

As part of the 2ANNAS festival, the short films nominated to the prestigious European Film Academy (EFA) award will be shown in Latvia for the very first time. This initiative called “Short Matters!” highlights the importance of short-films within the film industry of the world and the processes of art-cinema. This program consists of films that have been hand-picked from various European short-film festivals in 2011 by members of the EFA to compete for the title of the best short-film of the year. “Short Matters!” includes both the nominees and the award-winners, therefore providing a versatile collection of works from more than 10 countries and festivals that are taking part in the EFA initiative, now also including 2ANNAS.

The short-films of EFA have been selected without any limitations of form and content, therefore providing a wide-ranging selection of films that vary from harsh realism to intimate psychology of the senses, from futuristic horror to innocent children’s play and amusing scenes of everyday-life.
This film selection has been created as a platform for the creative diversity of European cinema, holding the space for débutantes and new participants, as well as nominees and award-winners of previous years.

Short films allow for creative experiments and provocations and invite artists to play with cinematic styles – for many filmmakers the starting point of their career. It is important for the European Film Academy to support and promote young and talented newcomers and to celebrate this variety in European film culture.

BERIK
Denmark, 16 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Daniel Joseph Borgman
A short drama about friendship and understanding, set in Semey, Kazakhstan. Berik, 33, blind and deformed due to radiation poisoning, spends his days at home alone until Adil, 11, the  smallest and least popular of the kids in the apartment block, turns up on Berik’s doorstep looking for a football.
Daniel Joseph Borgman Born in 1981 in Dunedin, New Zealand. After studying Film Science at Otago University, he moved to Copenhagen and worked as a VFX artist and colourist. His first short THE MAN & THE ALBATROSS (2008) premiered in the Leopards of Tomorrow competition at the Locarno FF. His second short film LARS AND PETER (2009) competed in Cannes’ official short film selection and was nominated for a Danish “Robert”. BERIK (2010) won the Grand Prix in Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique. THE WEIGHT OF ELEPHANTS, his debut feature film project, is developed at the Cannes Cinéfondation’s TheResidence programme.

LITTLE CHILDREN, BIG WORDS
Sweden, 12 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Lisa James Larsson
When it’s Alex’s turn to tell his 7-year-old classmates what he wants to be when he grows up an uncomfortable discussion begins about the meaning of an unknown but loaded word. The teacher’s explanation reveals her own story – a story of victim and offender.
Lisa James Larsson grew up in central London. She studied film at Brunel University (1997-2000) before working as an editor and camera operator for 5 years. She started writing and directing in 2004 and moved to Stockholm to study film directing in 2005. In 2009 she completed a Master’s in screenwriting. Her graduation film PUSSYFOOTING premiered at Vail FF in 2009. LITTLE CHILDREN, BIG WORDS has won prizes at 16 film festivals world-wide and was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination in 2011. She is now making her feature film debut EGO, produced by Filmlance International and co-produced by SFI, Film I Väst, and Nordisk Film.

INCIDENT BY A BANK/ HÄNDELSE VID BANK
Sweden, 12 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Ruben Östlund
A detailed and humorous real-time account of a failed bank robbery, an observation of how people react to the unexpected. Shot in a single take and with over 96 people meticulously choreographed, the film recreates an actual event that took place in 2006.

Ruben Östlund  was born in 1974 on the small island of  Styrsö on the Swedish west coast. In 2004, he made his feature debut with the controversial fiction film THE GUITAR MONGOLOID, which won the FIPRESCI Award at the Moscow IFF 2005. In 2006, he directed the short film AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SCENE NUMBER:6882, which won the Prix UIP Edinburgh and was nominated for the European Film Awards as well as the Swedish Guldbagge for best short. His second feature INVOLUNTARY premiered in Cannes‘ Official Selection 2008. Exploring five different perspectives on the power of the group over the individual, the film was hailed as one of the most original films in the Un Certain Regard section. In 2011, Ruben’s third feature PLAY premiered in Cannes Director’s Fortnight, where it won the Prix Coup de Coeur.

DERBY
Romania, 15 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Paul Negoescu
Mircea has a 15-year-old daughter whose boyfriend is invited to dine with the family. He arrives earlier and they go to her bedroom. While watching TV, Mircea can hear his daughter moaning from her room. The dinner starts and Mircea finds out that the boyfriend supports a different football team.

