[artinfo] Programs of the 48th Oberhausen Festival - A First Look

[Kurzfilmtage]

Expect the Unexpected: A first look at the programs of the
48th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, 2-7 May 2002

SPECIAL PROGRAM "CATASTROPHE"
The special program in 2002, "CATASTROPHE," for which planning began in May=
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2001, is based on the hypothesis that catastrophe is the unsettling shadow=
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of progress. Ever since the end of the world became a technical=20
possibility, the medial presentation of horror has known no bounds: in the=
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catastrophe, society envisages the fascinating picture of its own=20
extinction. Events such as those of September 11, 2001 can today no longer=
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be seen outside of their symbolic power and multiplication through=20
cinematic and television images.
"CATASTROPHE" focuses on the real and imagined threats to natural basic=20
needs of existence, physical health, social order, and political balances=20
of power world-wide. It examines war, apocalypse and the terror of the=20
spectacle. Pure survival strategies meet unconventional methods of=20
overcoming crises and the desire to deliberately expose oneself to dangers.=
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"CATASTROPHE" shows how images regulate the ambivalence between attraction=
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and fear  in documentations, experimental films, television images,=20
advertising and educational films, music videos, short movies, etc.
With works by Harun Farocki (GER), MVRDV (NET), Sandra Lahire (UK), Olivier=
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Zabat (FRA), Kristin Lucas (USA), Adbusters (CAN), Tony Oursler/Sonic Youth=
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(USA), and many others.


SPECIALS
JOHN MAYBURY belongs to the first generation of modern avant-garde artists=
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who were influenced by early music videos and themselves contributed=20
substantially to defining the genre. In the Spartan days of Thatcherism,=20
Maybury cultivated a subversive, utopian, angry form of cinema. In=20
Oberhausen, he will also present largely unknown Super-8 works and music=20
videos.

The widely varied works of the Canadian artist and filmmaker JOYCE WIELAND=
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(1931-1998) are full of vital intensity and good-humored dialectics.=20
Parodistic elements even occur in her mock agitprop films. The Festival=20
will be showing a comprehensive retrospective of this filmmaker.

JOHN SMITH'S love of storytelling is matched in its brilliance by=20
conceptual rigour, with an irreverence that belies profound humanitarian,=20
political and social concerns. Disregarding the boundaries between fact and=
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fiction, representation and abstraction, these works are hysterically=20
funny, vital, and continuously astonishing.

KARPO GODINA and ZELIMIR ZILNIK show outcasts and the billeted: drinkers=20
and whores, unemployed and ethnic minorities. And, at the same time, they=20
settle the score with the misery of abstract humanism, false avant-gardism,=
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empty left-wing phrases, and social demagogy.



COMPETITIONS
NEW: The GERMAN COMPETITION will for the first time take place concentrated=
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over two days. This gives Festival visitors a better chance to focus in on=
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what is the largest showcase for German short film world-wide, and to use=20
it as a contact forum.
(1st prize 2001: Mexico City, Christiane Lilge, 2000)

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
(Grand prize 2001: Teekond nirvaanasse/The Way to Nirvana, Mait Laas,=20
Estonia 2000)

CHILDREN'S AND YOUTH FILM COMPETITION, which is celebrating its 25th=20
birthday in 2002
(Prizewinners 2001: Tro, h=E5b og Batman/Faith, Hope and Batman, Linda K.=20
Holmberg, Denmark 2000, and Cappy Leit, Marie Kreutzer, Austria 2000)

MUVI AWARD for the best German music video
(1st prize 2001: Why, G. Graw/U. B=F6ckler; Music: Donna Regina, 2000).

In 2002 the Festival will again buy prizewinning and other selected films=20
from the competitions for its non-commercial distribution program.=20
Distribution contact: Melanie Piguel, info@kurzfilmtage.de


FILM MARKET, 1-7 May 2002
- an expected number of around 3,500 titles available for viewing (all=20
films and videos entered in the competitions; in 2001 there were over 3,600=
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titles from some 85 countries
- 15 video booths
- a printed catalog (German/English) with various indexes, contact=20
addresses and synopses
- about 200 confirmed sales a year, mainly to TV stations abroad, from the=
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USA to Australia.

FILM MARKET CATALOGUE ONLINE
For the second time, the catalog will be online from mid-April, accessible=
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only with password. You can find out about all Market activities under=20
www.kurzfilmtage.de in the Short Film Exchange.
Film Market contact: Hilke Doering, doering@kurzfilmtage.de


MEDIA PARTNERS
ARTE: ARTE, one of the biggest patrons of European short film, will be=20
continuing its cooperation with the Festival for the fourth year. It will=20
be awarding the ARTE Prize for the best European short film in the=20
International Competition, worth 2,500 euros, for the second time, and=20
showing European works from Oberhausen in a special edition of the TV=20
magazine "KurzSchluss."

3sat: No other German TV station gives short film better time slots than=20
3sat. 3sat has been a partner of the Short Film Festival for four years.=20
The 3sat Promotional Award, which has been presented at the German=20
Competition since 1999, will be worth 2,500 euros for a second time. 3sat=20
will also be broadcasting a special program with German entries from=20
Oberhausen as part of its schedule.

KINDERKANAL: For the third time, the Children's Channel of ARD and ZDF=20
(KI.KA) will be sponsoring the two prizes for the Children's and Youth=20
Cinema, each worth 1,000 euros.


AND MORE::
+++ In the International Competition, the "Werkleitz Award" for=20
"outstanding artistic usage of digital media," worth 5,000 euros, will be=20
presented in 2002 for the first and only time +++ From March 15, 2002, a=20
list of all works selected for the competitions will be online under=20
www.kurzfilmtage.de +++ Additional programs: Student films from NRW,=20
prize-winners from other festivals, the best international music videos,=20
music videos for young people, and films for three to five year olds in the=
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Children's and Youth Cinema +++


In 2001, around 1,000 accredited visitors, including about 200=20
representatives of the press, came to Oberhausen to take part in=20
discussions, celebrate, and, of course, see some 450 films in often=20
booked-out cinemas. Festival guests praise the relaxed atmosphere in=20
Oberhausen which makes getting into conversation easy. The Festival=20
organizes discussions after all the competition programs and many of the=20
Specials; the caf=E9s and Festival Lounge situated right next to the=
 Festival=20
cinema provide plenty of opportunities to establish and cultivate contacts.


CLOSING DATE FOR ACCREDITATION: 7 April 2002. Accreditation forms available=
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at info@kurzfilmtage.de
PRESS CONTACT AND PRESS ACCREDITATION: Sabine Niewalda,=20
niewalda@kurzfilmtage.de


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Grillostr. 34 | 46045 Oberhausen | Germany
Tel +49 (0)208 825-3073 | Fax 825-5413
www.kurzfilmtage.de
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen