27th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

7-12 November 2023

Over the past six days, the 27th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur presented the full range of current Swiss and international short filmmaking: from 100-year-old Disney films to a 1948 Ovomaltine ad on 16 mm, «Das Satanische Dickicht» (The Satanic Thicket) by Willy Hans, political gay porn from Bruce LaBruce, and juju stories. The Main Focus: O Canada and the Country in Focus: Nigerian New Wave were very well received by viewers, as were the competition programmes.

The festival directors are very happy with this year’s edition, which counted around 18 000 admissions. Managing director Stefan Dobler concludes: «In addition to the excellent numbers, which surpassed our 2019 admissions, I was particularly pleased with the generally full cinemas this year. Both the smaller special interest programmes and the screenings in the large auditoriums were very well attended. We’ve never had this many sold-out screenings before. And even outside the cinemas, the festival atmosphere and the shared passion for film among visitors and filmmakers was palpable well into the night.»

The Grand Prize of the International Competition goes to the fictional short «Oyu» by Atsushi Hirai from Japan; Basil da Cunha wins the Swiss Competition with «2720». The ZKB Audience Award goes Mohammad Valizadegan for «And Me, I'm Dancing Too» (Iran, Czechia, Germany 2023); a moving portrait of a generation of young Iranians. 

Focus Programme

  • Main Focus: O Canada
  • Country in Focus: Nigerian New Wave
  • Person in Focus: Willy Hans

Award winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Oyu» (France, Japan 2023) by Atsuhsi Hirai
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Blinded by Centuries» (USA/Thailand 2023) by Parinda Mai
  • Prix George for the best documentary form in the International Competition: «Pacific Club» (Qatar/France 2023) by Valentin Noujaïm
  • Short Film Candidate, European Film Awards (EFA): «Dildotectònica» (Portgual 2023) by Tomás Paula Marques
  • Special Mention, International Competition: «Out of the Blue» (Schwitzerland 2023) by Morgane Frund
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «2720» (Switzerland, Portugal 2023) by Basil da Cunha
  • Special Mention I, Swiss Competition: «Searching for the 5th Direction» (Switzerland 2023) by Matthias Schüpbach
  • Special Mention II, Swiss Competition: «Tropeau» (Switzerland 2023) by Victor Cateau
  • Award for the Best Swiss Shool Film: «Beutset (L'Aurore)» (Switzerland, Senegal 2023) by Alicia Mendy, HEAD
  • Special Mention I, Swiss Film School Day: «Summer Rain» (Switzerland 2023) by Johanna Kern, Julia Krummenacher, Marlene Low, HSLU
  • Special Mention II, Swiss Film School Day: «A Monster Called Love» (Schwitzerland 2023) by Sophia Lara Nimue Schweizer, ZHdK 
  • Award for the Best Film in the Section Sparks: «Been There» (Switzerland 2023) by Corina Schwingruber Ilić
  • Special Mention, Sparks: «Wild Summon» (Great Britan 2022) by Saul Freed and Karni Arieli
  • Postproductions-Award: «Blu Cipresso» (Switzerland 2023) by Laura Gönczy
  • Participation in the next edition of the European Short Pitch 2023/24: «The Veil of Senses» by Elisa Baccolo
  • Residency @ P.AiR.S (seven-week artist's residency): «Yasmeen Ghauri» by Youssef Youssef
  • ZKB Audience Award: «And Me, I’m Dancing Too» (Iran, Czechia, Germany 2023) by Mohammad Valizadegan

Jury International Competition

  • Céline Roustan (FR), SXSW Film & TV
  • Clara Helbig (DE), filmmaker & curator (lastly at MUBI)
  • Michael Omonua(GB, NG), filmmaker
  • Manuel Asín (ES), artistic director of Punto de Vista Film Festival
  • Willy Hans (DE), filmmaker

Jury Schweizer Wettbewerb / Schweizer Filmschulentag

  • Émilie Poirier (CA), programmer at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC)
  • Pierre-Yves Walder (CH), artistic director at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Filmfestivals (NIFFF)
  • Stefano Knuchel (CH), curator of the Filmmakers Academy at Locarno Film Festival 

Jury Sparks

  • Lars Antoni Weber (17)
  • Noa Kündig (17)
  • Seraina Lendfers-Berndonner (18)

Jury Postproductions-Award

  • Christof Hächler, programmer at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
  • Eva Schweizer, porgammer at SRF Swiss Radio and Television
  • Nina Cutkovic, Audio Engineer at Jingle Jungle

Jury European Short Pitch 2023/24

  • Eddie Bertozzi (CH), Head of Pardi di domani Selection Committee at Locarno Film Festival
  • Linn Löffler (DE), programme coordinator at Berlinale Shorts
  • Sari Volanen (FIN), editor and producer at Yle - The Finnish Broadcasting Company

Jury Residence @ P.AiR.S

  • Alice Gachot, team member of the Solothurner Filmtage
  • Reta Guetg, Head of programme &  industry at Zurich Film Festival
  • Ruth Baettig, co-founder of Filmexplorer

Festival-Programm

Industry Guide

26th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

8–13 November 2022

From animations to documentaries made in Switzerland, the Andean nations, and Israel, but also from the US, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mongolia: over six days, Kurzfilmtage showcased the broad range of current international short filmmaking.

With 17 000 admissions and over 600 industry guests, the festival team is very happy with the first edition at Sulzerareal. As John Canciani, Artistic Director of Kurzfilmtage, says: «It was a cinematic fireworks display. Especially filmmakers who have been visiting the festival for some time were thankful and excited that we are finally able to show all films in cinemas equipped with appropriate sound systems». And if it wasn’t obvious before, the stroll around Sulzerareal with the Hamburg-based collective A Wall is a Screen on Friday made it clear that Kurzfilmtage and the old industrial site are a perfect match.

The Grand Prize of the International Competition goes to Douwe Dijkstra’s documentary «Neighbour Abdi» from the Netherlands. Jorge Cadena’s fictional short «Flores del otro patio» wins the Swiss Competition. The ZKB Audience Award goes to the Russian filmmakers Maxim Arbugaev and Evgenia Arbugaeva for «Haulout» (United Kingdom 2022), a documentary about an annual natural event on a remote coast of the Siberian Arctic. A total of 13 films received awards and special mentions.

An undisputed highlight of the 26th edition was the Person in Focus: Kurdwin Ayub, whose cinematic programmes, talks and masterclass demonstrated her love for experiments as well as her penchant for self-irony.

