On Sunday, Nov. 20, winners of the 38th edition of the Interfilm Berlin International Short Film Festival and the 15th edition of the KUKI Young Short Film Festival Berlin were announced during the closing ceremony in the grand cinema of the historic Colosseum on Schönhauser Allee. Prizes worth € 44,000 were conferred.
INTERFILM 38 International Short Film Festival Berlin
The audience returned to the cinema: They celebrated the short film gems from near and far and the international guests were delighted by the friendly care of the festival team. 17,000 visitors were welcomed by INTERFILM 38 and KUKI 15. Foreign guests experienced snow for the first time and the festivals offered a ball pit of emotions in ten exquisite venues. And parties and events. Filmmakers from 27 countries were present, 200 guests were accredited.
The prize winners of seven competitions were announced on Sunday, Nov. 20, in the grand cinema of the historic Colosseum on Schönhauser Allee. Prizes worth € 44,000 were conferred.
The main prize in the International Competition goes to Lebanon for a film about a Syrian migrant who works as a crane operator in Beirut. He volunteers to operate the city’s highest crane. High above the city, he lives out his secret passion: Warsha by Dania Bdeir (France, Lebanon) celebrates a liberation of identity in the midst of unbearable working conditions. The award is sponsored by Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg.
The Best Live Action and Best Animation categories are Oscar®-relevant for 2023: Best Short Fiction, awarded by Katholisches Filmwerk, is Too Rough by Sean Lionadh of Scotland about two lovers in a homophobic family. Best Animation, awarded by the SAE Institute, is the brilliant animation Little Smasher by Gilles Cuvelier from France about a young boy’s struggle within his family.
The first prize in the German Competition goes to Hundefreund by Maissa Lihedheb. Awarded by D-Facto Motion, the 18-minute film deals with racism between lovers. The Art of Authenticity by Carlo Oppermann is runner-up and is about Berlin’s Urban Authenticity Authority, which keeps the city nice and dirty. The award sponsor is 25p cine support.
The documentary film competition awards the environmental film Haulout by Evgenia Arbugaev from England / Russia, among others, about a marine researcher who spends several months every year in a hut in a Siberian hut that gets surrounded by thousands and thousands of walruses, exhausted due to the lack of ice floes at sea. For several weeks the researcher and film crew were were trapped inside the hut. Awarded by: fritz-kola.
In turn, in the environmental film competition, the comedy Carné e s / Rare by Léo Deschênes from France won the award from the Heinrich Böll Stiftung. In it, a butcher flees to Italy after meat consumption is banned in France.
All award winners are listed on the INTERFILM BERLIN website at www.interfilm.de.
KUKI .15 Young Short Film Festival Berlin
In its 15th edition, KUKI reached over 7000 children and teenagers, parents and short film fans. Lively school and public screenings, as well as evening events for the 16+ programs, fun and insightful Q&A’s with visiting international filmmakers and tons of confetti all made for a wonderful return to the cinemas.
The winning film for Young Children was selected by second graders from Stephanus Elementary School in Weißensee, Franzy’s Soup-Kitchen from Georgia / France. The culinary animation leads to distant planets, where an important ingredient grows, namely, community. I am Leo was chosen as Best Children’s Film by the 6th grade of the Carl Bechstein Gymnasium from Erkner. The short live-action film tells the empathetic story of young Leo’s personal conflict and provides understanding and visibility for trans and non-binary children.
The youth jury from the Nelson Mandela School in Schöneberg conferred their award Best Film for Teenagers to the animation It’s Nice in Here from the Netherlands: a fragmented portrait of a boy and a deadly incident in which crucial parts are left out and we intentionally don’t get to see the whole picture. A deeply moving story that deals with police violence and systematic racism.
Best Short Documentary for Children as decided by the audiences who attended the Watch the World documentary competition went to Generation Impact: The Coder. It follows the empowering story of Jay Jay Patton, a young Black, female programmer and teacher who developed her own app at age 12 to help children stay in touch with their incarcerated parents in U.S. prisons.
All award winners and special mentions are listed on the KUKI Festival website.
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