Award Ceremony at the 23rd European Media Art Festival
On Saturday evening, the international prizes were awarded at the 23rd European Media Art Festival. The Festival shows film as a contemporary work of art in cinemas and exhibitions in a performative and multimedia manner, in addition to media installations and works of digital culture. Many of the films shown this year were German, European and world premieres. The members of the jury had the difficult task of selecting the best works from the diverse programme.
Members of the jury for the "EMAF-Award", "Dialogpreis" und "Live2011.com Grand Prix Event Award@ EMAF2010":
Jean-Francoise Guiton
Agnieszka Kubicka-Dzieduszycka
Stephan Sachs
Members of the jury of the "German Federal Association of Film Journalists":
Ingo Petzke
Claus Löser
Hans-Jürgen Tast
The EMAF Award for a trend-setting work in Media Art went to Pekka Sassi's film "Suburb Within."( Finland). The jury stated: "Refreshingly minimalistic, but with an extraordinary sense of humor, this film steps away from the usual flood of images. Doing this it does not leave out classic narration or a well-structured setup. Continually undermining the viewers expectations it nevertheless sucks its audience into it."
The Dialogpreis of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the promotion of intercultural exchange was awarded to Shelly Silver (USA) for her film "5 lessons and 9 questions about Chinatown", who receives € 2,000.
The jury stated: Imitating a language course, Shelly Silver takes us with her into New York's Chinatown. It remains unclear who is learning who's language. the story-within-a-story setup which juggles elegantly between spoken language, symbols and images, reflects in this the complexity of togetherness. The light-heartedness of the movie is created through an unpretentious connection between a critical way of looking at history and a loving view into daily life, without becoming superficial at all.
The award donated by the European City of Culture 2011, Turku in Finland, for a work on digital culture is called Live2011.com Grand Prix Event Award @EMAF2010. This award was presented to the opening film "RIP - A Remix Manifesto"(CDN). The jury stated: "Filled to the brim with an enormous amount of material this movie takes a clear stand in the global debate on copyrights. In its style and structure imitating the internet, it creates a platform for the development of excellent controversial ideas and discussions."
The prize for the best German experimental film was awarded by the German Federal Association of Film Journalists. The artist Timo Schierhorn (D)received the € 1,000 prize for his work "Nacht um Olympia".
In its reasons for conferring the award, the jury stated: "The search for traces of the father leads to a reflection of the 70s, and explores the fragile bridges between the generations. Are the omnipresent media truly able to save memories? By consciously blending documentary elements with fiction, a picture puzzle emerges that creates charming moments of irritation time and again - what is family history and what is staged? This way, not only the traditional media but also the traditional forms of expression of moving images blend into one another."