69th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen opens today

• The world’s oldest short film festival from 26 April to 1 May, 2023
• Nearly 500 films from more than 60 countries in almost 100 programmes
• Opening at the Lichtburg in Oberhausen on 26 April
• Theme 2023: "Against Gravity. The Art of Machinima – Art, Animation, Gaming".

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen will kick off at the Lichtburg cinema in Oberhausen on 26 April. The five competitions (International, German, NRW, Children’s and Youth Films, MuVi Award) will show a total of 121 short film works, with 48 of them screening in the International Competition, the festival’s oldest and largest competition section. Around 500 films from 61 countries will be presented, and prize-money of more than 43,000 Euros will be handed out at award ceremonies on 1 May. Addressing political topics runs through all the competitions. The formal approaches demonstrate how wide-ranging the short film format is today: from the use of artificial intelligence through traditional documentaries or feature films to sound installations, performance or found footage works.

Theme 2023: "Against Gravity. The Art of Machinima – Art, Animation, Gaming".
The festival is dedicating eight film programmes to "Against Gravity. The Art of Machinima" to focus on the young genre of machinima (machine and cinema). Machinima uses video games or game engines to produce moving images. The focus offers an opportunity to experience a genre that has outgrown the gaming subculture and developed into a new artistic medium.

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW at the festival
Eight films will be screened in the NRW competition, including the Filmstiftung-backed experimental short film "… und der Sünder bereut" by Marion Kellmann (screenplay, production, direction, editing). The production is an experimental found footage film assembled from Heimatfilme about clichés, morality and manipulation.

This year will again see the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen offering an extensive supporting programme alongside the competition sections. This includes showcases of  five international filmmakers, panel discussions, labs where the analogue film still has its place in the festival programme, as well as the "re-selected" project which will be presenting a specially curated programme of films selecte from the Short Film Festival’s archive. The Basque Country is the subject of this year’s country focus.

The complete festival programme can be found at www.kurzfilmtage.de/en