BE SHORT NOW!

synopsis: 2020 has definitely been a disruptive year for the short film festival ecosystem. The unexpected outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March has forced the vast majority of organisations to postpone, move online or even cancel long time scheduled events. Many festival organisers immediately managed to quickly and successfully respond to this new situation and to adapt their events to an all online reality. Others, in order to make a hybrid or “on-site” version a viable option, chose to postpone the festivals hoping in more favourable epidemiological conditions from August onwards. Unfortunately, as the pandemic’s situation keeps evolving, organisers of events set to happen in the last three months of the year once again have had to face worse sanitary conditions. These rapid changes have created new challenges and issues that festival teams had to tackle, such as health safety measures or rethinking schedules and programming for a new event format. Although uncertainty for the upcoming 2021 season is still very much present and real, how will organisers prepare for it? How will past experiences and recently learnt expertise help shape the future short film festivals? What form will “real-life” events take? How will organisers be able to provide safe spaces? And at what cost? Will hybrid festivals still be prominent in the near future instead? And what does that mean for the film curators and distribution sector? Festivals of the Present, Festivals of the Future aims to answer to all these and other questions on the organisational issues, changes and challenges that the short film festival ecosystem is about to face in a post-pandemic world.

moderator: Emilia Mazik (Festival Director, Short Waves Festival)

panelists: Eroll Bilibani (Head of DokuLab, Dokufest), Lars Henrik Gass (Festival Director, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen), Nina Rodrigues Lima (Director of Programming, Guanajuato International Film Festival)

synopsis: Where there’s a will there’s a way. At least in theory. The path to a green festival comes with a lot of requirements. Many of the existing certifications are granted in stages, others are already outdated or designed for businesses or one-time events. Thus, a growing number of festivals in Austria are joining forces to adapt existing regulations. 2020 would have been the first year with a green strategy for Vienna Shorts. Festival co-director Daniel Ebner talks about goals, partial successes, and challenges.

moderator: Emilia Mazik (Talking Shorts)

panelists: Daniel Ebner (Vienna Shorts Festival)

synopsis: The transition to a greener festival scene requires substantial investment and long-term planning. The short film industry, in particular, faces considerable challenges in regard to providing the needed capacities. But this investment will pay off in the long run. Sven Schwarz, managing director of the Hamburg Short Film Festival, shares his experiences with budgeting and talks about the challenges and successes, as well as the chain of effects in regard to transitioning to a greener festival.

moderator: Enrico Vannucci (Talking Shorts)

panelists: Sven Schwarz (Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg)

synopsis: Submitting films to festivals can prove challenging. And in fact, each filmmaker would like to enter their film everywhere, were it not for the complicated issue with premieres. And there are almost as many of these as there are film festivals. For filmmakers at the start of their career especially, this can all seem very confusing. What is the difference between an international and a world premiere? What happens when we ignore the premieres? And who benefits from all this? Marija Milovanovic, curator at VIS Vienna Shorts and the Managing Director of Lemonade Films, will attempt to cast some lights on these issues and discuss the usefulness or otherwise of this with both losers and winners of such premiere policies.

moderator: Marija Milovanovic (VIS - Vienna Shorts Festival)

panelists: Nikita Diakur (Filmmaker), Asja Krsmanovic (Sarajevo Film Festival), Julie Rousson (Festival du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand)

synopsis: Academic discourse as well as journalistic resources for short films have always been, and still are, limited. Though the short film scene is an active, flourishing field and the prime source of innovation for film and filmmaking, there is still a serious lack of education, canonisation and criticism. Talking Shorts’ prime purpose is to widen this current (lack of) discourse about the short film as an art form. In this panel we aim to explore the current state of short film criticism in terms of accessibility and opportunities. Who is doing it and who is it for? Has the rise of more streaming platforms over the past couple of years also increased the quantity of writings about short film? Does more short film distribution equals better criticism? Can the concretisation of a short film canon nurture more public education? Let’s get critical!

moderator: Enrico Vannucci (Talking Shorts)

panelists: Maria D. Richter (Ubiquarian), Julian Ross (Locarno Film Festival), Laura Walde (Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur)

Synopsis: The panel will give you the opportunity to listen to the point-of-view of filmmakers and those that represent them. How are they dealing with postponed festivals, cancelled premieres, online screenings and the lack of human connections & networking that are usually so vital to the festival experience?

Moderated by: Aneta Ozorek (Kaboom Animation Festival)

Synopsis: Film festivals have been canceled or are taking place online, cinemas are closed, film premieres have been canceled and training and recordings have been suspended. How do you deal with this as a novice player in the film industry? What is the impact on film development? And what is still possible?

In this (online) industry talk, the guests will talk about their new reality and perspectives on the long-term impact on the film industry and talent development.

Moderated by: Sanne Jehoul (Glasgow Short Film Festival)

Panelists: Mila Zhluktenko (Opera Glasses), Erik Glijnis (producer Lemming Film), Marija Milanovic (distributor Lemonade Films)

The Seminar will talk about the technical and logistic difficulties the guests have faced when transforming their festivals into a successful online event. How do you sell tickets? Who is the target group? What if directors don't want their films to be screened online yet?

Moderated by: Gina Dellabarca (Show Me Shorts Film Festival)

The Seminar will talk about the guests' experiences dealing with all the changes and responsibilities they have come to face trying to stay afloat during these crazy times. How to cancel your festival without cancelling your audience? How to find new festival dates in (an already very crowded) fall season?

Moderated by: Aneta Ozorek (Kaboom Animation Festival)

With much being made of gender equality within the film business, with both film production and major festivals such as Cannes and Venice all coming under intense scrutiny, this panel will explore gender (in)equality within the world of short film. We'll discuss the steps that can be taken to ensure short film can lead the way in terms of diversity and inclusivity.

Moderated by: Gina Dellabarca (Short Film Conference)