This year for the first time, the Audi Short Film Award was presented in the Berlinale Shorts section along with the Golden and Silver Bears at the Berlin International Film Festival. The honor, which includes EUR 20,000 in prize money, went to Japanese director Momoko Seto for her 12-minute work “Planet ∑.” The international short film jury, consisting of Wahyuni A. Hadi, director of the Singapore International Film Festival, Halil Altındere, publisher of the Turkish art magazine art-ist, and Indian filmmaker Madhusree Dutta, honored the special artistic signature of the director with the award. With this prize Audi is supporting an important field of experimentation in filmmaking. “The short form has a long tradition at the Berlinale. The Audi Short Film Award supports a cinematic form of storytelling that is becoming increasingly popular and captures the zeitgeist,” said Dieter Kosslick, Director of the Berlin International Film Festival.
To help attract young talent to this innovative genre, Audi is donating the proceeds from beverage sales at the Audi Berlinale Lounge to the Berlin education initiative “Kinder machen Kurzfilm.” Since 2006 the association has presented a writing contest followed by a screenwriting and production workshop for elementary school-age kids. Under the guidance of professional filmmakers, children organize and learn about the creative process for a complete short film.
The end result of the Audi Berlinale Lounge at Marlene Dietrich Platz, which was open to fans, industry professionals, journalists and film lovers, was extremely positive for Audi, with its Berlinale Open House entertainment program drawing more than 6,000 visitors. The roughly 30 events were consistently well-attended. Highlights including the Cars in Films panel discussion with James Bond legend Sir Ken Adam and Giovanni Perosino, Head of Brand Communications at AUDI AG, and talks with Marie Bäumer, Iris Berben, Andreas Dresen, Peter Rommel, Udo Kier, Sebastian Schipper and Howard Shore attracted large crowds. “With the Berlinale Open House, we and the Berlinale have established a new format that tells exciting stories related to the cinema, offers a peek behind the scenes into the worlds of filmmaking and carmaking, and allows those involved in making movies to express themselves on this side of the silver screen as well. We also want to continue with this successful formula in the future,” said Wayne Griffiths, Head of Sales for Germany at AUDI AG. Guests from the top floor of the lounge also had a direct view of the red carpet, where they could see stars like Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman and Daniel Brühl, who were driven to the site in around 300 Audi cars.
Roughly 300 guests responded to the company’s invitation to attend the Audi Berlinale Brunch, including numerous celebrities such as director Wim Wenders, actors James Franco and Daniel Brühl and television host Kai Pflaume.
To allow fans outside of the capital city to enjoy the Berlinale experience as well, Audi rolled out the red carpet at the Piazza in Ingolstadt for the duration of the festival. Films from the past three years of the Berlinale will be shown daily until February 15 at the Audi Programmkino arthouse cinema. The highlight of the Ingolstadt film series is the remake of the Disney fairytale “Cinderella,” four weeks before the official premiere in German theaters.
About Momoko Seto:
Momoko Seto, a graduate in art, has worked for many years as a freelance film maker. Her cinematic cosmos takes the viewer to distant universes. She transfers scientific techniques of observation such as slow motion to the narrative. She adds to this art of reduction a sociopolitical intent that is profoundly important to her. This way of working creates a poetry of everyday life. Images from this, as from the growth of fungus or salt crystals, form an entrance into genre cinema. Momoko Seto’s works have been presented globally at festivals and in the context of exhibitions.
Photos and video material from the Berlinale and the Audi Short Film Award can be found at
www.image.net/audi_berlinale_2015
www.audimedia.tv
www.audi-mediaservices.com
www.flickr.com/photos/audiag