On Saturday, June 18th Poznań’s CK Zamek cultural center hosted an Award Ceremony of 14. Short Waves Festival, during which the names of the competition winners were announced. The members of each Jury consisting of representatives from the world of art and film, as well as the audience, delivered awards and honorable mentions in five categories: International Competition, Polish Competition, Polish Experimental Film Competition, Dances with Camera Competition and Urban View Competition – with a combined pool of 47.000 PLN. Polish Competition was also judged by the Young Jury.
Additionally this year, for the first time at Short Waves, the jury was joined by the representatives of the Film Educators Team. It is a group of experts whose goal is to select the most interesting and valuable films dedicated to children and youth, and as part of Short Waves, they selected a film from the SWF for Youth section – programmed by young people for young people. The winning title has received a statue produced by the Glass Heritage Center in Krosno!
The gala also featured a symbolic summary of the second edition of This Is Short project, during which the winners of the New Point Of View online competition were announced. The platform was created thanks to an international cooperation of The European Short Film Network, which brings together four short film festivals: Vienna Shorts from Austria, Go Short from the Netherlands, Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen from Germany and Poznań’s Short Waves Festival.
International Competition
Jury members: Nicolas Khabbaz, Carla Vulpiani, Alan Zejer.
● I Award – 10 000 PLN
Über Wasser (On Solid Ground) / Jela Hassler / Switzerland / 2021 / Fiction / 12’
For a film that covers an important issue by carefully concentrating on daily ordinary events. Exceptional fast paced and rhythmically perfect editing responds to the protagonist emotional states and generates a film that keeps its narrative tension.
●● II Award – 5 000 PLN
Sierra / Sander Joon / Estonia / 2022 / Aniimation / 16’
Between passivity and dominance we find ourselves pushed by traditions, responsibilities and expectations on becoming something else. With a rich and dynamic cinematic approach, the film stresses on the role of parents in shaping their kids identity.
●●● III Award – 2 500 PLN
Marblehead / Jack Auen, Kevin Walker / USA / 2021 / Fiction / 10’
A documentary that tiptoes into its character’s world, paying him respect and displays profound admiration for a brilliant mind capable of finding history, contemplating memory and ultimately blowing life in the place where life ends.
● Honourable Mention
Nights and Days in July / Jana Bringlöv Ekspong / Sweden / 2021 / Fiction / 15’
A universal intimate portrait that creates a strong emotional bonds with the audience, displaying the pain of loneliness and the seek for attention to comfort our insecurities. For the bravery of self-representation that with no fatigue crosses the border of cinematic genres.
● Audience Award – 2 000 PLN
Marblehead / Jack Auen, Kevin Walker / USA / 2021 / Fiction / 10’
Polish Competition
● Youth Jury Award – 2 000 PLN
Youth Jury Members: Zofia Gorzkowska, Jakub Baliński, Ada Wójkiewicz.
Sharing / Natalia Sara Skorupa / Poland / 2021 / Documentary / 14’
We are awarding a film about family and differences between each of its members, in which the author, despite not being present on the screen, exposes her everyday life – for sharing her inspiring courage and perpetuating the universal experience associated with the struggle to maintain one’s own identity.
● Audience Award – 4 000 PLN
Sharing / Natalia Sara Skorupa / Poland / 2021 / Documentary / 14’
Polish Experimental Film Competition
Jury members: Anna Konik, Sanne Jehoul, Yuyan Wang.
● Main Award – 5 000 PLN
Ziemia wchłonie to wszystko / Dominik Ritszel / Poland / 2021 / Experimental / 9’
This film stood out for its distinct formal and visual approach while reflecting on the instability of historical and contemporary contexts, and the uncertainty of their representation. Combining striking abstract graphical elements with archival footage, alongside impactful sound design, it is both eclectic and cohesive. While bold in its form, it holds a strong emotional core, speaking to the complexity of our past, present and future through working class communities’ solidarity and struggle against a backdrop of socio-economic and environmental concerns.
● Honourable Mention – 1 500 PLN
To my friends. Next room (Hotel Monterey) / Jan Domicz / Poland / 2021 / Experimental / 9’
A film that unfolds poetically yet forensically through refined images of layered spaces, referencing cinema itself while considering the political dimensions of architecture and the potential of its occupation and transformation as a critical tool for understanding our communities and the world around us.
Urban View Competition
Jury members: Jord den Hollander, Oana Ghera, Marta Marczak.
