»Apoll«: APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD Awards Prizes for Fashion Clips
The »Apoll« jury awarded a total of five prizes and two honourable mentions to international students from the faculty of Media Art and Design. Awards were given out to fashion films that were produced for the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD 2020. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the lavish fashion show could not take place. However, the Fashion Clips are now available to spread the award results throughout the rest of the world.
Every three years, the top two fashion design graduates from selected European fashion schools travel to Apolda for the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD, an award honouring the best up-and-coming collections from European fashion schools. The event and lavish fashion show could not take place this year due to the pandemic. However, the event’s long-standing cooperation with the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar was not completely called off: »Because the major fashion show in front of an audience had to be cancelled, it was even more important for our Media Art and Design students to produce high-quality fashion films to present the best young collections--even under these difficult conditions«, said Prof. Wolfgang Kissel. »We’re hoping that our incredibly successful films help to showcase young European fashion talent online«.
Media Art and Design students translated the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD nominated fashion collections into exciting short fashion films. The organizers awarded the »Apoll« for a second time this year. The following prizes (worth 200 euros each) were awarded:
First Place: »Smile Or Die« by Kristin Jakubek and Alena Kroker
Smile Or Die
Click the Play button to load and view external content from Vimeo.com.
Automatically load and view external content from Vimeo.com (You can change this setting at any time via our »Data protection policy«.)
The collection by young Finnish designer Mirjami Nyman from Aalto University Helsinki inspired the two filmmakers to present a dystopian vision of a world where smiling is forbidden. A stylistically coherent design concept and brilliant casting unfold in detailed images in pale hues and create a haunting atmosphere of a place where emotions do not exist. The ambiguity and complexity with which the directorial duo and their team translated the collection into moving images, sounds, and abstract spaces convinced the jury.
Second Place: »n´existent« by Ivan Djambov
n’existent
Click the Play button to load and view external content from Vimeo.com.
Automatically load and view external content from Vimeo.com (You can change this setting at any time via our »Data protection policy«.)
This high-contrast, meticulously arranged, black and white clip takes the audience back to the Hollywood gangster film noir style of the 1940s and 50s compressed into a dense two-minute film. The masculine lens of the »n’existent« collection by designers Dinara Nenortaite and Rebecca Heine from the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld is reflected in the plot of this clip. The clip depicts male social responses to the presence of an independent woman in a disturbingly relevant way. The project is an homage to grand Hollywood cinema and a bold statement on stereotypes assumed to have been overcome.
Third Place: »Why me, why me« by Jenny Kleine and Pia Mozet
WHY ME, WHY ME
Click the Play button to load and view external content from Vimeo.com.
Automatically load and view external content from Vimeo.com (You can change this setting at any time via our »Data protection policy«.)
A voluminous dress on a pale priestess, an oversized kimono reveals more than it hides. Untamed pieces of hair peak out from under a habit. The fashion clip showcases the collection by Marlena Czak, a recent graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, and combines reality, fiction, and religion into a fairy tale about fashion and myth. The filmmakers boldly and playfully address current feminist issues and dress them up in in a cape of religious tradition – daring yet disguised. By doing this, the filmmakers succeed in exposing contradictions and translating an age-old story into the here and now. The jury was as convinced by the systematic image design and perfectly coordinated music as they were by the artistic concept.
Special Jury Award: »Error 404« by Angel Genkov
Error 404
Click the Play button to load and view external content from Vimeo.com.
Automatically load and view external content from Vimeo.com (You can change this setting at any time via our »Data protection policy«.)
An encounter on an open field; a game involving touch, looks and open questions. Who are these young men? Are the meeting by chance, or is this some sort of secret gathering? The protagonists’ faces are exposed and vulnerable, and their clothes cling like a protective silk skin. The fabrics that Christiane Alagna (Ravensbourne College London) chose for her collection are tangible on the skin. The delicate staging plays with the longing and memories of touch and encounter, and explores the powerful notion of curious, candid gaze without the pressure of desire, painting an objective image of the other. Using relatively basic resources alongside skilled and stylistic camera methods, Angel Genkov draws viewers into a vortex, making the encounter between stranger tangible through editing and careful choreography.
Avantgarde Award: »Save Room« by Adam Streicher
Save Room
Click the Play button to load and view external content from Vimeo.com.
Automatically load and view external content from Vimeo.com (You can change this setting at any time via our »Data protection policy«.)
Designer Victor Clavelly, graduate of the École Duperré in Paris, further developed his game-oriented collection through video game references and influences. The dialogue between designer and filmmaker carried the gaming world seamlessly into a fashion clip. Director and cinematographer Adam Streicher leads viewers almost effortlessly into a special cosmos: »Save Room« is its own virtual world, conceived, filmed, rendered and composed throughout the course of the project over the past few months. The hypnotic presence of the clip goes beyond conversations of current fashion clips.
Special Mentions:
»Transgenesis« by Pia Mozet
Fashion Designer: Irene Jia, Ravensbourne College London
»Transgenesis« on Vimeo: vimeo.com/443995520
»Urban Recycle« by Jenny Kleine und Pia Mozet
Fashion Designer: Sára Sedláková, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
»Urban Recycle« on Vimeo: vimeo.com/443995837
The »Apoll« is awarded by the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD. All fashion clips can be viewed on the award website: fashionclips.apolda-design-award.de
The jury was made up of the following artists from the Media Art and Design degree programme:
Nicola Hens (cinematographer and director)
Lena Liberta (filmmaker and presenter)
Franka Sachse (filmmaker and animation specialist)
The »Fashion Clips« project was overseen by Wolfgang Kissel, Professor of Media Events, along with Olaf Nenninger and Jörg Heiß. »Fashion Clips« is a joint project between the organisers of the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD and the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Questions can be directed to Prof. Wolfgang Kissel at wolfgang.kissel[at]uni-weimar.de or by phone at +49 (0) 163 / 48 99 738.