News
3rd International Short Film Competition “Crossing Boundaries”
(2008-11-10)
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and the year 1989 stand for the crossing or breaking down of actual and mental boundaries. 1939 is not only synonymous with the violent breach of a border, but also with a breach of civilisation which had been unimaginable before. The year 1989 started the peaceful revision of the boundaries and rifts created by the Cold War and quickly became a symbol of seemingly limitless freedom.
The Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” and the Goethe-Institut are jointly organising the 3rd International Short Film Competition on the subject of “Crossing Boundaries”. Young filmmakers are asked to submit their visions of the geographic and socio-cultural legacies of the events of 1939 and the social consequences of those of 1989. The competition aims to examine the question in how far the end of the Cold War helped the world to overcome the rifts created in 1939, while also asking about the events’ possible social impacts.
The competition is open to students of film schools or similar institutions in Belarus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the USA.
Submissions from all genres of filmmaking are welcome. We are hoping for a broad artistic spectrum of films ranging from dramas through documentaries to animated shorts.
Participants are asked to submit a treatment of a maximum length of one page to the Goethe-Institut in their respective country by 30 November 2008. In each of these countries, a national jury will pick the best three proposals, and their authors will be awarded a production budget of up to € 4,000 for the realisation of the film project. These short films should be shot on DigiBeta, Beta SP or DVCam and must not exceed a length of 15 minutes. The organizers are planning to put on a workshop on development and production for all participants, held in English in the spring of 2009.
The finished films will again be reviewed by the national juries, who will award prizes for the best two films from their respective countries (worth € 2,000 for the first place and € 1,000 for the second place). The winners will be invited to Germany for an awards ceremony expected to be held in November 2009.
The winning films will be released on a compilation DVD with subtitles in three languages (German, English and Russian).
Contact:
Renata Prokurat
Goethe-Institut Warschau
ul. Chmielna 13A
00-021 Warszawa
E-mail: prokurat@warschau.goethe.org