Focus Programmes

  • Main Focus: Los Estados Andinos
  • Country in Focus: Israel
  • Person in Focus: Kurdwin Ayub

Award winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Neighbour Abdi» (Netherlands 2022) by Douwe Dijkstra
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Bleu silico» (France 2022) by Eloïse Le Gallo and Julia Borderie
  • Prix George for the Best Documentary Form in the International Competition: «45th Parallel» (United Kingdom 2022) by Lawrence Abu Hamdan
  • Candidacy for the European Film Awards (EFA): «Hardly Working» (Austria 2022) by Total Refusal
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Flores del otro patio» (Switzerland 2022) by Jorge Cadena
  • Special Mention I, Swiss Competition: «Les Grands Prés» (France/Switzerland 2022) by Sophia Remer and Michael Karrer
  • Special Mention II, Swiss Competition: «Stones Don't Fly» (Switzerland 2022) by Nikita Merlini
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «The Deceased» (Switzerland 2022) by Philipp Veiga Amaro, HSLU
  • Special Mention I, Swiss Film School Day: «Pipes» (Switzerland 2022) by Jessica Meier, Kilian Feusi, and Sujanth Ravichandran, HSLU
  • Special Mention II, Swiss Film School Day: «In Between» (Switzerland 2022) by Anaïs Bourgogne, HSLU
  • Award for the Best Film in the Programme Sparks I: «Datsun» (New Zealand 2021) by Mark Albiston
  • Award for the Best Film in the Programme Sparks II: «Ours» (Switzerland 2022) by Morgane Frund
  • Postproduction-Award: «There Is No End to This Story» (AT) by Cosima Frei (Filmgerberei Zürich)
  • Invited to participate in the European Short Pitch 22/23: «Les écailles lui sont tombées des yeux» by Coline Confort
  • ZKB Audience Award: «Haulout» (United Kingdom 2022) by Maxim Arbugaev and Evgenia Arbugaeva

Jury International Competition

  • Jose Cabrera (ES), Director Tenerife Shorts, management and selection committee Seminci-Film
  • Katrin Mundt (DE), Curator, author, and co-director of the European Media Art Festival (EMAF)
  • Martina Scarpelli (DK), Director and producer (Martina Scarpelli Studio)
  • Maryam Tafakory (IR), Artist and filmmaker
  • Wim Vanacker (BE), Selection committee of the short film competition, Festival de Cannes

Jury Swiss Competition and Swiss Film School Day

  • Bard Ydén (NO), Senior programmer and editor, Norwegian Short Film Festival
  • Elie Grappe (CH), Author and director
  • María Vera (AR), Festival distributor and sales agent

Jury Sparks I / Sparks II

  • Sandro Manuel Isenegger (15)
  • Gwendolyn Jane Reigber (18)
  • Raja Künzle (15)

Jury Postproduction-Award

  • Robert Büchel (CH)
  • Christof Hächler (CH)
  • Eva Schweizer (CH)

Jury European Short Pitch 22/23

  • Enrico Vannucci (ITA), festival manger and curator Talents and Short Film Market und Locarno Film Festival
  • Stine Wangler (DE), Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg
  • Sven Wälti (CH), SRG SSR

Festival programme

Contributors' Guide

25th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

9–14 November 2021

With 15 000 admissions and over 600 guests from the national and international short film industry, the expectations of the festival management were clearly exceeded. The CinéConcert screening of Loïc Hobi’s «The Life Underground» (Switzerland 2021) at Theater Winterthur was among the highlights of the anniversary edition. The live performance of the soundtrack composed by Diego Baldenweg with Nora Baldenweg and Lionel Baldenweg, played by the symphony orchestra of Musikkollegium Winterthur, was rewarded with a standing ovation.

Another goal of this year’s festival was to make short films accessible to the widest possible audience. «The installations and interventions in various outdoor locations around Winterthur, at oxyd – Kunsträume, and at Casinotheater were free of charge, inviting audiences to discover the wide range of audiovisual formats», as Kurzfilmtage’s Managing Director, Stefan Dobler, points out. And John Canciani, the festival’s Artistic Director, notes that «it was incredibly important to us to once again enable encounters and meet with filmmakers from around the globe – this is part of our DNA. We were especially happy to welcome ambassador Sami Ukelli along with many filmmakers and other representatives from our Country in Focus: Kosovo in Winterthur».

Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: La Suisse n'existe pas.
  • Country in Focus: Kosovo
  • Person in Focus: Marie Losier

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition:
    «Rehearsal» (Nigeria 2021) by Michael Omonua
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition:
    «Ob Scena / Ob Scene» (Argentina 2021) by Paloma Orlandini Castro
  • Prix George for the best documentary form in the International Competition:
    «Naya – Der Wald hat tausend Augen» (Netherlands 2021) by Sebastian Mulder
  • Nomination for the European Film Award (EFA):
    «Über Wasser / On Solid Ground» (Switzerland 2021) by Jela Hasler
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film:
    «Cavales / Dream Racing» (Switzerland 2021) by Juliette Riccaboni
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film:
    «Impériale / Imperial» (Switzerland 2021) by Coline Confort, ECAL
  • Award for the Best Film in the Programme Sparks I:
    «Dans la nature / In Nature» (Switzerland 2021) by Marcel Barelli
  • Award for the Best Film in the Programme Sparks II:
    «Dirty Talks» (Netherlands 2020) by Brandon Grötzinger, Wander Theunis
  • Postproduction Award:
    «Il Muratore» by Matteo Gariglio
  • ZKB Audience Award:
    «Nanu Tudor / My Uncle Tudor» (Hungary/Portugal/Belgium 202) by Olga Lucovnicova

Jury International Competition

  • Annette Amberg (CH), Curator Coalmine – Raum für Fotografie

  • Greg de Cuir Jr (RS), Independent Curator, Writer and Translator

  • Oleksiy Radynski (UA), Filmmaker and Writer

  • Léo Soesanto (FR), Head of shorts, Semaine de la Critique, Cannes

  • Katharina Huber (DE), Independent Filmmaker and Artist


Jury Swiss Competition & Best Swiss School Film

  • Florian Weghorn (DE), Programme Manager Berlinale Talents

  • Aneta Ozorek (PL), Artistic Director Kaboom Animation Festival, Amserdam

  • Veton Nurkollari (XK), Artistic Director DokuFest, Prizren

Festival Catalogue

Contributors' Guide

24th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

3–8 November 2020

Due to the current situation, the 24th edition of Kurzfilmtage took place exclusively online. The Festival proved to be a success, also in this new format. The programmes of our Main Focus: mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and our Country in Focus: Ukraine were available online for free during two weeks between the 3–15 November. For a first time, the carefully curated programmes were accessible for a worldwide audience to enjoy.

14 interesting Industry Events were dedicated to the topic of Sustainability. Accredited film professionals were able to partake in various events such as the Writers' Room and the Industry Lab, and make new contacts via the Digital Industry Hub. This way, Kurzfilmtage managed to uphold its function as a networking platform despite aggravated conditions. The award ceremony also took place virtually and invited its viewers on a journey through Winterthur and our usual sites, where the this year's winners were awarded the highly endowed prizes.

The Kurzfilm Talks on Radio Stadtfilter, the local radio station, were recorded via Zoom. John Canciani, Artistic Director of the festival, Oleksiy Radynski, Ukrainian filmmaker, Carla Maria Losch and Laura Walde, both curators, and Marion Tüscher, Swiss filmmaker, offered interesting insights into the online programme.

Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: Festland-China, Hongkong, Taiwan
  • Country in Focus: Ukraine

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «This Day Won’t Last» (Tunisia 2020) by Mouaad el Salem
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Menarca / Menarche» (Brazil 2020) by Lillah Halla
  • Prix George for the Best Documentary Form: «A Passage» (Armenia 2019) by Felix Kalmenson and Rouzbeh Akhbari
  • Short Film Candidate, European Film Award (EFA): «Dustin» (France 2020) by Naïla Guiguet
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Carbón» (France/Switzerland 2020) by Davide Tisato
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Supreme» (Switzerland 2020)by Youssef Youssef, HEAD
  • Award for the best Film in the Programme Sparks I:«Zolotye pugovitzi / The Golden Buttons» (Russia 2020) by Alex Evstigneev
  • Award for the best Film in the Programme Sparks II: «Cultes» (France 2019) by Brutti Debrouwer Harel (LA)HORDE
  • Postproduction Award: «Un Cielo Nublado» (Switzerland 2021) by Remo Scherrer

Jury International Competition

  • Annette Amberg (CH) Curator Coalmine –Raum für Fotografie, Winterthur
  • Greg de CuirJr (RS) Independent Curator, Writer, and Translator
  • Léo Soesanto (FR) Head of shorts, Cannes Critics’ Week
  • Oleksiy Radynski (UA) Filmmaker and Writer
  • Randa Maroufi (FR/MA) Visual Arti

Jury Swiss Competition and Best Swiss School Film

  • Florian Weghorn (DE) Programme Manager Berlinale Talents
  • Marta Bałaga (FI) Film Journalist
  • Veton Nurkollari (XK) Artistic Director DokuFest, Prizren

Festival Catalogue

Contributors' Guide

23rd Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

5–10 November 2019

Kurzfilmtage counted approx. 17 500 entries and welcomed over 650 guests from the national and international short film industry. The opening night was an especially festive start says Managing Director Stefan Dobler: «With over 800 visitors, Theater Winterthur was as crowded as never before at an opening night.» The presence of Federal Councillor Alain Berset also turned out to be a draw. Dobler also emphasizes the strong interest in the Industry Events: «Filmmakers, distributors, and festivals made ample use of this platform for networking and exchange. That shows us that we’re doing something right with our choice of experts and topics.» World premieres resulted from the project 5x5x5 on the topic To Come, to Stay, to Leave: 5 filmmakers from 5 African countries produced 5 short films in the Winterthur area within 5 weeks. This screening drew large crowds.

John Canciani was especially impressed by the discussions with Brazilian filmmakers. The Artistic Director notes that the audience was extremely interested in talking about the political situation in this year’s Country in Focus: «The debates about censorship and discrimination by the regime in Brazil were heated and sometimes very emotional.» This shows the urgency of such political debates anywhere, including at a cultural event such as Kurzfilmtage. In addition, Canciani is satisfied with how the wide selection of programmes fulfilled its purpose: «As diverse as our audience was, personal feedback shows us that every visitor was able to find screenings suited to their taste.»

Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: The Future Is ...
  • Country in Focus: Brazil
  • Person in Focus: James N. Kienitz Wilkins

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Bab Sebta» (France/Morocco 2019)by Randa Maroufi
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Automne Malade / Autumn III» (France 2019)by Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier
  • Nomination for the European Film Award (EFA): «Kolektyviniai sodai / Community Gardens» (Lithuania 2019)by Vytautas Katkus
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «22:47 Linie 34 / 22:47 Line 34» (Switzerland 2019) by Michael Karrer
  • ZKB Audience Award: «Postcards from the End of The World» (Greece 2019)by Konstantinos Antonopoulos
  • Award for the Best Films in the Yout Programmes 16+/12+Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «bloc b» by Nora Longatti (Switzerland 2019), ECAL
  • Award for the Best Film in the Youth Programme 16+: «Spolu Sami / Apart» by Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic 2018)
  • Award for the Best Film in the Youth Programme 12+: «Nan Fang Shao Nv / She Runs» by Qiu Yang (China/France 2019)
  • «FLANNERY’S» by Thabea Furrer (Switzerland 2019)

Jury International Competition

  • Annina Wettstein (CH/DE) Festival Programmer
  • Chipo Zhou (ZA) Artistic Director Durban International Film Festival
  • Giona A. Nazzaro (IT) General Delegate Venice International Film Critics’ Week / Curator Visions du Réel (Nyon)
  • Ognjen Glavonić (RS) Filmmaker / co-founder Pančevo Film Festival
  • Zsuzsanna Kiràly (DE) Head of Development Komplizen Film

Jury Swiss Competition & Swiss Film School Day

  • Anne Gaschütz (DE) Deputy Director Filmfest Dresden
  • Camille Hébert-Bénazet (FR) Head of Cannes Court Métrage
  • Vladan Petkovic (RS) Film critic / curator

Festival catalogue

Contributors' Guide

22nd Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

6–11 November 2018

Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur counted 17 000 visitors and welcomed over 650 guests from the national and international short film industry. Kurzfilmtage has once again proven to be a networking platform for short filmmakers from across the globe, as well as offering film lovers countless discoveries, inspiring discussions after the screenings, and allowing audiences to escape from their everyday lives.

35 short films were screened in the International Competition. 8 of these focused on women, explored social issues and structures as well as the female body and sexuality. 18 films have been selected for the Swiss Competition. The selection boasted an impressive variety and a fairly even distribution of genres. Kurzfilmtage offered a wide range of informative and educational events for short film professionals. At the Swiss Film School Day, students presented their shorts to an international jury, who selected the winner of the Award for the Best Swiss School Film. The Industry Lab’s panels and workshops and the Writers’ Room completed the festival’s multi-day industry events.

Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: This Is Britain
  • Country in Focus: Georgia
  • Person in Focus: Mike Hoolboom

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Bigger Than Life» (Italy/Macedonia/Germany 2018) by Adnan Softić
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «A Room with a Coconut View» (Thailand 2018) by Tulapop Saenjaroen
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «The Flood Is Coming» (Switzerland/Great Britain 2018) by Gabriel Böhmer
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Hamama & Caluna» by Andreas Muggli (Switzerland 2018), HSLU – Video
  • Postproduction Award: «Onaniegramm» by Maja Gehrig
  • Youth Film Award 16+: «Guaxuma» (Brasil 2018) by Nara Normande
  • Youth Film Award 12+: «All These Creatures» (Australia 2018) by Charles Williams

Jury International Competition

  • Bianca Lucas (PL); filmmaker and a programmer at the Sarajevo Film Festival
  • Georg Bütler (CH), Senior programmer Zurich Film Festival
  • Miguel Valverde (PT); co-director of the IndieLisboa International Film Festival
  • Philippe Ciompi (CH/GR); sound designer and dubbing mixer
  • Tara Judah (GB/AU); cinema producer at Watershed in Bristol

Jury Swiss Competition and Swiss Film School Day

  • Jasmin Basic (CH/HR); film historian and curator, president of Pro Short
  • Matt Lloyd (GB); director of the Glasgow Short Film Festival
  • Natascha Noack (DE); member of the selection committee of the Berlin International Film Festival

Festival catalogue

21st Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

7–12 November 2017

Among the audience favourites of Kurzfilmtage 2017 were the sold-out Virtual Reality Cinema screenings. Despite being individually immersed in the films thanks to glasses and headphones, spectators enjoyed a shared cinematic experience in a specially set-up cinema at Theater Winterthur. The competitions were well-attended this year, especially the Swiss Competition with the showstopper «Facing Mecca» by Jan-Eric Mack from Winterthur.

Having won international awards and currently contending for an Oscar, this short film celebrated its Swiss premiere at Kurzfilmtage, winning the ZKB Audience Award. But the festival featured not just young talent – renowned Swiss filmmaker Fredi M. Murer came to Winterthur for two talks, entertaining audiences with anecdotes about the film scene of the 1960s and 70s. His work from that period was present with the omnibus film «Swissmade», shown for the first time since the early 1970s, and the shorts «Chicorée» and «Sad-is-fiction», whose screening personally delighted the director. The festival’s main thematic focus was on Southeast Asia, offering filmmakers from this up-and-coming region a large platform that is unique in the European short film festival scene.

