The prize winners were honored at exground filmfest 34 with People on Saturday (Menschen am Samstag) taking the award for best international short film; audience award Das Brett went to The Seed (Die Saat); Benztown won the German Short Film Competition; Boxen als Wegweiser won the audience award in Wiesbaden Special section and Sisterhood and Any Day Now won at at youth days.
The 35th edition of exground filmfest will take place from 11 to 22 November 2022.
International Short Film Competition
In the International Short Film Competition, the international jury selected the Swiss production MENSCHEN AM SAMSTAG (directed by Jonas Ulrich) as this year’s winning film.
“This year’s award for the international short film competition goes to a film that blurs the line between fiction and reality and allows us to observe the absurdities of society and laugh at ourselves at the same time.”
The jury presented a special mention to the film TREASURES [TRÉSOR] by Alexandre Manazanares, Guillaume Concenza, Philipp Merten and Silvan Moutte-Roulet.
“We would like to give an honorable mention to a film that we all loved for its style, craftsmanship, and humor.“
exground youth days – International Youth Film Competition
The youth jury in the International Youth Film Competition presented this year’s Award for Best Feature Film to SISTERHOOD [SESTRI] by North Macedonian director Dina Duma.
“The film SISTERHOOD by Diana Duma has been unanimously chosen by the youth jury as the best film of this year’s International Youth Film Competition. It tells the tension-filled story of two girlfriends who upload a video while at a party which has extensive destructive consequences for the life of another young woman. These consequences are depicted with great skill. The tension rises with every scene, supported by the music and the fantastic camerawork. The development of the characters is wonderfully portrayed. The toxic relationship between the two main characters maintains its grip on the viewer. A film that sweeps you up like a massive deluge and carries you along on an emotional roller coaster ride.”
The audience, on the other hand, was most impressed by the Finnish film ANY DAY NOW by Hamy Ramezan.
The Youth Jury Award for Best Short Film went to Marko Dješka for his film ALL THOSE SENSATIONS IN MY BELLY [SVE TE SENZACIJE U MOM TRBUHU].
“The award of the youth jury for best short film goes to ALL THOSE SENSATIONS IN MY BELLY by Marko Djeska. The film takes up a very relevant and timely subject. The animated film adeptly tells the story of a young individual searching for and finding themself and their gender identity. Born as a boy, the protagonist feels drawn to a female identity. In brilliant metaphors and colour symbolism, their transformation is depicted with all its accompanying highs and lows. A marvellous animated film whose message urgently needs to reach more adolescents and adults too!”
The jury awarded a special mention to the film LIONESS [LEEUWIN] by Philip Besamusca.
exground youth days – Wiesbaden Youth Film Competition
In the Wiesbaden Youth Film Competition, BEOBACHTET came out on top. The short film was created in the scope of the “cinematic school holiday” workshop organized by Medienzentrum Wiesbaden e. V. Two films tied for second place in the voting: UNHEIMLICH and #HEIMAT.
Klappe 7 – Children’s Film Festival
The Klappe 7 children’s film festival also took place in the scope of exground filmfest 34, organized by Wiesbaden’s youth, children’s and neighborhood centers of the city’s Department of Social Work. The festival-in-a-festival featured screenings of 12 short films by filmmakers aged 5 to 12. An expert jury presented three awards here, to the films ROSENMONTAGSUMZUG, MARS MISSION and ANTI BENZIN.
German Feature Film Competition: DAS BRETT
For the second year in a row, the audience chose the best feature film in the Made in Germany series. From the six nominated productions, the viewers selected DIE SAAT by Mia Maariel Meyer.
German Short Film Competition
First place in the German Short Film Competition, chosen by the audience, went this year to BENZTOWN by Gottfried Mentor. Second place went to MONA & PARVIZ by Kevin Biele, while third place went to EIN OZEAN by Paul Scheufler.
In addition, two non-cash prizes were awarded to Kevin Biele’s MONA & PARVIZ and to Jannis Alexander Kiefer for his film KOLLEGEN.
Wiesbaden Special – Short Film Competition
In the audience competition for the best Wiesbaden short film, SCHLAGFERTIG – BOXEN ALS WEGWEISER by Samira Najafian proved triumphant.
exground Gong Show
In the cult competition for trashy treasures and amateur productions, Lorenz Wurdinger received his second award this year for his film ALLES GUTE, MANU. The young filmmaker, who already won the Gong Show in the scope of the FILMZ Festival in Mainz, took home the “Golden exground Cucumber”.
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