25th International Short Film Festival Berlin
3 - 8 November 2009

This year, the International Short Film Festival Berlin will be celebrating its 25th anniversary! From its early beginnings in the 80's as a Super-8 festival in independent Berlin cinemas, interfilm has steadily evolved to become an international festival of European standing and the capital's most important short film festival.

2009 sees interfilm continuing to set new records: 500 short films from 110 countries have been selected from an astounding 6,000 entries - thereby guaranteeing a comprehensive insight into the latest developments in short film production. The spectrum ranges from short fiction to animation, documentary and experimental films, right up to advertising and music clips.

For six programme-packed days, film aficionados will be able to indulge in a cinematic kaleidoscope comprising six competition categories, two foreign focuses and numerous special programmes as well as lectures, panel discussions, workshops and parties designed to inform and inspire while offering a platform for international networking. Festival venues include the House of World Cultures, Maxim Gorki Theatre and Pfefferberg as well as the cinemas Babylon Berlin :Mitte, Filmtheater am Friedrichshain and Zeughauskino.

A particular highlight this year is the section dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall entitled Eastern Front/Western Front. Addressing incidents and experiences surrounding the building of the Wall, its demise and the time that followed, this programme presents a diverse range of films, presentations and events - including hitherto unreleased Stasi film footage. The winning films that partook in the 3rd international short film competition organised by the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" and the Goethe Institute, will each celebrate their film premiere at the interfilm Festival. The set theme was entitled, "Crossing Borders".

The Foreign Focus for 2009 takes in two countries, each with fascinating and flourishing short film scenes, Russia and the Netherlands . From timeless classics to contemporary productions, the films have been selected to best represent the rich variety of each country's astounding short film landscape.

To download the following image activate this link http://www.fest21.com/1.PM_21_Aug_09_ENG_imagebild_if25.jpg

Photo: Sabine Kalkus

Kristin Brachhaus / Natascha Korol
Public Relations
interfilm Berlin Management GmbH
Tempelhofer Ufer 1a
10961 Berlin
Tel. 030 - 6 93 29 59
presse@interfilm.de
http://www.interfilm.de/

Kristin Brachhaus
Sommerhaus Events
Public Relations
Tel. 030 - 61 28 81 05
Funk: 0163 - 717 02 45
kristin@interfilm.de

P R O G R A MM E - H I G H L I G H T S

COMPETITION PROGRAMMES

International Competition
Global short film extravaganza! Around 100 Films from all over the world compete for Short Awards. Judged by an international jury, prizes will be given in the categories of Best Film, Best Animation and Best Fiction.

German Competition
An impressive selection of contemporary short film productions all 'made in Germany '. Outstanding national gems - from Lake Constance to the Uckermark Region. Awards will be presented for the two Best German Short Films .

Documentary Competition
Capturing and tackling representative and veritable moments. Images in search of the extraordinary within the every day world -from the objective to the interceding. An industry jury will award one prize for Best Documentary .

Confrontations
Violence and intolerance - challenging issues that are nevertheless omnipresent in every society. Dealing with conflict requires courage and tact. A specialist jury comprising professionals from the areas of film, journalism and politics will award one prize to the Best Film against Violence and Intolerance .

Viral Video Award
Creative filmmakers, bloggers and PR-agents spread unusual short film "virals" with original messages, ideas or images via the internet. Both an industry and a public jury will each crown the winning viral of their choice.

Audience Competition eject
An underground event that rapidly grew into a large-scale cult phenomenon - The Long Night of the Unexpected. Weird and wonderful short films presented in an interactive live-show, makes this event something that has to be seen to be believed. Even the after show party is legendary! To be held at the Maxim Gorki Theatre for the first time.

KUKI- 2nd INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
From 1 - 8 November 2009, KUKI will screen over 100 international films for older and younger cineastes in the cinemas at Filmtheater am Friedrichshain. The special programme "Auf der Mauer auf der Lauer" deals with the subject of the Berlin Wall, the documentary programme "Look at the World" encounters children's lives in other countries, and the films in the foreign language programmes "What's up?" and „¿Que onda?" are shown in their original English or Spanish versions, exposing school groups to spoken foreign languages in an entertaining and informative way. Moreover, there will be a children's and a youth jury each selecting winning films from numerous competition categories. And if that's not enough, KUKI has even got music! There'll be a music programme showing the latest video clips, followed by a party with a live band and a DJ.

FOREIGN FOCUS THE NETHERLANDS AND RUSSIA
While the Netherlands scooped up their first important festival prizes in the 1950's for a series of short film documentaries, the ultimate highlight was reached when Bert Hannstra ‘s "Glas" took home the Oscar in 1960. Feature films began producing great talent by the late 50's too and the roots of Dutch animation can be traced back to the 1930's. Over the years, their continued accumulation of film awards only stands to confirm the Netherlands ' international reputation, as indeed the (once again) flourishing realm of Dutch animation is currently enjoying.

The demise of the Soviet Union had a devastating impact on Russian film. Only in recent years has a gradual artistic and economic renaissance become apparent, as a selection of contemporary short fiction films and documentaries will illustrate. In addition, one programme is entirely dedicated to milestones in Russian (and Soviet) animation art, retracing the origins of a genre that has played such a central role in Russian film.

SPECIAL PROGRAMMES
Best of 10 years LABO Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival / Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart 100 Years of German Animation / International Music Videos / AdEaters Commercials by well known directors / Clip It! Animation & Music / Reality Bites Unreal realities/ Shocking Shorts Thrills and chills! / Metropole Barcelona / Die Wilde 13 Live-Events in Haus 13 Pfefferberg

PARTIES & EVENTS

interfilm Festival-Opening - Anniversary Event Official start to the 25th International Short Film Festival Berlin followed by the opening night party
Tuesday, 3.11. / 8pm / Haus der Kulturen der Welt

Festival Lounge
Wednesday 4.11. - Friday 6.11. / from 11pm / Haus 13 Pfefferberg.
Special programmes daily 7pm + 9pm

EJECT - The Long Night of the Unexpected
Friday 6.11. /from 11pm / Maxim Gorki Theatre. After show party in the foyer

Festival Anniversary Party: 25 Years of interfilm
Saturday 7.11. / from 11pm / Pfefferberg (Haus 13, V.U.P. & Pool)
Live Acts & DJs / Russian Floor / 80's till the fall of the Wall

Awards Ceremony
Sunday 8.11. / 7:30pm / Babylon Berlin : Mitte.
From 10pm Closing party in Haus 13 Pfefferberg

interfilm Academy - The Educational Programme
Wednesday 4.11. - Saturday 7.11. / daily panels, lectures & workshops
with media experts, filmmakers & service providers

Saturday 7.11. / from 11pm / Industry Day & Brunch
An informal get together with regional companies and film schools introducing themselves while filmmakers, students and newcomers to the media industry get to breakfast and mingle.

KUKI-Festival-Opening
Sunday, 1.11. / 3pm / Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
Official KUKI start , the 2nd. International Short Film Festival for Children and Youth Berlin

All information available at http://www.interfilm.de/and http://www.kuki-berlin.com/

interfilm berlin is funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg ,
the MEDIA Programm der EU , and the BKM.