The Kurzfilmtage association was also active throughout the year. The Short Film Night, which took place in 23 Swiss cities in all linguistic regions, continues to attract an ever-growing audience. In addition, Kurzfilmtage realized 10 collaborations, including one with the festival Zürich Meets Hong Kong, for which the team curated a programme dedicated to H.R. Giger that played to sold-out houses.



Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: Southeast Asia
  • Country in Focus: Greece
  • Person in Focus: Pimpaka Towira

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Ligne noire» (Switzerland 2017) by Mark Olexa and Francesca Scalisi
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Flores» (Portugal 2017) by Jorge Jácome
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Valet noir » (Schweiz 2017) by Lora Mure-Ravaud
  • Swiss Cinematography Award: Florian Berutti for the camera work in «Premier amour» (Switzerland 2017) by Jules Carrin
  • ZKB Audience Award: «Facing Mecca» (Switzerland 2017) by Jan-Eric Mack
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Kinder der Nacht» (Switzerland 2017) by Kim Allamand (production: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste)
  • Postproduction Award: Corina Schwingruber Ilić for her doc «The Cruise»
  • Youth Film Award: «How Long, Not Long» (Denmark 2016) by Michelle and Uri Kranot


Jury International Competition

  • Marcin Luczaj, Poland - New Europe Film Sales, previously Warsaw Film Festival and ZUBROFFKA Short Film Festival
  • Marie-Pauline Mollaret, France - member of the short film committee for the Critic’s Week in Cannes, editor-in-chief at EcranNoir
  • Penelope Bartlett, USA - programmer for the Criterion Channel, FilmStruck, curator for shortoftheweek.com
  • Pimpaka Towira, Thailand - filmmaker and producer
  • Pascal Blum, Switzerland - film critic for Tages-Anzeiger

Jury Swiss Competition and Swiss Film School Day

  • Anna Purkrabkova, Czech Republic - programmer, Karlovy Vary Int. Film Festival
  • Eva Vitija, Switzerland - screenwriter
  • Sam Morill, USA - Director of Curation Vimeo

Festival catalogue

20th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

8–13 November 2016

Six days, three screening venues, 237 short films, 10 competition programmes, and 28 thematic programmes – that is the 20th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur in numbers. These numbers are the result of intense preparations lasting more than a year and of the countless working hours of over 50 team members.

For its anniversary, Kurzfilmtage presented a unique musical and cinematic experience with the CinéConcert: a one-time screening of historic silent films about the early 20th century’s fascination with rail traffic, orchestrated live by the Musikkollegium Winterthur, conducted by Reto Parolari. Nostalgics were also catered to: under the title Kurzfilmtage Outdoors, the festival’s entertaining history came alive on a stroll through Winterthur’s Old Town, where anecdotes and artefacts were presented in shop windows and public spaces. And last but not least, the programme Kurz im Himmel presented an amusing look at the early days of Kurzfilmtage – two charming hours with former team members and with beloved anachronisms such as Super 8, VHS cassettes, and fax messages. The edition's motto: Cinema is not dead!



Programme Highlights

  • CinéConcert orchestrated live by the Musikkollegium Winterthur
  • Main Focus: Nordic Countries
  • Country in Focus: Colombia
  • Person in Focus: Salomé Lamas

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «A Man Returned» (United Kingdom/The Netherlands/Lebanon/Denmark 2016) by Mahdi Fleifel
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «NO’I» (Belgium/Vietnam 2016) by Aline Magrez
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «E.B.C. 5300m» (Switzerland 2015) by Léonard Kohli
  • Swiss Cinematography Award: Laurence Bonvin for the cinematography in her own film «Avant l’envol» (Switzerland 2016)
  • ZKB Audience Award: «Digital Immigrants» (Switzerland 2016) by Dennis Stauffer/Norbert Kottmann
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Millimeterle» (Switzerland 2015) by Pascal Reinmann (ZHdK)
  • Shortrun Award: short film project «Soy tu Papá» by Garrick James Lauterbach
  • Youth Film Award: «Mother Knows Best» (Sweden 2016) by Mikael Bundsen

Jury

  • Emilio Alvarez (ESP) – director, LOOP Barcelona
  • Kathleen McInnis (USA) – festival strategist, director of programming Aspen Shortsfest, Short Cuts programmer TIFF
  • Milja Mikkola (FIN) – programme manager Midnight Sun Film Festival
  • Luciano Rigolini (SUI) – artist/photographer and producer
  • Neil Young (GBR) – film critic

Jury Swiss Film School Day

  • Jenny Billeter (SUI) – programmer Solothurner Filmtage and Kino Xenix
  • Daniel Ebner (AUT) – artistic director VIS Vienna Independent Shorts
  • François Morisset (FRA) – producer Salaud Morisset

Festival catalogue

19th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

3–8 November 2015

After continually expanding its collaborations over the past years, Kurzfilmtage ventured on a second project of its own in 2015, taking over the organization of the Kurzfilmnacht-Tour (hitherto under the direction of SWISS FILMS). Steered from the festival office, short films now tour through 23 Swiss cities each spring and autumn.

In a second edition of the project 5x5x5, five filmmakers from five conflict areas produced works on the topic «In Exile» during a five-week stay in Winterthur. Once again, the response was huge, and the world premiere of the five short docs in a jam-packed Theater Winterthur on Saturday garnered standing ovations. Winterthur’s brand-new Kino Cameo at Sulzer-Areal also welcomed numerous visitors as the latest addition to the festival’s screening venues. And in passing, the 19th festival edition made history by screening early works by Andy Warhol that were never before shown on European soil.

Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: Arab Encounters
  • Country in Focus: Bhutan/Nepal
  • Person in Focus: Christoph Giradet & Matthias Müller

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «The Living Need Light, the Dead Need Music» (Vietnam 2014) by The Propeller Group
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Totem» (Norway 2015) by Marte Vold
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Nuestro Mar» (Switzerland 2015) by Eileen Hofer
  • Swiss Cinematography Award: Maxime Kathari for his work in «O som da casa» (Switzerland 2015) by Maxime Kathari
  • Audience Award: «Hausarrest» (Switzerland 2015) by Matthias Sahli

Jury

  • Luciano Barisone (festival director of Visions du Réel, Nyon)
  • Sally Berger (assistant curator department of film MoMA)
  • Calmin Borel (selection committee Festival du Court-Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand)
  • Lamia Joreige (artist and filmmaker, Lebanon)
  • Vangelis Mourikis (actor and producer, Greece)

Jury Swiss Film School Day

  • Laurence Boyce (curator/journalist, Estonia)
  • Jing Haase (Market Manager Nordisk Panorama, Sweden)
  • Ivan Madeo (producer, Switzerland)

Festival catalogue

18th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

4–9 November 2014

In 2014, the festival decided to group its thematic programmes into different sections, thus establishing the Main Focus, the Country in Focus, and the Person in Focus.

The Main Focus of the year was the entire European continent, and it included a variety of historic programmes, which additionally lead to the introduction of the «Cinema Nostalgia» label to designate programmes that screen movies on film reels. The mayor of Winterthur had the pleasure to announce that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had admitted his city’s short film festival to the circle of OSCAR®-qualifying festivals. To increase the chances of winning the highest of all film awards for Switzerland’s new filmmaking generation, the screenwriting workshop «Writer’s Room» was added to the festival’s industry events. The Kurzfilmtage association was also active throughout the year, realizing 23 collaborations with other national and international cultural institutions, including KURZ – KUNST – KINO, which took place during the city of Winterthur’s 750 year anniversary.



