VIS Independent Shorts ends with Swiss filmmaker grabbing top international prize.
The 12th edition of VIS Vienna Independent Shorts came to an end on Sunday at a gala event at Vienna's Metro Kino Culture House with almost 10,000 visitors.
The highest award - the Vienna Short Film Award, endowed with 5,000 EUR - went to Sebastian Brameshuber for Of Stains, & Scrap Tires (pictured above) that screened in the national competition. The captivating documentary tells of three Nigerians and their business with used cars and auto parts. "Brameshuber succeeds in combining socio-cultural elements with the reality of labour to achieve a narration of suspense” said the jury.
In the international competition category Animation Avantgarde another Austrain filmmaker, Rainer Kohlberger, won with Moon Blink. The Austrina production wins the ASIFA Austria Award (2,000 EUR). The experimental animated film is a game of colours and abstractions, which ensures a challenging cinematic experience. "Moon Blink provides a seamless experience with tight minimalism full of poetry and surprise." said the jury explaining its decision.
The main prize of the jury in the international competition "Fiction & Documentary", endowed with 4,000 EUR, was awarded to Fabian Kaiser for his film De Schnuuf (The Breath). The film is a unique and visually stunning portrait of a training exercise of the fire department and impressed the jury by “how a daily training routine, with apparently nothing special to it, becomes a thrilling, almost sci-fi experience ".
The prize for the best Austrian music video was received by Stephanie Winter for her video for Tristes Déserts - A Robots tale by Marc-Antoine Charpentier & Austrian Apparel. As Best Female Director, Konstantina Kotzamani was awarded with the Elfi Dassanowsky Price for Washingtonia; the British Peter Millard received a month-long residency at Vienna's Museumsquartier for his animation Fruit Fruit. The VAM Best Austrian Newcomer went to Jola Wieczorek for List do Polski.
The Audience Awards went on Sunday night to US animation Star Don Hertzfeldt (World of Tomorrow), the Dutch filmmaker Morgan Knibbe (Shipwreck), the Austrian Christoph Schwarz (Beingwhale) and the Japanese director Hiro Murai (for the music video for Flying Lotus "Never Catch Me").
The 12th edition of the VIS festival set a new record with almost 10,000 visitors. The approximately 70 different programmes , with over 300 Austrian and international productions were responsible for full houses at the Gartenbaukino, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus, METRO Cinema Culture House and the Austrian Film Museum. "Overall it is very positive," says the artistic director Daniel Ebner and Festival Manager Benjamin Gruber. Both the focus on short film between art and cinema as well as the competitions and special programmes enjoyed great popularity, guest star Don Hertzfeldt conquered the hearts of his fans at the Filmmuseum. "The expectations were more than fulfilled," says Ebner.
The 13th festival edition of VIS Vienna Independent Shorts will be extended in the coming year by one day and will be held from 26 May to 01 June 2016.
The full winners in 2015 are:
VIENNA SHORT FILM AWARD 2015 – Best Austrian Film Of Stains, Scrap & Tires - Sebastian Brameshuber - € 5.000
VIENNA SHORT FILM AWARD 2015 – Best International Fiction/Documentary Film De Schnuuf - Fabian Kaiser - € 4.000
ASIFA AUSTRIA AWARD – Animation Avantgarde Moon Blink - Rainer Kohlberger - € 2.000
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE STIPEND 2015 – Animation Avantgarde Fruit Fruit - Peter Millard - € 1.050
VIENNA SHORT FILM AWARD 2015 – Best Austrian Newcomer List do Polski - Jola Wieczorek - von € 1.000
VIENNA SHORT FILM AWARD 2015 – Youth Jury Prize – Best Austrian Film Pitter Patter goes my Heart - Christoph Rainer - € 1.000 post production voucher
VIENNA SHORT FILM AWARD 2015 – Best Female Director Washingtonia - Konstantina Kotzamani - € 1.000
VIENNA SHORT FILM AWARD 2015 – Best Austrian Music Video Tristes Déserts – A robots tale (Marc-Antoine Charpentier & Austrian Apparel - Stephanie Winter - € 1.000
VIS AUDIENCE AWARD 2015 – Best Austrian Film Beingwhale - Christoph Schwarz & Zeno van Duesenberg - € 500
VIS AUDIENCE AWARD 2015 – Best International Fiction/Documentary Film Shipwreck - Morgan Knibbe - € 500
VIS AUDIENCE AWARD 2015 – Animation Avantgarde World of Tomorrow - Don Hertzfeldt - € 500
VIS AUDIENCE AWARD 2015 – Best International Music Video Never Catch Me – Flying Lotus - Hiro Murai - € 500
VIS AUDIENCE AWARD 2015 – Prix Très chic pour le film le plus extraordinaire Summer in Wien – Ernst Palicek (prod. By 08)“ - Marcello David and Ernst Palicek
NIGHT OF THE LIGHT 2015 – Jurypreis Mafi Kharaba - Nicola von Leffern and Jakob Carl Sauer - € 2.000
02 June 2015, by Laurence Boyce
