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75/1

75/1
Till Kleinau
German Competition Short Film 2021
Documentary Film
Germany
2020
27 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

“Boo” – the name is as unusual as the sound is special. The avant-garde composer Harry Partch invented instruments for micro-sounds and completely new musical experiences. The musician and instrument maker Thomas Meixner dedicated two years of his life, marked by family and health losses, to rebuilding 75 of these sound-generators for a concert tour. The film portrays a monomaniac who fiercely avoids social life but with great sensitivity makes material sing.

André Eckardt

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Till Kleinau
Cinematographer
Katja Tauber, Christophe Poulles
Editor
Friederike Dörffler
Producer
Friederike Dörffler
Sound
Maximilian Rodegra
Filmstill One of Us Now

One of Us Now

Achshav at ahat mishelanu
Maya Steinberg
German Competition Short Film 2022
Documentary Film
Germany,
Israel
2022
30 minutes
Hebrew,
English
Subtitles: 
English

Maya Steinberg is a secular Israeli. Her father, however, had a late religious awakening. He will not appear in her film. Instead, the young director approaches his faith and her lack of understanding for it through a visit to the gravesite of rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Galilee, where she spends a few weeks, observing believers, Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, and wondering: Is there a place here for women? And can there be a place for queer women?

Marie Kloos

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Maya Steinberg
Cinematographer
Eline Gehring, Maya Steinberg
Editor
Maya Steinberg
Producer
Maya Steinberg
Sound
Eline Gehring, Maya Steinberg
Sound Design
Manuela Schininá
Score
Sivan Levy
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AIVA

AIVA
Veneta Androva
German Competition Short Film 2020
Animated Film
Germany
2020
13 minutes
English
Subtitles: 
English

AIVA is an artist, animated by algorithms. But above all she is the soberingly limited male tech vision of what more diversity in the arts could look like. In her paintings AIVA prefers the vertical, to some acclaim. A naive and cliché-ridden “art documentary” lets us participate in her work. Precisely observed, with sparse gestures and trenchant wit, Veneta Androva reflects a current status quo in her computer-animated future fiction.

André Eckardt

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Veneta Androva
Script
Veneta Androva
Editor
Veneta Androva
Producer
Veneta Androva
Score
Nadia D’Alò, Benedikt Frey
Animation
Veneta Androva
Narrator
Vivienne Pettitt
German Competition Short Film 2020
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Appropriation Takes You on a Weird Ride
Nina Fischer, Maroan el Sani
A media-historical interrogation of the German fascination with the colonialist construct of “Red Indians” which leads right up to its instrumentalization by the “New Right”.
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Appropriation Takes You on a Weird Ride

Appropriation Takes You on a Weird Ride
Nina Fischer, Maroan el Sani
German Competition Short Film 2020
Documentary Film
Germany
2020
20 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

Partly rhetorical, partly ironic and partly profound, the film deals with the Germans’ strange, three-hundred-year-old relationship to their stereotypical ideas of America’s native population. This includes the question of how the audience themselves feel about this ominous object of fascination. The backdrop and starting point of a floating journey through the history of various stereotypes are the ruins of the former U.S. embassy in East Berlin, where an exhibition on the subject took place in 1986.

Borjana Gaković

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Nina Fischer, Maroan el Sani
Script
Maroan el Sani, Nina Fischer
Cinematographer
Matthias Biber
Editor
Nina Fischer, Maroan el Sani
Producer
Nina Fischer, Maroan el Sani
Sound
Hannes Hoelzl, Jochen Jezussek, Bruno Gola
Animation
Kathrin Hunze
Funder
Edith Russ Haus for Media Art
Narrator
Britt Tully, Christoph Bach
German Competition Short Film 2022
Filmstill Make or Break
Make or Break
Falk Schuster, Mike Plitt
This animated documentary with reduced imagery portrays the protagonist’s traumatic experiences in the GDR’s residential care system and the Torgau Closed Juvenile Detention Centre.
Filmstill Make or Break