Programme Highlights

  • Main Focus: Europe
  • Country in Focus: Indigenous Cinema
  • Person in Focus: Yann Gonzalez

Award Winners

  • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «A Million Miles Away» (USA 2014) by Jennifer Reeder
  • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Kuhani» (Uganda/USA/Nigeria 2013) by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine
  • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Tišina mujo» (Switzerland/France/Bosnia-Herzegovina 2013) by Ursula Meier
  • Swiss Cinematography Award: Aurelio Buchwalder for his work in «Wandelzeit – Eine Gletscherperformance» (Switzerland 2014) by Jan-Eric Mack
  • Audience Award: «Abseits der Autobahn» (Switzerland 2014) by Rhona Mühleb
  • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «L’offre» (Switzerland 2014) by Moïra Pitteloud
  • Shortrun Award for the script «Doug & Walter» by Samuel Morris
  • Youth Film Award: «Tastes Like Chicken?» (Brazil 2012) by Quico Meirelles

Jury

  • Monia Chokri (actor and director, Canada)
  • Joke Ballintijn (freelance curator, Netherlands)
  • Jonathan Pouthier (programmer at Centre Pompidou, France)
  • Yael Bartana (artist, Israel)
  • Michael Sennhauser (filmjournalist at SRF 2 Kultur, Switzerland)

Jury Swiss Film School Day

  • François Bonenfant (Head of the Departement of Film and Visual Arts at Le Fresnoy, France)
  • Sirkka Möller (director Doc Station Berlinale Talents, freelance curator, Germany)
  • Anna Thommen (director, Basel, Switzerland)

Festival catalogue

17th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

5–10 November 2013

2013 was characterized by continuity despite some changes: after last year’s change of the Artistic Director, Remo Longhi replaced Delphine Lyner in the position of Managing Director. The year also brought the long overdue expansion of the head office with additional part-time staff.

But it was one person in particular who made history: Chinese filmmaker Hu Weï, who lives in France, thrilled jury and audience alike with «La lampe au beurre de yak» (China/France 2013), winning both the Grand Prize and the Audience Award. Only one other filmmaker had scored the same coup before, and that was Marc Isaacs in 2003 with «Lift» (United Kingdom 2001). Another moment to remember was the screening of the programme We Are Soccer, which took place outdoors at the Schützenwiese stadium in a unique atmosphere. And finally, Kurzfilmtage hosted its first Artist in Residence, Humberto Díaz, at the Villa Sträuli arts centre in Winterthur.

Programme Highlights

  • Independent Cinema USA
  • We are Soccer
  • Cuba

Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «La lampe au beurre de yak» (China/France 2013) by Hu Wei
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Quelqu’un d’extraordinaire» (Canada 2013) by Monia Chokri
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Kod Ćoška» (Switzerland 2013) by Corina Schwingruber Ilić and Nikola Ilić
    • Swiss Cinematography Award: Quetzalli Malagón for her work in «Idyllium» (Cuba/Switzerland 2013) by Denise Fernandes
    • Audience Award: «La lampe au beurre de yak» (China/France 2013) by Hu Wei
    • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «205 la terre s’ouvre» (Switzerland 2013) by Julie de Wispelaere
    • Shortrun Award for the script «Between» by Flo Baumann
    • Youth Film Award: «Yardbird» (Australia 2012) by Michael Spiccia


    Jury

    • Alessandro Marcionni (festival director Pardi di domani, Festival del film di Locarno, Switzerland)
    • Sari Volanen (chief editor at YLE, Finland)
    • Mick Hannigan (festival director IndieCork Film Festival, Ireland)
    • Jennifer Reeder (director, USA)
    • Humberto Díaz (artist, Cuba)

    Jury Swiss Film School Day

    • Tom Kalin (filmmaker/producer, professor of film studies at Columbia University NYC, USA)
    • Thierry Jobin (artistic director, Festival International de Films de Fribourg FIFF, Switzerland)
    • Carlotta Holy-Steinemann (cinematographer, Switzerland)

    Festival catalogue

    16th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    6–11 November 2012

    «A lower-case ‘k’ against a red background, short and sweet, is all that’s needed. Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, advertising itself with this logo, is such an established institution that it hardly needs an introduction.» Thus wrote the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in November 2012.

    The Canton of Zurich showed its appreciation by increasing its subsidies. This, in turn, motivated the organizers to extend the festival by one more day, opening on Tuesday for the first time. And a lucky star shone on this 6 November: Roger de Weck, Secretary General of SRG SSR, announced to everyone’s great surprise during his opening speech that SRG SSR would henceforth donate the Award for the Best Swiss School Film. The digitalization of the film archive also began in 2012 – a long and intense project occupying the team for the «duration» of about 25,000 movies. After eight festival editions and much indispensible work in developing and growing the festival, Artistic Director Reto Bühler left Kurzfilmtage and was succeeded by John Canciani.

    Programme Highlights

    • Balkan Cinema
    • Ivan Ladislav Galeta

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Isla Alta» (Paraguay 2011) by Federico Adorno
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Death to the Camera» (Afghanistan/USA 2011) by Sayad Qasem Hossaini
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Os vivos tambem choram» (Switzerland 2012) by Basil Da Cunha
    • Swiss Cinematography Award: Pauline Richon for her work in «Coup de Soleil» (Switzerland 2012) by Natalia Ducrey
    • Audience Award: «Kurt und der Sessellift» (Switzerland 2012) by Thaïs Odermatt
    • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Traumfrau» (Switzerland 2012) by Oliver Schwarz
    • Shortrun Award for the short film script «KALI YUGA – From Ganga to Bollywood» by Pao Paixao
    • Youth Film Award: «Levis Hest» (Norway 2011) by Torfinn Inversen


    Jury

    • Lars Henrik Gass (director Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany)
    • Eileen Hofer (filmmaker, Geneva)
    • Linda O. Olszewski (Short International, Los Angeles)
    • Laurence Reymond (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, Cannes)
    • Želimir Žilnik (filmmaker, Serbia)

    Jury Swiss Film School Day

    • Catherine Ruelle (journalist RF1, Paris)
    • Christoph Schaub (filmmaker and screenwriter, Zurich)
    • Cornelia Seitler (producer, Maximage, Zurich

    15th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    9–13 November 2011

    The festival's 15th anniversary was celebrated with a new design: the advertising agency Neue LGK agreed to overhaul the festival’s visual presence and the idea of the abbreviations was born!

    The festival also launched a project titled 5x5x5 in collaboration with the ZHdK and Swiss filmmaker Ivana Lalovic. Five filmmakers from five continents were invited to spend five weeks in Winterthur in order to shoot a short documentary about the city. The world premiere of the films at the 15th Kurzfilmtage caused quite a stir, drawing such big crowds that a second screening had to be arranged at short notice. In line with the year’s thematic focus on Africa, a young filmmaker from Madagascar was invited to spend seven weeks in Switzerland, in collaboration with the Swiss Embassy and with Geneva’s art school HEAD. The festival also invested in the young generation locally, further expanding its activities under the «Shorts in the Classroom» label.

