19th MuVi award winners announced at Oberhausen

At a ceremony held at the 63rd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen this past Saturday,  the winners of the 19th MuVi Award were announced. 

Every year, the MuVi Award goes to the Best German Music Video.The festival selects a shortlist of 10 to 12 candidates from an average of 200 submissions. The candidates are presented online and at the Festival, an international jury awards 3,000 Euros to their favourites, another 500 Euros go to the winner of the MuVi Online Audience Award, chosen by internet vote.

This year's winner was Christoph Girardet for Second Chance Man (pictured), a video for the British band Tindersticks. Girardet is well known on the festival circuit thanks to his shorts made in collaboration with fellow filmmaker/artist Matthias Müller. Tindersticks are also no stranger to the world of shorts thanks to their recent concerts at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival, 

This year's jury were Daniel Kothenschulte (film and art critic, Cologne), Ananda Pellerin (programming director Nowness, London) and Steffie Van Cauter (producer, Ghent).

First prize went to Christoph Girardet for Second Chance Man (Tindersticks) The jury said the film displayed "An un-nostalgic use of found footage, this film does not employ overused imagery yet still manages to be iconic. The video is subtle, beautiful and sympathetic to the song that it accompanies. This is a film that quietly demands repeat viewings – on our second watch we knew that Second Chance Man, which gives a second life to archive footage, heartily deserves first prize in this competition."

Second prize went to DJ Hell for I Want U (DJ Hell) of which the jury said: "This is a fine collaboration that elevates both DJ Hell’s music and Tom of Finland’s imagery to a new shared plateau. Fun, sexy and intelligent about its graphic nature, I Want U sets a concept and confidently sees it through. Keeping things simple, the film is nevertheless not repetitive, making use of variations in the music to propel the imagery. Referencing the history of the music video form, this is an original take on a much-loved part of the subversive canon."

A special Mention went to Zeljko Vidovic for feel nothing / 15 – 15 (Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland)

The MuVi Online Audience Award went to Mariola Brillowska for Ich bin hier (Danny Schulz, Caroline Gempeler aka De)