Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur begins today

The 19th edition of Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur – Switzerland’s short film festival –hasd begun today. It promises the latest shorts from Switzerland and from around the world – all of which will vie for the awards of the competitions, with prize money of over 50,000 francs total. Historic and contemporary works are featured in the thematically curated sections, with a focus on the Arab world and the countries of Bhutan and Nepal – all under the motto: shorter, and maybe even better.

Artistic Director John Canciani says:

“The best thing about short film is that it often shows us for the first time what we see in feature films years later. Thanks to comparatively low costs and short production times, short films can react faster, risk and experiment more. With the 19th edition, we look forward to six days jam-packed with discoveries.”

The International Competition shows the whole range of short filmmaking, giving special prominence to captivating storytelling this year – entertainment thanks to carefully made narratives.

The Swiss Competition bears witness to Switzerland’s strong documentary tradition, with many of the filmmakers presenting a committed cinema and political films.

The Main Focus section is also – but not only – political, dedicated to the Arab world under the title Arab Encounters – Visions and Realities. The eight programmes in this section look beyond the stereotypes about this region as seen in the mass media, instead finding an everyday reality not entirely unlike our own.

The festival’s Country in Focus section, dedicated to Bhutan and Nepal, also offers foreign, familiar, and refreshingly new images.

The section Person in Focus looks at the works of found footage masters Christoph Girardet and Matthias Müller.
The festival’s cinematic offerings further include films by Andy Warhol that were never before seen in Switzerland, works of the Dada movement then and now, the best shorts nominated for the European Film Awards, and a selection of the hippest “Hot Shorts”.