    Programme Highlights

    • Africa
    • 5x5x5
    • Deimantas Narkevičius

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Brûleurs» (France 2011) by Farid Bentoumi
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Threesome» (Germany/Netherlands/Norway 2010) by Johannes Dullin
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Bon Voyage» (Switzerland 2011) by Fabio Friedli
    • Swiss Cinematography Award: Gabriel Lobos for his work in «Le Début de la fin» (Switzerland 2011) by Jean-François Vercasson
    • Audience Award: «Las Palmas» (Sweden 2011) by Johannes Nyholm
    • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Bon Voyage» (Switzerland 2011) by Fabio Friedli
    • Shortrun Award for the documentary script «Kurt und die Sesselbahn» by Thaïs Odermatt

    Jury

    • Maike Mia Höhne (curator Berlinale Shorts, Germany)
    • Ken Wardrop (filmmaker, Ireland)
    • Filip Zumbrunn (cinematographer, Switzerland)
    • Pascale Faure (Head of short film Canal+, France)
    • Dyana Gaye (filmmaker, France)

    Jury Swiss Film School Day

    • Luciano Barrisone (festival director, Visions du Réel, Nyon)
    • Elena Tatti (producer, Box Productions, Renens)
    • Micha Lewinsky (director, Zurich)

    14th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    10–14 November 2010

    The 14th festival edition focused on short films between art and cinema. The audience was not deterred by this rather ambitious choice of topic, and ticket sales rose to 14,500. Those who couldn’t attend the festival were compensated with live broadcasts from the festival lounge at Casinotheater every evening, as Winterthur’s local radio station Radio Stadtfilter aired conversations with prominent festival guests.

    Apart from art, Kurzfilmtage once again dedicated itself to trash, for instance with the nocturne Zombie Attack and with a revival of the near-legendary Trash Night. Filmmaker David O’Reilly also returned to Winterthur after his 2009 win, becoming the only filmmaker to receive the Kurzfilmtage's Grand Prize twice in a row and from different juries. Finally, the Youth Programmecurated specifically for an audience aged 12 to 16 closed the gap between the Magic Lanternprogrammes for children and the screenings for adults, thus laying the foundation for the festival’s now-established educational offerings titled «Shorts in the Classroom».

    Programme Highlights

    • Short films between art and cinema
    • Central Asia
    • Ran Slavin

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «The External World» (Ireland/Germany 2010) by David O'Reilly
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Glukhota» (Ukraine 2010) by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Stick Climbing» (Switzerland/Austria 2010) by Daniel Zimmermann
    • Swiss Cinematography Award: Pascal Walder for his work in «Yuri Lennon’s Landing on Alpha» (Switzerland/Germany 2009)
    • Audience Award: «Heimatland» (Switzerland 2010) by L. Arnold/A. Schneider/M. Portmann/F. Friedli
    • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Happy» (Switzerland 2010) by Stefan Künzler
    • Shortrun Award for the video-essay script «Baggern» by Corina Schwingruber Ilić


    Jury

    • Balz Bachmann (composer, lecturer at ZHDK, Switzerland)
    • Catherine Colas (film journalist for ZDF and Arte, France)
    • Sergio Fant (curator Venice International Film Festival, Italy)
    • Ardiouma Soma (programme manager FESPACO Pan-African Film & TV Festival of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
    • Jeanne Waltz (filmmaker, Switzerland)

    Jury Swiss Film School Day

    • Alessandro Marcionni (programme manager short films at Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland)
    • Susann Wach Rozsa (producer, Zurich)
    • Christoph Schaub (director, Zurich)

    13th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    4–8 November 2009

    The 13th edition focused on strengthening the festival’s position as a hub for the national and international film industry, with the aim of attracting both newcomers and established filmmakers. In addition to the second edition of the Swiss Film School Day, a number of offerings for short film professionals were introduced under the label «Producer’s Day».

    Some of these events took place at the festival’s new venues, Theater Winterthur and Hotel Krone. Further, the organizers made the competitions even more attractive by creating a new in-kind award for the best cinematography. Another addition was the new award for a promising script, allowing to support film projects in the pre-production phase. Instead of a country-specific focus, the thematic programmes in 2009 spotlighted political films and shorts nominated for the European Film Awards.

    Programme Highlights

    • Political short films
    • Basque country
    • Ken Wardrop

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Please say something» (Ireland/Germany 2008) by David O’Reilly
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Believe» (Great Britain 2009) by Paul Wright
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Ich bin’s Helmut» (Switzerland/Germany 2009) by Nicola Steiner
    • Swiss Cinematography Award: Lorenz Merz for his work in «Schonzeit» (Switzerland 2009) by Irene Ledermann
    • Audience Award: «Wagah» (Germany/India/Pakistan 2009) by Supriyho Sen
    • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «Chrigi» (Switzerland 2009) by Anja Kofmel
    • Shortrun Award for the video-art script «Muselé» by Sahar Suliman

    Jury

    • Vanja Kaludjericic (curator Sarajevo Film Festival, Croatia)
    • Màrio Micaelo (artistic director Curtas Vila do Conde, Portugal)
    • Patricia Mollet-Mercier (actress, Switzerland)
    • Oliver Rihs (filmmaker, producer, lecturer in Film and Video at Gestaltungsschule «G» in Zurich)
    • Shane Smith (member of the shorts programming committee at Sundance Film Festival, USA)

    Jury Swiss Film School Day

    • Claudius Gentinetta (producer of animated films, Zurich)
    • Jean Perret (festival director Visions du Réel, Nyon)
    • Stina Werenfels (director, Zurich

    12th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    5–9 November 2008

    In 2008, films were screened at Kino Palace – which had been rather prone to technical glitches – for the last time. Kurzfilmtage welcomed Delphine Lyner to the newly-created position of Managing Director as well as two additional members to the jury.

    Besides the now five-piece jury selecting the award winners, a second jury devoted itself to the graduation projects of Switzerland’s top five film schools during the festival’s first Swiss Film School Day, awarding a prize to the best Swiss school film. Meanwhile, the organizers invested the prize money from last year’s Culture Award in the redesign of the festival website.

    Programme Highlights

    • Israel
    • Nicolas Provost

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Dockpojken» (Puppetboy) (Sweden 2008) by Johannes Nyholm
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Love you more» (Great Britain 2007) by Sam Taylor-Wood
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: (ex aequo): «Polar» (Switzerland 2007) by Michael Koch and «Second Me» (Switzerland 2008) by Anna Thommen
    • Audience Award: «Second Me» (Switzerland 2008) by Anna Thommen
    • Award for the Best Swiss School Film: «La Délogeuse» (Switzerland 2008) by Julien Rouyet


    Jury


    • Nir Bergman (filmmaker, Israel)
    • Sabine Boss (filmmaker, Switzerland)
    • Peter Liechti (co-founder of KinoK in St. Gallen, filmmaker, Switzerland)
    • Christoffer Olofsson (Programme director of Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden)
    • Barbara Orlicz-Szczypula (coordinator of Krakow Film Festival, Polen)

    Jury Swiss Film School Day

    • Frank Braun (festival director Fantoche, Baden, cinema owner in Lucerne and Zurich)
    • Sabine Gisiger (documentary filmmaker, Zurich)
    • Francin Lusser (producer, Geneva)

    11th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    7–11 November 2007

    As a cultural foretaste of the UEFA European Championships in 2008, Kurzfilmtage invited Austria as a guest country in 2007. While the Swiss national football team would once again fail to make it beyond the first round, Swiss filmmakers were all the more successful in 2007.

