Short film competition, part of the Berlinale Talent Campus, will be under the patronage of German foreign minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2009.
"My Wall" - the theme of the next Berlin Today Award
The BERLIN TODAY AWARD - the short film competition sponsored since 2003 by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg within the framework of the Berlinale Talent Campus - is entering its next round with a new purpose. In 2009, to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, the upcoming edition of the competition will focus on the theme "My Wall". The top five short film ideas are to be realised by five young production companies from all over Germany. As a new component of the competition, the young directors are invited to Berlin for a one-month project and development phase (residency). The Berlin Today Award 2009 will take place under the patronage of German foreign minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, accompanied by director Wim Wenders as the competition's mentor. The Berlin Today Award is sponsored by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the German Foreign Office.
Call for entries: Win a residency - make a short film!
Starting now, participants of the Berlinale Talent Campus and producers from Germany can apply to participate in the realisation of one of the short film projects. (Online application and participation conditions for talents and producers at www.berlintoday.de)
As part of a 'producers' meeting' to be held during the Berlinale Talent Campus 2008, 15 selected talents will have the chance to pitch their film ideas to the participating producers. The five projects that make the leap toward realisation will be produced by the end of 2008. The world premiere of the short films will take place at the opening of the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2009. Afterwards the short films are planned to be distributed worldwide in cooperation with the Goethe Institute.
Review & world premiere 2008
Three short films by Campus Talents were produced by the Berlin production company zero fiction film as part of this year's competition: Maheen Zia from Pakistan tells a haunting story about the strength of trust and the power of prejudices in Match Factor; Danish filmmaker Ole Bendtzen tracks the hair-do habits of Berliners in Berlin Hair Today; Ville Jankeri of Finland brings to life a comedy about an unconventional suicide in The Last Wash. The short films will have their world premiere during the opening of the Berlinale Talent Campus on February 9, 2008. The Berlin Today Award is organized and presented by boxfish events, Berlin.