Paul Negoescu was born in 1984 in Bucharest, Paul graduated in film directing from the national film school (UNATC). He directed several shorts selected and awarded in many international film festivals (three times at the Berlinale, Karlovy Vary, Rotterdam, London, Slamdance). It’s his second nomination for the European Film Awards after his film RENOVATION was nominated in 2009. He is also the artistic director of the Timishort Film Festival.

JESSI
Germany, 31 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Mariejosephin Schneider
11-year-old Jessi lives with a foster family, her mother is in prison. Her longing for identity takes her back to the village she grew up in. Here she discovers that her search will have to continue beyond the confines of her old life.

Mariejosephin Schneider assisted in art  production and production, followed by assistant  directorships. She directed numerous shorts during the course of her studies at the dffb, whereby LOVE HURTS, her spot for a social campaign (a collaboration with   Döndü Kilic), ran successfully at international festivals.

I LUPI/ THE WOLVES
Italy/ Netherland, 17 min., documentary
Written and directed by: Alberto De Michele
I LUPI (The Wolves) are a group of 40 to 70-year-old thieves from the north of Italy. The only time they steal is when there’s a dense fog that makes everything invisible, including them. They rob houses, banks, jewellers, trucks – anything they can profit from. The video I LUPI was made in collaboration with the Wolves themselves and the artist’s father.

Alberto Di Michele Alberto de Michele’s work straddles the line between (pulp) fiction and (plain) fact. It involves investigating romanticized notions of the culture of the outlaw by examining the world in which he himself grew up – a world that his father has never been able to leave behind. De Michele has participated in several international group exhibitions at renowned cultural centres such as the Reina Sofia National Museum Madrid (2010), De Appel Amsterdam (2008), Centraal Museum(2009), and Apexart, New York (2008). He studied in the audio-visual department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (1997-2001). Currently he is a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.

ÅTERFÖDELSEN/ THE UNLIVING
Sweden, 28 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Hugo Lilja
Thirty years after a zombie outbreak, people have started taming and using the zombies as cheap workforce. A young couple, Katrine and Mark, struggle with the tedious everyday life of dirty zombie catching, bloody lobotomy experiments and a relationship on the verge of falling apart.

Hugo Lilja He studied Cognitive Science at Umeå University and graduated from the University College of Film in Stockholm where he studied Film Directing. Among his former short films are HOME SERVICE (2008), ALTONA (2009), the interactive series DOLLPLAY (2009), and A DAY IN THE COUNTRY (2010, co-directed withPella Kågerman).

APELE TAC/ SILENT RIVER
Germany/ Romania, 30 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Anca Miruna Lăzărescu
Romania, 1986: Gregor and Vali want to get away. Both need each other,
yet there is mutual distrust. One night Gregor finds his doubts confirmed.
In the end only hope is left.

Anca Miruna Lăzărescu Born in 1979 in Romania, Anca M. Lăzărescu emigrated with her family to Germany in 1990. During her studies at the film school in Munich, she directed documentaries and short films which attracted international interest as they have won awards and were sold to many territories. THE SECRET OF DEVA about two young Romanian gymnasts and ONE DAY TODAY WILL BE ONCE(2009) about a music performance which will last for 639 years are two of these projects. SILENT RIVER is her graduation film, until now it has been invited to 41 international festivals. Writing these lines, she received a congratulation e-mail to the film’s 13th award. She thinks that is a good sign.

PAPARAZZI
Poland, 33 min., documentary
Written and directed by: Piotr Bernaś
The film presents a behind-the-scenes look at a much derided profession PAPARAZZI looks at some of the most significant media incidents in Poland in 2010 from the point of view of the paparazzi – from the hunt for Roman Polanski to the Smoleńsk plane crash. However, in the foreground we see the dramatic story of a man who makes controversial choices on a daily basis, and who consequently pays a heavy emotional, personal and ethical price. The main protagonist appears to be as ruthless towards himself as towards the world in which he hunts. 

Piotr Bernaś Born in 1973, he is a director, cinematographer photographer and documentary filmmaker with a degree in English Studies. For five year he worked as a war photographer for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. He is a laureat of numerous press photo competitions for picture stories from Poland, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Georgia, and the UK. He produces radio dramas, film studies, and documentaries. In 2010 he graduated from the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing.