    Tobias Nölle’s «René» (2007) was the first (and to date only) Swiss film to win the Grand Prize of the International Competition. The Audience Award went to «Il neige à Marrakech» (2006) by Hicham Alhayat, thus making it a Swiss double win. The festival itself received the Culture Award of the city of Winterthur. Further, the art collective Superschool from Berlin hosted Winterthur’s first (and hitherto only) «Kongress des Halbwissens». This live talk show explored the depths of superficial knowledge in an entertaining way, featuring prominent guests such as Elisabeth Bronfen, Patrick Frey, Michèle Roten, and Michael Steiner.

    Programme Highlights

    • Austria
    • Superschool Berlin
    • Filmschool Lodz

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «René» (Switzerland 2007) by Tobias Nölle
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Hoy no estoy » (Argentina 2007) by Gustavo Taretto
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Twist» (Switzerland 2006) by Alexia Walther
    • Audience Award: «Il neige à Marrakech» (Switzerland 2006) by Hicham Alhayat

    Jury

    • Jukka-Pekka Laakso (festival director of Tampere Film Festival, Finland)
    • Kathrin Resetarits (actor and filmmaker, Austria)
    • Florian Keller (film critic for Tages-Anzeiger, Switzerland)

    10th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    8–12 November 2006

    In 2006, Kurzfilmtage entered early puberty with rapid developments and an expansion of the festival to five days. The still analogue short film archive was catalogued and made accessible to external researchers, with the aim of a sustained promotion of short film

    After bike-taxis had taken visitors from one venue to another two years earlier, the 10th anniversary brought a mobile club cinema chugging through the streets. 10 shorts about life and people in Winterthur, specially made for the occasion, were shown inside a refurbished minivan, while an outside camera provided passengers with live images. In addition, the festival newspaper «DAS BLATT», which appeared daily at 18:00, related all sorts of anecdotes. For the first time, the festival offered accommodation to all international guests – a substantial improvement, given that in previous years, members of the Swiss Army would regularly kick guests out of a multipurpose building early in the morning.

    Programme Highlights

    • Mexico
    • Artavazd Pelechian
    • Highlights from 10 years of Kurzfilmtage

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Aldrig som första gången!» (Never like the first time!) (Sweden 2006) by Jonas Odell
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: (ex aequo): «A bras le corps» (France 2005) by Katell Quillevere and «The Substitute» (Israel 2005) by Talya Levi
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Federer et moi» (Switzerland 2006) by Robin Harsch
    • Audience Award: «West Bank Story» (USA 2005) by Ari Sandel

    Jury

    • Evelyn O’Grady (festival director britspotting Berlin, staff member at Internationales Filmfest Emden-Norderney, Germany)
    • Antonin Svoboda (filmmaker and producer, Austria)
    • Peter Luisi (filmmaker, Switzerland)

    9th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    9–13 November 2005

    With the 9th edition came digitalization, and thus, the beginning of the end of the VHS piles. More than half of the 1800 submitted films were digitally produced, and a full 75 filmmakers used the European online platform reelport for their submissions. The festival also said good bye to its old graphic design and developed its new logo in collaboration with the design agency Riografik: the lower-case «k», which has virtually become a brand logo, appeared inside the catalogue for the first time.

    Much more conspicuous were the festival ads in the Tages-Anzeiger, the festival’s new media partner. The workload of the organizing team was again enormous with 5000 working hours. Thus, after nearly ten years, the «only festival without a boss» reluctantly bid farewell to endless meetings where every decision had to be approved by the whole team, and appointed Reto Bühler as its first Artistic Director.

    Programme Highlights

    • Documentaries
    • Swiss Industry Films 1910–1970
    • Early Newsreels 1968–1970

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Spezialized Technicians Required: Being Luis Porcar» (Spain 2005) by Manuel Saiz
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: (ex aequo) «Ele & Jagger» (Argentina 2005) by Juan Ramon Ojuez and «Stalk» (Great Britain 2005) by Leigh Hoodgkinson
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: (ex aequo) «Frohe Ostern» (Switzerland 2005) by Ulrich Schaffner and «Wir sind dir treu» (Switzerland 2005) by Michael Koch
    • Audience Award: «Sidasti Baerinn» (The Last Farm) (Iceland 2004) by Runar Runarson

    Jury

    • Marcy Goldberg (programming committee Visions du Réel, Nyon, Switzerland)
    • Jan Schomburg (filmmaker, Germany)
    • Victoria Münnich (film journalist for ARTE and the short film magazine Kurzschluss)

    8th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    11–14 November 2004

    2004 offered visitors the one-off pleasure of bike-taxi rides. Luckily for the chauffeurs, the distances were hardly longer than the film reels of the screened shorts, which were not allowed to exceed 820 meters at the time.

    Many of the 9800 visitors took advantage of this «limousine service» to go back and forth between the different venues showing first-rate shorts, which included films from Italy, the Swiss Churzfilm competition (now expanded to two programmes), and works by British filmmaker John Smith. The latter was also a jury member, and he immortalized his visit to Winterthur in his work «Throwing Stones», which shows his nocturnal attempts at breaking into the locked Hotel Loge. The city of Winterthur rewarded this «tribute» – and, of course, especially the work of the organizers – with a new three-year funding contract.

    Programme Highlights

    • Italy
    • John Smith

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition «C’est l’histoire d’un belge» (Belgium 2003) by Rodrigo Litorriaga
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: (ex aequo) «Nie solo seiN» (Germany 2003) by Jan Schomburg and Benedikt Ritter and «Allerleirauh» (Germany 2004) by Anja Struck
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Tiger erdolchen» (Switzerland 2004) by Moritz Gerber
    • Audience Award: «Meine Eltern» (Germany 2003) by Neele Leana Vollmar

    Jury

    • Marianne Sträuli Farinelli (film scholar, University of Zurich, curator for Memoriav, Switzerland, and Festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna)
    • Corinna Schnitt (freelance artist and filmmaker, Germany)
    • Thom Palmen (artistic director of Umea International Filmfestival, Sweden, director Botnia Film, president European Coordination of Film Festivals ECFF)

    7th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    1.–16 November 2003

    Instead of a seven-year itch and broken hearts, the 7th Kurzfilmtage brought new relationships. Swiss television became the festival’s media partner, and the European Coordination of Short Film Festivals admitted the Kurzfilmtage as its youngest member. Further, the organizers strengthened Switzerland’s position by creating the new competition programme CHurzfilm, which consisted exclusively of Swiss films.

    As of 2003, the films selected for the Swiss competition have been eligible for nomination for the Swiss Film Award Quartz in the Best Short Film category. Apart from the usual records – more visitors, more film submissions – the 7th edition even set a world record with one of its special events: the longest loop of Super 8 film wound its way through three projectors and entered the Book of Records. The other innovation that went down in festival history was the appointment of Andrew Blackwell and Dani Fuchs as the festival’s first two permanent employees – a decision made in true grassroots democratic fashion by the 35 team members.

    Programme Highlights

    • Ethnodocumentary short films
    • Klaus Kinski – a play reading
    • Guy Maddin

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Lift » (England 2001) by Marc Isaacs
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: (ex aequo) «Spin» (England 2003) by Cath Le Couteur and «15’» (Singapore 2002) by Royston Tan
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Camkiller» (Switzerland 2002) by Curdin Schneider
    • Audience Award: «Lift» (England 2001) by Marc Isaacs

    Jury

    • Sylke Gottlebe (director of AG Kurzfilm e.V. Bundesverband Deutscher Kurzfilm)
    • Matthias Müller (filmmaker, professor of experimental film at Kunsthochschule für Medien in Köln)
    • Susann Wach Rozsa (film journalist at Schweizer Fernsehen DRS)

    6th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    14–17 November 2002

    The big news of the 6th edition was the new festival centre: the move to Casinotheater brought shorter distances between venues and additional seating, leading to «lasting improvements in the foot and bottom areas». Once again, the festival drew large crowds, and some of the 7500 visitors had to settle for wooden chairs or standing room.