Make or Break

Biegen und Brechen
Falk Schuster, Mike Plitt
German Competition Short Film 2022
Animated Film
Germany
2022
8 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

Because his single mother criticised the state, Alex was sent to a special children’s home at the age of eleven, in order to shape him – like almost 500,000 children in the GDR – into a “socialist personality”. He escaped and ended up as a punishment at the Torgau Closed Juvenile Detention Centre, more prison than social institution. His life was now dominated by military drill and violence … Reduced rotoscope images follow Alex’s memories and show how the trauma affects him even today.

Luc-Carolin Ziemann

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Falk Schuster, Mike Plitt
Script
Mike Plitt
Cinematographer
Falk Schuster
Editor
Julian Quitsch
Producer
Max Mönch, Alexander Lahl
Sound
Hannes Schulze
Score
Hannes Schulze
Animation
Julian Quitsch, Alexander Schmidt, Falk Schuster
Nominated for: Gedanken Aufschluss Prize, mephisto 97.6 Audience Award
German Competition Short Film 2022
Filmstill Border Conversations
Border Conversations
Jonathan Brunner
If you want to enter the EU, you will come up against borders. So do those who want to help. A stirring film about the “jungle” between Belarus and Poland which turned into a human trap in the winter of 2021.
Filmstill Border Conversations

Border Conversations

Border Conversations
Jonathan Brunner
German Competition Short Film 2022
Documentary Film
Germany
2022
30 minutes
English,
Polish
Subtitles: 
English

In November 2021, people tried to enter the EU via Belarus and Poland, but the route turned out to be a death trap. All access points to the border region were blocked in order not to create an escape corridor. Men, women and children were stuck in no man’s land – in the middle of winter, in the middle of the forest, for weeks. The film follows Polish activists on their mission. They learn that humanitarian aid, just like the refugees themselves, comes up against borders.

Luc-Carolin Ziemann

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Jonathan Brunner
Cinematographer
Marie Scholjegerdes
Editor
Samuel Albert
Producer
Tristan Schneider
Sound
Marc Lehnert
Score
Frederic Hellmann
Animation
Fee Fuchs
Winner of: Silver Dove (German Competition Short Film)
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Dark Matter

Dark Matter
Viktor Brim
German Competition Short Film 2020
Documentary Film
Germany,
Russia
2020
19 minutes
without dialogue
Subtitles: 
None

Quiet, dark shots of nocturnal fog, of a mine, a dump truck or a wreck, of huge earth craters and new surface contours created by excavation. Raw material extraction, economisation and exploitation of nature are the themes of this visual study. It’s accompanied by an unobtrusive, but threatening and assertive sound that underlines the mystic quality of the images. Post-industrial landscapes become post-apocalyptic.

Borjana Gaković

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Viktor Brim
Cinematographer
David Schittek
Editor
Viktor Brim
Producer
Viktor Brim
Sound
Danila Lipatov
German Competition Short Film 2020
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The Chimney Swift
Frédéric Schuld
England, mid-19th century: children keep the flow of air going in narrow, sooty chimney flues. The report of a chimney sweep of the time is brought to life by pencil drawings.
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The Chimney Swift

Der Schornsteinsegler
Frédéric Schuld
German Competition Short Film 2020
Animated Film
Germany
2020
5 minutes
English
Subtitles: 
German

In the mid-19th century, a massive fireplace was the centrepiece of every stately home in England. Children are agile enough to keep the flow of air going in the narrow and dark flues. Their young skin is scraped raw by the sooty stone walls. Their fear of falling is as strong as their fear of the master’s punishment. Black-brown-red cross hatching and unusual camera perspectives bring to life the report of a chimney sweep of the time.