LA GRAN CARRERA/ THE GRAT RACE
Spain, 7 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Kote Camacho
1914: a horrible crime is suddenly committed in the Lasarte racetrack. How it happened is a mystery. Only one thing is for sure: the best horses in the world are registered, and heavy betters have gathered for a race with a never-before-seen prize for the winning horse: the half-million Grand Prize. 

Kote Camacho Born in Oiartzun, 1980. A graduate in Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country, Kote Camacho has been a comic artist and scriptwriter for Napartheid. He has lived in Bilbao, Madrid and London. He has been a storyboard artist (CAÓTICA ANA by Julio Medem; 28 WEEKS LATER by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo), traditional and 3D animator and he has also worked in post-production. He currently lives back in the town where he wasborn, where he created his first short film for the silver screen, LA GRAN CARRERA.

DIMANCHES/ SUNDAYS
Belgium, 16 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Valéry Rosier
Sundays or how mankind faces the passage of time.That free time we are trying to fill at all costs.That same time we look at passing by, with laughter or boredom.

Valéry Rosier After studying Management Engineering, Valéry Rosier started film school in Belgium (IAD).  His award-winning film YETI got selected for numerous festivals. On the side, he worked as an assistant director on some feature films. In 2008, he shot GOOD NIGHT, a short film that won more than ten prizes all over the world and got nominated for the European Film Awards 2009. In 2011, he finished SUNDAYS and shot the documentary SILENCE RADIO in the north of France.

TSE/ OUT
Israel, 35 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Roee Rosen
A BDSM session turns into a political exorcism when the submissive responds to the blows by spewing out quotes of Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, Avigdor Lieberman. The film, concentrating on the theme of possession, is a hybrid of a fictional scene harking to horror movies. 

Roee Rosen (born in 1963) is an Israeli-American artist, filmmaker and writer. He heads the Advanced Visual Arts Programme at Ha’Midrasha Art College in Israel. Rosen’s installation “Live and Die as Eva Braun” (1995-1997) stirred a political scandal when first exhibited at the Israel Museum. Rosen is also the author of several books. “Justine Frank, Sweet Sweat”  was listed as one of the best books of 2009 by Artforum. In 2010 he created two films, HILARIOUS and OUT, which won the Orizzonti award for best medium-length film at the Venice IFF. A major solo exhibition, “The Dynamic Dead Roee Rosen”, was held in 2011 at the CCA in Warsaw.

OPOWIEŚCI Z CHŁODNI/ FROZEN STORIES
Poland, 26 min., fiction
Written and directed: Grzegorz Jaroszuk
The worst employees of a supermarket have to find a goal in their life. They have two days to make it.

Grzegorz Jaroszuk was born in 1983 in Warsaw, he finished his studies at the Directing Department of the Polish National School in  łódź in January 2011. He lives and works in Warsaw.

HYPERCRISIS
Austria, 17 min., experimental
Written and directed: Josef Dabernig
The former recreation home for Soviet cinematographers in the south Caucasus has been re-purposed to accommodate writers. But that does not seem to work very well either. At present, only Boris Martow from Moscow, a talent from the promising times of the perestroika, is on the guest list. Amidst the faded glory of the institution for privileged artists, the poet tries to overcome his continuing creative crisis.

Josef Dabernig Born in 1956 in Kötschach-Mauthen, Austria, Josef Dabernig is a visual artist and graduated in Sculpture in 1981. He has made films since 1994 and is based in Vienna.

THE WHOLLY FAMILY
Italy, 20 min., fiction
Written and directed by: Terry Gilliam
A crowded street in Naples city center, plenty of shops selling presepi. A wealthy American couple and Jake, their 10-year-old child, try to push their way through the crowd. While husband and wife argue which street to take, the boy is unwillingly separated from them and taken on a dreamlike journey between reality and imagination throughout the most hidden places and symbols of Naples.

Terry Gilliam is an American-British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including TIME BANDITS (1981), BRAZIL (1985), THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHHAUSEN (1988), THE FISHER KING (1991), 12 MONKEYS (1995), FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998), GRIMM BROTHERS (2005), TIDELAND (2006) and THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (2009). He is the only “Python” not born in Britain; he took British citizenship in 1968.

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