    A seat of honour was reserved for the city’s mayor at the time, Ernst Wohlwend, whom even a hospital stay couldn’t prevent from secretly attending a screening. Public awareness of Kurzfilmtage grew in 2002, especially thanks to the festival trailer, which now screened in about 60 art house cinemas across Switzerland and aired over 30 times on Swiss television (SF1 and SF2). In addition to the competition winners, the organizers were also rewarded that year: the Canton of Zurich conferred an award of CHF 15,000.– to the festival, «in recognition of several years of groundwork and the continued development of this film festival, which now attracts attention far beyond Winterthur.»

    Programme Highlights

    • South Korea
    • Retrospective Peter Tscherkassky

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Meska Sprawa» (A Man Thing) (Poland 2001) by Slawomir Fabicki
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: (ex-aequo) «Ich muss gehen» (Germany 2001) by Florian Mischa Boeder and «Dortoka Uhartea» (Insel der Schildkröte) (Spain/Germany 2002) by Maru Solores
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Swapped» (Switzerland 2000) by Pierre Monnard
    • Audience Award: «Der Komplex» (Switzerland 2002) by Fabienne Boesch
    • Cinema Award: «Aria» (Norway/Canady 2001) by Pjotr Sapegin

    Jury

    • Dr. Christine N. Brinckmann (author and professor of film studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland)
    • Gerald Weber (staff member at Sixpackfilm)
    • Hee-Seon Kim (freelance artist(media art/video installations), graphic designer, editor/compositor)

    5th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    8–11 November 2001

    The festival grows longer, the films remain short: due to the continued success and steadily increasing audience numbers, Kurzfilmtage lasted four days in 2001, instead of the previous three.

    Zu verdanken war dies mitunter der erfolgreichen Sponsoring-Arbeit, durch welche die Zürcher Kantonalbank als erste und bis dato treue Hauptsponsorin gewonnen werden konnte. Das programmatorische Highlight der 5. Ausgabe war neben dem Wettbewerb und Kurzfilmen aus Schweden die «Stacheltierparade» – satirische Kurzfilme aus der ehemaligen DDR, welche die Kurzfilmtage als erstes internationales Festival überhaupt vorführten. Ausserdem veranstaltete man 2001 erstmals Filmgespräche mit anwesenden Filmschaffenden, Fachleuten und Mitgliedern der Auswahlkommission, was sich beim Publikum als äusserst beliebt erwies.

    Programm e Highlights:

    • Sweden
    • Retrospective Matthias Müller

    Award Winners:

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Michelle» (Germany 1999) by Mark Monheim
    • Promotional Award of the International Competition: «Tous à Table» (Switzerland/Belgium/France 2001) by Ursula Meier
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: (ex aequo) «Das Engadiner Wunder» (Switzerland 2001) by Anka Schmid and Tania Stöcklin and «So oder so» (Switzerland 2000) by Lawrence Grimm
    • Audience Award: «Viaje en Taxi» (Switzerland 2001) by Nico Gutmann

    Jury:

    • Leif Furhammar (professor of film studies, filmmaker, producer, critic, and author, Sweden)
    • Birgit Kämper (film journalist at ARTE in Strasbourg, France)
    • Vincent Pluss (filmmaker, Switzerland)

    4th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    10–12 November 2000

    No film festival without a competition! Thus, the organizers called the event Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and raised money for prizes totalling CHF 12,000.– for the first official competition. The submitted films, piling up in countless grocery bags at the association’s office, were now also screened at Kino Palace and evaluated by an invited jury.

    In addition to the competition and six thematic short film programmes (which included guest country Iran and an homage to movie trailers), there were numerous art installations in Winterthur’s shop windows, a screenplay reading, and a second edition of the Trash Night, which had already achieved legendary status after its first appearance the year before. The collaboration with the Magic Lantern children’s film club was also launched in 2000, and short films have been considered a welcome addition to primary school curricula in and around Winterthur ever since.

    Programme Highlights

    • Iran
    • Retrospective HGKZ
    • Trailers

    Award Winners

    • Grand Prize of the International Competition: «Ampiaispaini» (Wrestling with the Bee)(Finland 1999) by Meritta Koivisto
    • Award for the Best Swiss Film: «Tout est bien» (Switzerland 2000) by Vincent Pluss
    • Audience Award: «Summertime» (Switzerland 2000) by Anna Luif

    Jury

    • Astrid Kuehl (manager of KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg, Co-Festival Director of Internationales Hamburger KurzFilmFestvial)
    • Hassan Dezvareh (lecturer in film and photo journalism at the University of Art in Teheran, Head of the Department for International Relations at Iranian Young Cinema Society)
    • Stina Werenfels (filmmaker, Switzerland)

    3rd Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    12–14 November 1999

    For the 3rd edition of Kurzfilmtage, the organizers grouped films from 20 countries into thematic programmes. For the first time, there were two audience awards worth CHF 3000.– in total, for the best international and the best Swiss film.

    But the real winners were the organizers who achieved yet another great success, despite still having to manage «with an entirely insufficient budget». The festival attracted about 2000 visitors who were enthusiastic even about the «bad movies» shown in the Trash Night programme, accompanied by «bad music, terrible announcements, and warm beer». A second screening venue was added with Kino Loge, and the association Kurzfilmtage Winterthur was founded.

    Programme Highlights

    • Funny Games
    • Hunter-gatherers

    Award Winners

    • Audience Award for Best International Film: «Desserts» (Scotland 1998) by Jeff Stark
    • Audience Award for Best Swiss Film: «Blush» (Switzerland 1999) by Barbara Kulcsar

    2nd Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    13–15 November 1998

    While the festival was originally intended to be a one-time event, the «search for additional chairs during the 1. Kurzfilmtage» encouraged the organizers to hold a second edition

    he idea of presenting a guest country in addition to films from Switzerland, Germany, and Austria was also retained. This time, films were brought to Winterthur from Cuba – again illegally, and again without legal consequences. Regarding the runtime of the shorts, there weren’t any strict rules back then, just a general idea that films should «not substantially exceed 20 minutes». The festival turned was another great success and ticket sales doubled to 1500.

    Programme Highlights

    • Cuba
    • Short classics
    • Shorts by famous directors

    1st Winterthurer Kurzfilmtage

    14–16 November 1997

    It all began over a beer: a group of friends around the «founding fathers» Rolf Heusser and Stefan Busz were frustrated with being denied industry access to existing film festivals, so they spontaneously decided to launch their own, together with Filmfoyer and Kino Nische. The «1. Winterthurer Kurzfilmtage» was born!

    The festival lasted three days and showed ten programmes with short films from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and guest country Poland. According to legend, the latter were illegally smuggled across the border by a founding member. The shorts were shown at Alte Kaserne for the modest price of CHF 9.– per screening, CHF 19.– for a day pass, and CHF 29.– for a festival pass. About 750 tickets were sold.

    Programme Highlights

    • Poland
    • Early shorts of famous directors