International Short Film Festival Oberhausen

11 – 13 September 2015

This year, the FNB JoburgArtFair turns focus to the vigorous forms of experimental film and live performance. A central theatre space will host a programme of film screenings, performances and talks to highlight the growing significance of these multidisciplinary forms.

The Goethe-Institut has been involved with the Fair since inception in 2008 and as a German cultural organisation, has focused on furthering critical discourse at the Fair and bringing international voices and projects to the programme. Goethe-Institut supports the focus on film by inviting the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen to present a selection of international art films.

Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is the oldest of its kind and one of the largest and most important platforms for short films worldwide. Curated by Oberhausen’s Hilke Doering, the following programme includes a selection of radical works that investigate current political issues shared across local and international contexts:

Sans-titre (Untitled), 2011, directed by Neil Beloufa
La Estancia, 2014, directed by Federico Adorno
Freedom and Independence, 2015, directed by Bjørn Melhus
Epistrofi stin odo aiolu (Returning to Aeolus Street)_, 2013, directed by Maria Kourkouta
Item Number, 2012, directed by Oliver Husain
Sieben Mal am Tag beklagen wir unser Los und nachts stehen wir auf um nicht zu träumen (Seven Times a Day We Complain About Our Fate and at Night We Get Up to Avoid Our Dreams), 2014, directed by Susann Maria Hempel

Additionally, the following very short video works will be presented at the Goethe-Institut stand:

Exorcize Me, 2013, directed by Ang Sookoon
Extreme Fugue for One Voice, 2013, directed by Laima Ieva Epnere
Federsee, 2014, directed by John Skoog
Īsfilma par dzīvi, 2014, directed by Laila Pakalnina
Two Films about Loneliness, 2014, directed by Christopher Eales / Will Bishop-Stephens
Dad’s Stick, 2014, directed by John Smith
Split Ends, I Feel Wonderful, 2012, directed by Akosua Adoma Owusu
Tolko Moi, 2014, directed by Alena Tereshko
We know We Are Just Pixels, 2014, directed by Laure Prouvost
Atrophy, 2009, directed by Palesa Shongwe
xx-xx-xx-gewobenes papier, 2014, directed by Michel Klöfkorn
Tic Tac, 2011, directed by Josephine Ahnelt
Ersatz, 2011, directed by Elodie Pong
Tonight Something Was at My Door, 2010, directed by Christine Gensheimer
approaching the puddle, 2014, directed by Sebastian Gimmel
The Night, 2014, directed by Lior Shamriz

For over 60 years now, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen has been a catalyst and a showcase for contemporary developments, a forum for what are often heated discussions and a discoverer of new trends and talent. Short film is still the prime source of innovation for the art of film – the experimental field in which future cinematic vocabularies first crystallise. Today its diversity of forms, themes and approaches across the globe is greater than ever. Every year around 6000 submissions reach Oberhausen, out of which around 150 films are screened in its five competitions. A total of 500 films are shown in all festival programmes.

The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global reach, promoting knowledge of the German language abroad and fostering international cultural cooperation. Its regional office in Johannesburg particularly aims to broaden and deepen cooperation and global networks in the arts, and to further a South-South and Pan-African conversation.

Image: BJØRN MELHUS / Freedom and Independence, 2014, image courtesy of the artist and The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen