Press Release
- Short film festival drawing international cinematic audiences from 4 to 9 April
- “Focus Syria” Festival Highlight: Filmmakers Ossama Mohammed, Hala Al-Abdallah, Zaina Erhaim and Yasmeen Fanari guesting at FILMFEST DRESDEN
- Open Air Short Film Event: “International short films for everyone”
- Denis Côté tribute
Dresden, 03.04.2017 – Short films on the silver screen: Tomorrow, the 29th FILMFEST DRESDEN kicks off and is luring local and international short film fans as well as numerous specialist media visitors to its festival screenings, special events and receptions from 4 to 9 April once more. One special focus this year is on Syrian film, with a range of events and film programmes being held with renowned Syrian filmmakers in attendance. Already for the third time, the international Open Air short film event on Neumarkt square, next to Dresden’s landmark Frauenkirche, is running parallel to the festival.
The centrepiece of this year’s festival edition are the International and National Competitions: With 63 short films competing here for the “Golden Horsemen” trophies and special prizes. The competition entries were selected from more than 2,000 submissions from 94 countries. Among those filmmakers known from pervious festival editions of FILMFEST DRESDEN are the directors Špela Čadež (Slovenia) and Ena Sendijarevic (the Netherlands), as well as the filmmakers Daniel Mulloy (Great Britain) and Franck Dion (France), all of whom are again represented this year with their latest short film productions in the International Competition.
In addition to the competition sections, the 29th FILMFEST DRESDEN has an extensive range of 28 further special programmes.
Rolling out the Red Carpet for Short Film: International Film Industry Guests
This year, glamour is being provided at the 29th FILMFEST DRESDEN by its numerous international filmmakers, who will be attending the screenings and other events during the festival week. These include the multi-award winning Canadian film director Denis Côté, who is also a Jury Member for the International Competition. He is presenting a masterclass about his filmic oeuvre during the festival. Likewise, the Hong Kong-based German visual artist Max Hattler is on the Jury for the National Competition and is also screening a retrospective of his work at the festival. As part of the “Focus Syria” festival programme and events, the renowned Syrian director Ossama Mohammed is also presenting a masterclass. A number of Syrian guests are expected in Dresden for the festival, including the Syrian filmmaker Yasmeen Fanari, who is on the Jury for the International Competition as well. A further festival special is “Cinema Without Barriers”. For the first time ever this year, FILMFEST DRESDEN is screening selected film programmes barrier-free. Issues related to social participation and the everyday barriers we have in our own heads are also being explored in various events at the festival.
Festival Open Air with Historic City Backdrop
Parallel to the festival week, for the third time FILMFEST DRESDEN is screening more than 66 short films in 14 programme blocks as part of the select Open Air event on Dresden’s Neumarkt square with its landmark Frauenkirche. The animation and fiction films, as well as short documentaries being screened here come from more than 20 countries and range from the cheerful to the bitter sweet.
29th FILMFEST DRESDEN FACTS:
12 screening locations and cinemas in Dresden
63 animated and short fiction films from 25 countries competing for nine Golden Horsemen and four special prizes
250 further short films running in 20 special programmes
Prize money amounting to €66,000 waiting to be awarded
New record: more than 600 accredited visitors from the media and film industry
“Focus Syria” events with special film programmes, panel discussions and masterclasses
“Barrier-free Cinema” events with special programme, workshop and panel discussion
Info about the festival programme: filmfest-dresden.de/en/programme
Partner and Supporters of 29th FILMFEST DRESDEN
Partner: AOK Plus – Die Gesundheitskasse für Sachsen und Thüringen
Main Media Partner: Sächsische Zeitung
Main Supporters: Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Amt für Kultur und Denkmalschutz der Landeshauptstadt Dresden
Supporters: Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, Creative Europe MEDIA, Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung
About FILMFEST DRESDEN – International Short Film Festival
FILMFEST DRESDEN (http://www.filmfest-dresden.de/en/), which was founded in 1989, is counted among the most renowned and best-endowed short film festivals in Europe. Each year over the six festival days in mid-April, it brings the latest short film productions from Germany, Europe and the world to the cinema screens in the capital of Saxony, and attracts about 25,000 visitors, including 550 accredited media professionals. Prize money totalling €66,000 is awarded in the National and International Competitions for animated and fiction films, together with four special prizes. These include the DEFA Promotion Prize Animation, the ARTE Short Fiction Film Prize, the “Golden Horseman” Sound Design, as well as the Saxon State Ministry for Science and the Fine Arts Promotion Prize, which is endowed with €20,000.
Each year, more than 2,000 short films from 100 countries are submitted for selection to the National and International Competition sections.
In addition to the competitions, the festival also has an extensive range of special programmes which focus on specific themes and countries, as well as retrospectives and film programmes for children and adolescents. Since 2012, the festival’s “etc. – events.trainings.connections” section has organised panel discussions, talks, workshops, exhibitions and receptions for media professionals attending the festival as an addition to the film programmes.
FILMFEST DRESDEN is listed as an official reference festival by Germany’s main film funding body, the FFA. It is a member of AG Kurzfilm, the federal German short film association, the European Film Academy (EFA) and the Filmverband Sachsen e.V., the film association in Saxony, as well as being involved in the Netzwerk Kultur Dresden local culture network, the WOD initiative for a cosmopolitan Dresden and the Kulturloge Dresden, which brings culture to low income individuals.
The 29th FILMFEST DRESDEN is being held from 4 to 9 April 2017.
