Shooting Europe!
The European Short Film Festival

Three days of screenings and heated discussions, fifty-two movies from
eighteen countries (forty-six in competition), around one hundred
viewers from thirteen countries - „Shooting Europe!" The European
Short Film Festival organised by the European Students' Forum – AEGEE
took place between 1st and 5th of May 2005 in Karlsuhe (Germany).

The programme consisted of screening movies, discussions with authors
and invited guests – professionaly connected with the cinema industry.
Participants and movie makers as well as the speakers originated from
various European countries which means they represented different
cultural backgrounds, different attitudes. This kind of confrontation
allowed everyone to see problems, issues showed and discussed in a
different light.

Each day was devoted to one separate category. After the screenings of
movies in competition both the Jury: Ann Dettmar, Michiel van Hees
("AEGEE20"), Josef K. Jünger, Wolfgang Petroll, Jan Schomburg, Betina
Szkudlarek ("Cultural Differences in Dialogue" and "Where Do My Rights
End?") and the audience were choosing the winners. And the results are
as follows:

2.05.2005 'Cultural Differences in Dialogue' – how do you see everyday
encounters of different cultures?

First prize: "GRIEF" by Daniel Lang (Germany 2004)
The Jury wants to give the award for the best film in the section
„Cultural differences in dialogue" to a film, which very poetically
deals with the difficulty of human communication. Based on a
Chechov-Novel Director Daniel Lang tells us the story of Russian
immigrant Iona in Berlin, whose son has just died. He desperately
searches someone he can share his grief with but no one will listen.
After a long night in Berlin, Lang ends his story with an intriguing
image, that in its ambivalence seems to be a happy and a tragic end at
the same time. The Jury was especially fascinated by the filmmaker's
precise feeling for strong poetic images and the sensitive lighting of
Berlin by night. An excellent performance of the actors completes the
utterly positive impression of the movie. The director shows us that
the basis of human cultural exchange is the willingness to
communicate, to listen and to understand each other.  The award for
the best film in the section "Cultural Differences in Dialogue" goes
to the film "Grief" by Daniel Lang.

Special mention:  "MADE IN GERMANY" by Matthias Fritsch and Alex
Kröpfl (Germany 2002)
The Jury wants to give a special mention to a film, which convinces
particularly by its straightforward, consequent and at the same time
humorous and entertaining realisation. The film deals with the
question, what a country – in this case Germany – would be without
imports or influences of other countries and cultures. In a time, in
which right winged and neofascist organizations seem to gain more
influence again, the film uses intelligent humour to show the
absurdity and stupidity of racist ideologies. A special mention of the
jury goes to "MADE IN GERMANY".

Audience Award: "BIG FREEDOM" by Michael Ruf (Germany 2004)


3.05.2005 'Where Do My Rights End?' – what are your reflections on the
respect for human rights today?

First prize: "NAME AND NUMBER, PLEASE" by Gorki Glaser-Müller (Sweden 2004)
The brutal violation of human rights through organs of a government
based on a humane constitution is a disturbing aspect of social
organisation. It is especially disturbing, if this happens in one of
the so-called "civilized" democratic countries like Sweden.
Writer/Director Gorki Glass-Müller in his documentary-style fiction
Name & Number carefully analyzes the psychological mechanisms involved
on the violators as well as on the victim's side. Technically
brilliant with images of sensitive directness, impressively cut and
with a touching performance by the entire cast, the jury unanimously
chose to give the Award for the Best Film in the section "Human
Rights" to the Film "Name and Number" by Gorki Glass-Müller.

Special mention:  "INVISIBLE" by Linda Dzhakeli (Georgia 2003)
The jury finds the film "Invisible" worthy of a special mention as it
revealed a deep genderspecific gap in the perception of the Jury. The
film is an observation of the problematic situation of women in the
rural Azerbaijan Part of Georgia and the serious violation of their
human rights. Without commenting them writer/director Liana Dzhakelis
weaves statements from men and women of different generations to a
clear picture of deeply rooted oppression. While the male fraction had
problems in grasping its point, the women in the Jury found the film
very precise and convincing. This different reception lead to a
one-hour-discussion and the whole Jury agreed that a film evoking such
controversial feelings deserves a special mention.

Audience Award: "A FAMILY" by Goran Kapetanovic (Sweden 2004)


4.05.2005  'AEGEE20' – what are AEGEE's contributions to European integration?

First prize: "THE CD RETURNS" by AEGEE TV (Belgium 2004)
The Jury gives the Award for the Best Film in the Section "AEGEE20" to
"The CD returns" because it captures the AEGEE group spirit in an
ordinary project like cleaning a house. It does so by telling an
entertaining story with precise timing, fast pacing and a sensitive
feeling for the humour of everyday-situations. The consequent
storytelling in this film is outstanding among the selection and
convinced the jury to reward the filmmakers with a camera to support
further efforts in the field of moviemaking.

Special mention:  "MEET AGAIN AT THE AGORA" by AEGEE TV (Greece 2002)
The Jury wants to give a special mention to film, which very
emotionally and charmingly shows us how different members of AEGEE
meet again at the Agora. The whole jury liked the simple idea of
picturing the happiness of reuniting people from all over Europe thus
showing us also what an organisation like AEGEE can do for the
understanding between cultures. The ability to combine the magic of
cinema with the reality of human emotions makes "Meet again at the
Agora" a real feel-good—movie.

Audience Award: "GERMAN SPAGHETTI" by Marzena Gawenda (Poland 2005)


The social programme every evening gave young directors and
specialists as well as the audience opportunity for an informal talk,
exchange of ideas and remarks.

More information, detailed programme, descriptions of all the movies,
catalogue to download: www.aegee.org/moviefestival
Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to
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AEGEE is one of Europe's largest interdisciplinary and voluntary
student associations, operating without being linked to any political
party, promoting a unified Europe, cross-border co-operation,
communication and integration in academic environment, and at the same
time striving to create an open and tolerant society by involving
students and young graduates in valuable projects and discussions over
the topics of importance for the communities they live in. It is
represented in 260 university cities, in 42 countries all around
Europe and has about 17000 members.