● Main Award – 5 000 PLN
Misty Picture / Christoph Girardet, Matthias Müller / Germany / 2021 / Experimental / 16’
The jury admired the multiplicity of layers that the film touches on, from the fine critique of neoliberal capitalism to the poignant analysis of the uses and misuses of iconic imagery by the Hollywood dream machine, as well as the symbolical power that both cinema and architecture hold in our globalised societies. If urbanism is a story about success and failure, this is a film to be seen.
● Honourable Mention
A Banana Tree Is No Coincidence / Luiza Gonçalves / Spain / 2021 / Documentary / 10’
A very personal approach on how to explore The system behind a city – funny and surprising.
● Audience Award – 1 500 PLN
Piazzale d’Italia / Enea Zucchetti / Switzerland / 2021 / Documentary / 18’
Dances with Camera Competition
Jury members: Lucia De Rienzo, Simona Deaconescu, Blas Payri.
● I Award – 5 000 PLN
PASSAGE / Ann Oren / Germany / 2020 / Experimental / 13’
For the compelling disruption of the relation between body, sound and camera. The director well managed to shape an alluring character that strongly connects to the audience. The cinematography discloses with subtlety the texture of the body.
●● II Award – 2 000 PLN
Neon Phantom / Leonardo Martinelli / Brazil / 2021 / Fiction / 20’
The director skillfully creates a story about the unfits, a cinematic physical roller coaster deeply grounded in the reality of life. The film re-opens a space for encounter between narratives, musical and dance films.
● Honourable Mention
IO|OI / Francesco Lorusso / Italy / 2021 / Fiction / 9’
For the quality of the animated movement integration within the film.
● Audience Award – 1 500 PLN
Ag:Au / Alex Cantouris / UK / 2021 / Fiction / 3’
ZEF Award for the Best Film in SWF For Youth Section – Jury of Film Educator’s Team
ZEF Jury members: Karol Szafraniec, Kaja Łuczyńska, Karolina Giedrys.
● Spotless / Emma Branderhorst / Netherlands / 2021 / Fiction / 16’
This year’s competition was of a very high standard. We saw many well-made films which were not afraid to touch on difficult and important issues, and they did it in an extremely sensitive and responsible way. Cinema for a young audience may have an enormous impact on the world, and short films could become a great vehicle for that power. Physicality, physiology, the hardships of growing up, poverty, and economic exclusion. All those issues, although very universal, are still associated with many taboos, even in highly developed countries, which often lead to a deep sense of shame. The film we have decided to award, through its courage and directness, breaks through this shame by taking the side of its protagonist, her problems, and her body. It is a simple story that could happen anywhere and in which many young women will recognise their own experience that now we can all finally see, feel, and understand. It is also a moving story about responsibility, sacrifice, and love, created with the belief that cinema can influence reality and make it more solidary.
New Point of View Awards – European Short Film Network / This Is Short
Jury members: Viet Vu, Robin Curtis, Natalia Sielewicz
● I Award – 4 000 Euro
White Shadow / Annelore Schneider, Claude Piguet / UK, Switzerland / 2021 / Fiction / 11’
Maturely building an engulfing atmosphere just by (re-)making use of junk found footage on both visual and acoustic levels, this film points its hidden finger to a universal vision that concerns everyone in our digital age. In a time when anyone can produce either a selfie or even a high-end 3D product, this film makes us rethink our own gesture of visual creation. More importantly and surprisingly, it asks us to question our own behavior with junk and trash images. There is a relatable metaphor inside its narration on a virtual world that invites the audience to contemplate our responsibility with our own and real surroundings. The creative choice of merging silent texts into the 3D imagery layers gives birth to a sophisticated voice that speaks from deep inside its own screen and subtly calls for action.
●● II Award – 2 000 Euro
How to Order Online / Julie Ramage / Francja / 2021 / Documentary / 9’
This film unveils an important corner of Europe which is so often overlooked, the penal system. Being composed in an economical manner, the film presents a singular perspective which stresses its relevance on humanity’s vision in a space that is often said to be dehumanizing. Regarding its form as a documentary, it invites the main characters to speak for themselves and gives room for lots of self-expressions beyond words. The artwork also shows a strong relationship between the maker and the protagonists. The filmmaker in this case approaches her characters in a very close distance by building an admirable degree of trust with her protagonists. By filming the hands of the characters performing a peculiar labor, the film subtly expresses not only a collective resistance but also a strong solidarity regardless of races in a continent that has lots of concerns on racism. That solidarity is even present between those outside the frame holding the camera and those inside the frame.
