The short documentary has established itself as a capable participant in the long run, and recently garnered a growing interest by the public. With the International Competition, interfilm has long provided the short documentary with a generous platform, and this year it is in the spotlight as the festival focus.
With a total of twelve programs, interfilm invites festival audiences to get to know the multi-faceted world of contemporary short documentary film. In the two competition programs, 17 films from 10 countries compete for the votes of the special documentary jury, including Uli Gaulke – winner of the German Film Award 2001, Best Documentary for “Havanna, mi amor”, Angelika Krüger-Leißner – member of German parliament, Marcus Winterbauer – director of the award-winning film “Full Metal Village” and Dr. Gabriele Weyand – author and editor at ZDF.
Eight additional special programs, including programs featuring documentaries from festivals in Leipzig and Kassel, films without dialogue, and documentaries for children age 10 and up offer audiences the opportunity to discover new forms and cinematic development of documentation. In addition, two podium discussions offer a platform for international guests to illuminate specific problems and questions concerning the subject of documentary film. With a total of 81 films in the eight special programs, interfilm hopes to illustrate that the short documentary can definitely compete with other film genres in every aspect – suspense, innovation, memorability and entertainment value.
Documentary Competition
Nominated 7 times, animation is the most notable of all the documentary types. Animated documentaries are a special kind of so-called hybrids. In recent years, the animated documentary has been utilized often to illustrate historical events, however long ago they may have occurred. A prime example is the Australian competitor Cry from the Past, in the program Work to Work.
The general theme of Passions is the display of ardent protagonists in their parallel worlds. More specifically, these films feature extravagant collectors, British youths, an obscure forest of death, and life in virtual spaces, like in Our Brilliant Second Life, by S. Matulick. De Wereld als Verzameling by K. Davidse, who will be present at the festival, is a portrait of the unique collector Eric Fens.
Fri., 9 Nov. 07, 20:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater Kino 2
Sat., 10 Nov. 07, 18:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater Kino 2
The program From Work to Work shows a cross-section of the many-layered world of work today and in these changing times. Funny, tragic, grotesque. Immediate and often visually impressive. La dernière journée by director O. Bourbeillon, who will be present at the festival, is an interesting cinematic study on the closing of a factory.
Thu., 8 Nov. 07, 20:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater Kino 2
Fri., 9 Nov. 07, 18:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater Kino 2
Special Programs:
FOC 1 und FOC 2: Jan Peters
interfilm presents a work exhibition of more than 16 years of filmmaking by the “one-man legend of German diary film.” Ghost in the Machine shows the complete December diary film series (1997), a touching story of contact with a deceased friend, and mourning as a way to remember. The program Ausser Atem explores the beginnings of Peters body of work, showing an autobiographical flow of images and words on a scavenger hunt for the truths of life. His most recent film Wie ich ein freier Reisebegleiter wurde, part of the special program Reality Bites, asks the right questions about employment - at the right time.
FOC 1: "Ghost in the machine": Sat., 10 Nov. 07, 16:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater Kino 5
FOC 2: "Außer Atem": Sun., 11 Nov. 07, 19:30 Roter Salon der Volksbühne
FOC 3: Kassel Documentary and Videofest
As part of this year’s focus on the documentary film, the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Fest will make a special appearance at interfilm. Full-length German documentaries, international short film compilations, and the exhibit MONITORING are the heart and soul of this festival, which had its debut in 1983. The program features three short film productions shown at the 2006 Kassel festival.
Fri.,9 Nov. 07, 16:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 5
FOC 4: No Comment
These films have no dialogues / narrator, moving the images to the foreground and creating a unique snapshot of reality with a very authentic feel. The viewer becomes the camera’s silent accomplice in the observation of personal paths, natural forces and working worlds. J. Systad Jacobsen’s 6-minute film Klovnebarna, which is also a competition selection, is a poetic portrait of one day in the lives of two young brothers who make a living as clowns on the streets of Guatemala City.
Wed., 07 Nov. 2007, 18:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 5
Sat., 10 Nov. 2007, 13:00 Babylon Berlin:Mitte - Saal 1
Sun., 11 Nov. 2007, 13:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 5
FOC 5: Reality Bites
Reality Bites is freeform play with reality and portrayal. Documentary or not? This program is a subtly entertaining combination of unreal reality and really unreal.
Some examples include bizarre notions in burial rites, “autobiofilmographers” with the need to share, like in Herr Müller Herr Schulze by A Weimer. In this film, the protagonist is director, cameraman, soundman, cutter and actor in all roles at once. What is he trying to achieve with these stories from day-to-day office life?
Wed., 07 Nov. 2007, 20:30 Babylon Berlin:Mitte - Saal 2
Sun., 11 Nov. 2007, 20:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 2
FOC 6: Realities Rewind - Highlights from 5 years of the International Competition
A selection of masterpieces and award-winning films from the past five interfilm Documentary Competitions. The filmmakers paint sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking portraits of, but not limited to: an unreal scene in the automobile red light district, one individual’s inner conflicts, and “the first time.” The answers to the question “How was it the first time?” set the tone in P. Mattson’s Aldrig som första gången!, which won the Silver Bear at the 2006 Berlinale. It is also a competitor in the program "Public Intimacies", and will be shown in the special program European Film Academy Short Film 2007 - Prix UIP 2.