André Eckardt

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Frédéric Schuld
Script
Frédéric Schuld, Fabian Driehorst
Editor
Frédéric Schuld
Producer
Fabian Driehorst
Sound
Alex Müller-Welt
Score
Frédéric Schuld
Animation
Rebecca Blöcher, Alba Dragonetti, Frédéric Schuld
World Sales
Daniela Conrad
Funder
FFHSH
Narrator
Henry Holland, Joschua Zühlke
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Transience of Days

Die Vergänglichkeit der Tage
Thomas Köhling
German Competition Short Film 2021
Documentary Film
Germany
2020
34 minutes
German,
Japanese
Subtitles: 
English

Eating together with chopsticks, forks, or cheese sandwiches: Heinz Toku-Zen Anneser and his students practice Buddhist rituals without pretension. In his study, which is as precisely measured as it is poetic, Thomas Köhling observes the daily routines of this small, quiet group in the German provinces and finds appealingly bizarre moments when Eastern religion and western culture overlap. The sky above the Velux window is the same as above Mount Fuji.

André Eckardt

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Thomas Köhling
Cinematographer
Thomas Köhling
Editor
Thomas Köhling
Producer
Thomas Köhling
Sound
Rafael Vogel
German Competition Short Film 2022
Filmstill The World Is a House and There Are Rules in This House
The World Is a House and There Are Rules in This House
Felix Leffrank
A quite creative reflection of uncreative phases: A story-teller struggles with depression and writer’s block, under the watchful eyes of inner and outer demons.
Filmstill The World Is a House and There Are Rules in This House

The World Is a House and There Are Rules in This House

Die Welt ist ein Haus und es gibt Regeln in diesem Haus
Felix Leffrank
German Competition Short Film 2022
Animated Film
Germany
2022
13 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

Felix Leffrank deals with the ups and downs of an artist’s life in colourful, computer-animated images. During his ordeal between depression, writer’s block, anger and urban loneliness, a story-teller is accompanied by three weird birds who sometimes appear as annoying neighbours, sometimes as inner demons. Jung, Freud and the psychologist Dr. Breuer in the shape of a grey cat promote self-reflection, but the most helpful thing is probably a beer with friends.

Borjana Gaković

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Felix Leffrank
Editor
Felix Leffrank
Producer
Felix Leffrank
Sound
Christoph Müller
Score
Christoph Müller
Animation
Felix Leffrank
Nominated for: mephisto 97.6 Audience Award, Gedanken Aufschluss Prize
German Competition Short Film 2020
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Due to Legal Reasons This Film Is Called Breaking Bert
Anne Isensee
Most accidents happen at home. Thus the appeal to one’s personal political responsibility comes as a surprise. Randomly reading a Brecht text inspires to take action.
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Due to Legal Reasons This Film Is Called Breaking Bert

Dieser Film heißt aus rechtlichen Gründen Breaking Bert
Anne Isensee
German Competition Short Film 2020
Animated Film
Germany
2020
5 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

Most accidents happen at home. Thus a likeable, jazz-loving drawn figure is unprepared for an appeal to his own political responsibility. A random Brecht reading spurs her to do something – at the very least so as not to end up on the wrong track or wrong side of things. Pointed, tidy, and full of humour and affection for human dithering, Anne Isensee questions the illusion of a permanent contradiction in reality.

André Eckardt

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Anne Isensee
Script
Anne Isensee
Editor
Anne Isensee
Producer
Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, Lorena Junghans
Sound
Jonathan Hamann, Irma Heinig
Score
Franziska May
Animation
Anne Isensee
Narrator
Anne Isensee
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Thing

Ding
Malte Stein
German Competition Short Film 2021
Animated Film
Germany
2021
4 minutes
without dialogue
Subtitles: 
None

Small and cu… no, not cute. This knee-high creature seems somewhat affectionate and shy instead. Until it comes snarling around the corner, sprinting after you on short legs through the empty suburb. An uneasy lurking, a lurking unease starts to spread. With hand-drawn austerity, mean sounds and not-so-friendly characters, Malte Stein prepares the surgical instruments for some terrific mental cinema – for the protagonist and for all who watch him.

