China

22 - 28 September 2014

1st ShortVisions international short film festival Ningbo – organized by interfilm Berlin and Ningbo Cultural Plaza successfully concluded on Saturday, Sept 28, in the port city of Ningbo, China, some 300 km south of Shanghai.

In a festivel closing night ceremony nine films were awarded a total prize money of 280,000 RMB (36.000 Euros) in four competitions in front of 1000 invited guests at the Grand Theater at Ningbo Cultural Plaza.

The 7-day event featured 228 films from 57 countries in 54 programs. Apart from the International, the Chinese, the Documentary and the Children film competiton the program consisted of special programmes with African- , Human rights-  and Environmental films as well as animation and experimental films, films about Berlin and from Germany and more - many of which were followed by long and intensive discussions with the directors after the screenings.

Aside from the many film screenings, the festival offered seminars at different universities the week before the festival and 5 master classes by renowned industry professionals from the Philippines, France, Zambia, Madagascar and Germany who were talking about their experiences with short film making with a total participation of 1600 students.

Apart from China, Hongkong and Taiwan filmmakers came from South Korea, Kenia, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia, Russia and many European countries.

The festival had more than 8000 visitors in total.

Artistic director Heinz Hermanns said: It was hard work to built up a festival between a German and a Chinese company with different ideas and concepts. It was probably the first time that a project like this was created in a European-Chinese cooperation. The idea was developed last year together with the German Producer Marcus Wellendorf who lives in Bejing. But the real preparation time was just 4 months. Considering that interfilm is taking place shortly after ShortVisions it was a difficult period to give birth to a new festival.

We were able to invite around 50 filmmakers from all continents and we were happy that inspite a Tayfun at the beginning of the festival the attendance was bigger than expected and the discussions long and intensive. All filmmakers enjoyed the cultural exchange and were happy presenting their films in for most of them unknown China. On the other hand for many of the Chinese audience it was the first encounter with foreign short films and filmmakers. Especially the young students were very interested and got many new ideas. There is a big interest in short films at the moment in the whole of China and we are happy to take part in this development.

Managing Director Cord Dueppe declared himself delighted with the success of this first edition: "ShortVisions has been a celebration of short film in all its forms, with challenging competition sections and many other programs, eagerly attended discussions by the Chinese public, master classes and open air screenings. interfilm wasn't sure what to expect when we decided to expand into China but the overwhelmingly positive response shows us that it was the right move. We are looking forward to year 2”

Jury members: International Competition: Sonia Hadchity - Libanon (Beirut International Short Film Festival Libanon), Raymond Red - Philippinen, Simon Ellis - England (Filmemacher), Rungano Nyoni – England/Sambia, Alvin Tse – China / Hong Kong (Hongkong Internationales Filmfestival)
Chinese Competition & Documentary Competition: Shirley Yihong Tempus -China, Li Zhi – China, Jimmy Chiao - China / Hong Kong, Liu Fen Dou – China, Nico Mesterharm - Kambodscha / Germany (Meta House Kambodscha), Hendrick Dusollier - Frankreich (Filmemacher), Till Dietsche – Taiwan / Deutschland (Tainan 39 Hour Short Film Contestival)

5 Masterclasses from Profis der Filmindustrie aus Deutschland, Frankreich, den Phillipinen, Madagaskar und Sambia betreut. Chinesische Filmstudenten und auch das interessierte Publikum können teilnehmen.