Thu., 08 Nov. 2007, 18:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 5
Sun., 11 Nov. 2007, 19:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 3
FOC 7: Animadok in Leipzig
1997 wurde beim Internationalen Leipziger Festival für Dokumentar- und Animationsfilm das Programm Animadok eingeführt. Der Fokus ist hierbei auf Filme gerichtet, die dokumentarische Themen mit Mitteln des Animationsfilms darstellen. Beispielhaft für das seit zehn Jahren etablierte Programm zeigt DOK Leipzig eine Auswahl von Filmen der letzten drei Jahre.
In 1997, the Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animation Film presented the program ANIMADOK, which features films that combine the genres of animation and documentary. The main focus is on films that portray documentary subjects using animation. This year’s ANIMADOK is the tenth as an established program, and DOK Leipzig presents an exemplary selection of ANIMADOK films from the past three years.
Thu., 08 Nov. 2007, 16:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 2
Sun., 11 Nov. 2007, 18:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 5
Kuki 8 – Children’s Short Film: Look at the World! – Documentary Film Program (age 10+)
For the first time, interfilm presents a documentary film program for children and youths age 10 and up. In all of these films, young people have the floor, telling of their realities, which range from experiences with poverty, leaving home and dreams for the future. School students between the ages of 12 and 21 answer the question “What does work mean in the future?” in the film Mit Pferden kann man nicht ins Kino gehen by A. Wahle, who will be present at the festival.
Thu., 08 Nov. 2007, 11:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 1 (Schulprogramm)
Fri., 09 Nov. 2007, 15:00 Hackesche Höfe Filmtheater - Kino 3
Panel 1
Look at the World! Documentary film for and by children and young people.
Sat., 10 Nov. 2007, 16:00 Roter Salon der Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
The documentary offers children gentle access to subjects, questions and problems in the world, and the opportunity to discuss them: What kinds of different realities are there? How do people in other cultures live? What joins them together? How do they deal with conflicts and crises? Taking these questions one step further through hands-on filmmaking can open up a new perspective for young people – on themselves, their environment and the media.
The documentary as a key to the world? How do filmmakers, editors, festivals and pedagogues take on the opportunities and responsibilities of children’s documentary film? Who decides which subjects and imagery are interesting or appropriate? How do children and youth experience the results? What can working with youth in film accomplish, and in what setting can it best take place?
Using examples in film, children and adults exchange ideas on these and similar questions.
Participants:
- Mark Aitken, documentary filmmaker, producer and director of Polkadotsonraindrops, a youth documentary workshop in London
- Alessandro de Filippo, documentary filmmaker, member of the film collective Cane Capovolto and instructor at the University of Catania. Has implemented numerous workshops on “educazione all’imagine” (education in pictures).
- Leopold Grün, documentary filmmaker (“Der rote Elvis“), manager of the Institut Jugend Film Fernsehen Berlin, member of the selection committee of doxs! at the Duisburg Film Week.
- Isabel Šuba, director of the short documentary “12. Etage“, student at HFF Potsdam.
- selected children.
Moderation:
N.N.
Panel 2
Mirror Reflections
The autobiographical documentary – searching and finding
Sun., 11 Nov. 2007, 16:00 Roter Salon der Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
Making a film about what is most dear to oneself sounds easy, but treacherous terrain and unforeseen traps await those who turn the camera on themselves, making their own lives the subject of observation. How far must one go to ensure that everyone recognizes him or herself in a film self-portrait?
More so than other documentaries, autobiographical documentaries raise questions of subjectivity and performance, and of the relationship between living and creating. Many-layered and interesting narrative forms often emerge, blurring the lines that separate the development process and the film. But what happens to the protagonist? Does the distance from oneself grow with the intimacy of the film? Does one’s life become fiction? What discoveries can be made by looking through a camera into a mirror – and for whom?
Participants:
- Jan Peters, filmmaker and co-founder of the filmmaking collective “Abbildungszentrum,” maker of film diaries since 1990.
- Maria Mohr, filmmaker, her 2005 short autobiographical documentary “Cousin Cousine“ is about a love that couldn’t be.
- Bin Chuen Choi, filmmaker, returned to his home, Hong Kong, with ”Lost property Hong Kong“ (2006).
Presentation:
- Cornelia Klauß, curator for the Leipzig Animation and Documentary Festival, and for the Oberhausen Short Film Festival, dramaturgist and author.
interfilm Berlin is sponsored by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the EU Media Program.
The 23rd International Short Film Festival Berlin takes place under the patronage of Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin.
We would be glad to supply photographs and / or more detailed programme information you should require.
Chatelin Bruno 
