A total of eleven Golden Horsemen trophies and three special prizes worth 67,200 euros were awarded at the Awards Ceremony of the 31st Filmfest Dresden with two of the coveted trophies going to the Japanese animation MY LITTLE GOAT by Tomoki Misato. Regional productions were also awarded Golden Horsemen trophies: SEALAND by Till Giermann (Greenhouse Production), which celebrated its world premiere at the Filmfest Dresden, and Anne-Christin Plates’ IKTAMULI (Balance Film), which also received a special mention from the Youth Jury in the National Competition.
Golden Horsemen International Competition
Golden Horseman Animated Film International Competition
EGG by Martina Scarpelli (Denmark/France, 2018)
Jury Statement: The director invited us in a world where beauty and perfection reside right next to destruction and darkness. This film twisted our stomachs, left us in a place of admiration and deep fear.
Golden Horseman Short Fiction Film International Competition
MANILA IS FULL OF MEN NAMED BOY by Andrew Stephen Lee (Philippines/USA, 2018)
Jury Statement: This film made us want to laugh and cry at the same time. The desperate feeling of displacement confronts us with the questions: how people see us, who we actually are and what we want to be.
Golden Horsemen of the Audience International Competition
FAUVE by Jérémy Comte (Canada, 2018)
Golden Horseman of the Youth Jury International Competition
MY LITTLE GOAT by Tomoki Misato (Japan, 2018)
Jury Statement: Stories from a childhood offer us a different perspective, as well as an opportunity to escape from reality and accord it meaning at the same time. Again and again, we were convinced by the combination of childhood fantasy and traumatic reality revealed in this animated film. In its richly contrasting and spine-chilling fashion, the film transports us into a world of a stolen childhood.
Golden Horsemen National Competition
Golden Horseman Animated Film National Competition
IKTAMULI by Anne-Christin Plate (Germany, 2019)
Jury Statement: There is nothing simple about this mother’s situation: Her own feelings, the world outside, her child. For which reason, the animation film’s adaptation is even clearer. By omitting details in the images, they get right to us. Nothing is appealing or sensational – it is what it is: The mother loves her son and he is the most wonderful person.
Golden Horseman Short Fiction Film National Competition
ARE YOU LISTENING, MOTHER? by Tuna Kaptan (Germany/Turkey, 2018)
Jury Statement: The film sweeps us away to nowhere. Between mountains, home and garden, the mother and son test out the limits of the space prescribed to them. Once these limits are crossed, a piercing sound rings out and the police appear. With dispassion, the film reveals the absurdity that abounds from a political conflict.
Golden Horseman of the Audience National Competition
SEALAND by Till Giermann (Germany, 2018)
Golden Horseman Youth Jury National Competition
FUSE by Shadi Adib (Germany, 2018)
Jury Statement: Trapped in a box, all the remains for the viewer is a peep hole to follow the planning for his execution. The absurd happenings around him are accentuated with expressive drawings, throaty voices and lush sounds. Characterized by offensiveness, coarse humor and the sadism of his executioners, the fantasies of violence become more and more absurd and the fuse ever shorter.
Minister of Fine Arts Promotion Prize
UNLIKE TODAY by Astrid Menzel (Germany, 2018)
Jury Statement: In a realistic portrayal, we experience scenes that are part of life and affect us all, either sooner or later, directly or indirectly. Adapted gently, with great care and maturity, and with its courageous and credible acting, the film also convinces through its precise editing and classic visual language. It introduces us to the protagonists in an almost tender manner and permits us to intensively empathize with them.
DEFA Promotion Prize Animation
FEST by Nikita Diakur (Germany, 2018)
Jury Statement: We gain an insight into a unique and remarkably degenerate world. Are the people here daft, controlled remotely, or are they just having fun? All of them, of course. This film is sparse and atmospheric, muffled and clever. It captivates us with its angular polygons and raw manners.
Golden Horsemen National & International Competition
ARTE Short Film Prize (towards the purchase of a film)
MY LITTLE GOAT by Tomoki Misato (Japan, 2018)
Jury Statement: Inspired by the fairy tale “The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids”, this animated film takes us into the depths of the human soul. Who is a friend and who a foe – this can be a major challenge even in one’s own family. Thanks to the film’s dramatic adaptation and horror elements, harmless puppets become horrifically real protagonists. We congratulate the young filmmaker on the exciting film he made.
Golden Horseman Sound Design
OH GOD by Betina Bożek, Music/Sound by Kaja Szwarnóg (Poland, 2017)
Jury Statement: The Soundtrack of this film creates an intense atmosphere by using only acoustic instruments. In this essential score the composer resembles the liquid feel the viewer gets from the visuals. Just as we see the characters melting on themselves in the animation, music makes the identity of the instruments melt together by the usage of contemporary techniques. The atypical sound structure seems to be of constant deconstruction but manages to create a peculiar sound universe. The Golden Horseman for best Sound Design goes to Kaja Szwarnóg for the film O JEZU.
GenderDiversity Film Award
JUCK [THRUST] by Olivia Kastebring/Julia Gumpert/Ulrika Bandeira (Sweden, 2018)
Jury Statement: The ‘female body’ continues to be a venue for patriarchal discourses on power. The restriction on bodily forms of expression and female lifeworlds through sexism, racism, heteronormativity, violence or looks is contrasted by an empowering self-image: Provocative, connective, aggressive, supportive, encouraging and liberating.
Regional Film Night: Audience Award
SORGE 87 by Thanh Nguyen Phuong (Germany, 2018)
Special Mentions
Special Mention of the Youth Jury National Competition
IKTAMULI by Anne-Christin Plate (Germany, 2019)
Jury Statement: A film full of love that recounts the relationship between Tony and his mother. Using minimalist means and a simple drawing style, great feelings are generated and images conceived for the most varied moods in the everyday life of the mother and son. Playful transitions accord the film continuous alternations between exciting and calm moments. Anne-Christin Plate reveals the way and manner in which Tony is ahead of her.
Special Mention of the Jury for GenderDiversity
WREN BOYS by Harry Lighton (United Kingdom, 2017)
Jury Statement: An intensive short fiction film. It reveals the religious intolerance towards homosexuals in Ireland in a shocking manner: The wren, a small and artful bird – as a metaphor for a society frozen by patriarchy. It twitters the decisive news and thus is killed by the hunters for the truth.
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