André Eckardt

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Malte Stein
Producer
Malte Stein
Animation
Malte Stein
Filmstill Being That Boy Again

Being That Boy Again

Einmal wieder dieser Junge sein
Jan Koester
German Competition Short Film 2022
Animated Film
Germany
2022
7 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

His mother starts drinking when he is eight years old. Jan Koester projects photos from his childhood on his own body that tell of loneliness and helplessness in toxic relationships. These Rorschach-like superimposed images put physical abstractions in relation to their violent and alienated surroundings. Shifting between fluid and halting movements, telescoped pixels tugging at each other deconstruct predominant gender norms.

Samuel Döring

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Jan Koester
Cinematographer
Lisa Violetta Gaß, Jan Koester
Editor
Jan Koester
Producer
Christine Haupt
Sound
Alexander Heinze
Score
Jan Koester
Animation
Jan Koester
Nominated for: mephisto 97.6 Audience Award, Gedanken Aufschluss Prize
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Bibi Must Go

Elefantin
Marie Zrenner, Johanna Seggelke
German Competition Short Film 2020
Documentary Film
Germany
2020
29 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

The biography of the female elephant Bibi, who is considered to display abnormal behaviour, is marked by misfortunes: Born in Zimbabwe in 1985. Lost her mother shortly after birth. Imported by the East Berlin zoo in 1989. Deported to the Halle zoo in 2008. On the basis of an empathic reappraisal of these traumatic events the film reflects on the significance of social issues and how to deal with exclusion today: a therapy by proxy on film that will hopefully have a long-distance healing effect on Bibi.

Annina Wettstein

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Marie Zrenner, Johanna Seggelke
Cinematographer
Oliver Buchalik
Editor
Melanie Jilg
Producer
Daniel Kunz, Kerstin Zachau
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Erwin

Erwin
Jan Soldat
German Competition Short Film 2020
Documentary Film
Austria,
Germany
2020
16 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English

58-year-old Erwin introduces himself as “old but horny”. He has declared the mobile home in his front garden his favourite refuge, where he has everything he needs: a computer, a bed, a coffee machine. Two webcams link Erwin to other men who satisfy his carnal desires. In this tiny space, Jan Soldat comes close to him, of course. He learns of love affairs, as great as extinguished, of a complicated family web and worries about the future.

Carolin Weidner

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Jan Soldat
Cinematographer
Jan Soldat
Editor
Jan Soldat
Producer
Jan Soldat
Winner of: Silver Dove (German Competition Short Film)
German Competition Short Film 2021
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Happytrail
Jakob Werner, Thea Sparmeier, Pauline Cremer
Animated documentary about female body hair, social illusions and self-love. An appeal for creative (hair) art on legs, bellies and arms: Let it grow!
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Happytrail

Glückspfad
Jakob Werner, Thea Sparmeier, Pauline Cremer
German Competition Short Film 2021
Animated Film
Germany
2021
5 minutes
German
Subtitles: 
English, German Subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing

How does a woman deal with the hair that grows other than on her head? A young woman talks about her journey between first depilation attempts, recurring frustration and slowly, but steadily growing pride in her own body. With verve, humour and honesty, this short, animated documentary visualizes a subject that’s all too often hushed up or shaved off. Strong performance, great cinema!

Luc-Carolin Ziemann

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Jakob Werner, Thea Sparmeier, Pauline Cremer
Cinematographer
Hannes Schulze
Producer
Jakob Werner, Thea Sparmeier, Pauline Cremer
Sound
Nils Plambeck
Score
Sebastian Farnbacher
Animation
Thea Sparmeier, Jakob Werner
Narrator
Franka Geiser
Winner of: Honourable Mention (German Competition Short Film)