INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION SUPER 8/16 Saturday 16 March, 20:30, Motorenhalle, Wachbleichstraße 4a, 01067 Dresden.

Sometimes serious, sometimes funny, sometimes experimental and sometimes silent – in the 25th edition of the dresdner schmalfilmtage, an exciting repertoire of selected short films will be shown in the International Competition super 8/16 – nominated from over 150 submissions from all over the world.

The jury and audience awards were presented directly after the film program. This year, the jury consisting of Juan Gonzales Monroy (filmmaker, member of Labor Berlin), Csaba Bollók (filmmaker) and Sylva Poláková (National Film Archive Prague) chose Vincent Guilbert's "We'll go down the abyss in silence".

The Audience Award went to Oliver Gordon's "Ajar? Bizarre!".

 

nominated entries 2024

Gregg Chilingirian – GEORGE
10:43 min, 2023, super 8, England

30-year-old George is momentarily distracted from his existential crisis by the enigmatic Kiyoni and is suddenly forced to confront his past in order to come to terms with a life-changing event. 

Oliver Gordon – AJAR? BIZARRE!
6:34 min, 2023, super 8, England 

Kate is ready for bed when she realizes that her closet is mysteriously open …
Shot with a Nizo 148 on Kodak 500T.

Vincent Guilbert – WE'LL GO DOWN THE ABYSS IN SILENCE
11:00 min, 2023, Japan 

An animal, apparently a fox, was seen outside the containment vessel of reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Radiation levels there can reach more than 10 sieverts per hour. On the morning of December 21, 2015, the fox appeared in front of surveillance cameras and spent seven to eight minutes there before disappearing again.
 
Arne Körner – ACTION!
1:07 min, 2022, 16 mm, Germany

Slating requires diligence and is a very important step of the filmmaking process. Its purpose is to keep a consistent flow of information throughout production. Center of this story is a clapper and his clapper board. A symphony of clapping.

Markus Maicher, Cosma Grosser – EARTH WATER MOTOR II
3:22 min, 2023, 16 mm, Austria

Cutting up landscapes with the camera. Destroying the postcard images of places we know.
"Earth Water Motor" is filmed on soundstock with a 16 mm Bolex camera, edited in camera and developed by hand. The soundtrack comes from an analog synthesizer.

Julie Mayhew – THE GOOD FIGHT
1:51 min, 2023, super8, England 

»You have to be ready to fight …« A micro-short, Super 8 parable on the power of protest – and the disappointment of getting what you want.

Gustave de Pavant – SUDDENLY
13:44 min, 2023, 16 mm, France 

In the dunes, a few plants scattered across, a lonely man wanders around. We don't know who he is, we don't know where he's going. Whatever the outcome of his adventure, a woman suddenly lands near him in a parachute. Together they wonder whether history can be told with words.

Danny Plotnick – ELEVATOR TO STARDOM
8:00 min, 2023, super 8, United States

In "Elevator to Stardom", Danny Plotnick returns to his cinematic roots. As energetic as a 1980s punk–rock production, shot on the fly and with full commitment, it tells the story of a group shoot of film students, that goes a little differently than planned.

Klaus Schreier, Sessil Siffkov – FORMAT-BUSTER
3:15 min, 2023, Super8, Germany

An educational film about certain peculiarities of filming the moon – on Super 8.

Jacques Sorrentini – I HOLD YOU
2:26 min, 2023, 16 mm, France 

When I'm alone, I sometimes get bored, so I start playing. 
 
Natalie Spencer – HUNGER
8:47 min, 2023, super8, Italy 

"La signora Aetna" is bored and boredom is dangerous in the realm of Mount Etna, where the laws of nature rule and people are just pawns in a game.
An old woman shares her wisdom as she reflects on the passage of time. However, it soon becomes clear that things are not quite as they seem when our enigmatic protagonist invites us to join her favorite game involving an innocent local girl and a new guest in town.

Josef Švejda – QUARRY
7:30 min, 2023, 16 mm, Czech Republic 

Anežka lives in an old house in the harsh, snow-covered Beskydy mountains. She is facing the end of her life, hoping for forgiveness, especially for her foster son, who is repeatedly imprisoned. Between her daily routines, it is not only her old house that shows many cracks.