BACKUP & BEYOND: seven short films honoured at student short film festival
This weekend, seven short films received awards during the BACKUP & BEYOND Film and Media Art Festival of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
The main festival prize worth €1,500 went to the animation »Wicked Girl« by Ayçe Kartal about a girl suffering from abuse. Kartal studied time-based arts in Turkey and the USA. According to the jury, the filmmaker successfully »uses impressive drawings and the aesthetically enchanting yet disturbing world of images to give viewers an insight into the emotionally torn world of a little girl«.
The jury awarded a special mention to »eadem cutis: dieselbe haut«, an experimental documentary film by Nina Hopf. She recently concluded her studies in media art and design at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar with this work. Hopf portrays her twin brother in her intimate film about identity and gender roles.
The Achava Award was presented this year for the first time in collaboration with the Achava Festspielen Thüringen for a short film that addresses a socially relevant topic. It went to the playful and entertaining animated film »Las del diente« by Spanish art school graduate Ana Pérez López on the expectations of young women who do not wish to become mothers.
Prizes also went to the films »In Full Bloom« by Maegan Houang (Best Short Fiction Film), »Body Echo« by Ali Aschman (Best Animation) and »Ekstase« by Marion Kellmann (Best Experimental Film).
The prizes were donated by the Thuringian State Chancellery, Sparkasse Mittelthüringen savings bank and Ludwig Kameraverleih camera shop.
Founded in 1999 by students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar as the backup_festival, the international short film festival presents international film contributions by students and alumni of art and design courses from around the world every year.
To mark the twentieth anniversary, outstanding short films from the past two decades were shown in addition to the current competition entries. During the five-day festival, the founding team and countless fans of the festival met with international filmmakers hailing from Israel, Belarus and Colombia – among other countries – at the Lichthaus Kino in Weimar. More than 40 students from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar were involved in design and organisation of the festival as part of their studies. backup is realised within the project modules of the Professorship for Media Events within the Faculty of Art and Design.
Contact:
Lena Liberta
Email: lena.liberta[at]uni-weimar.de