Scott Miller Berry, lead programmer of Toronto's Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival and a long-time collaborator of Goethe-Instituts from Toronto to Jakarta to Bangalore, attended to Oberhausen 2021 --virtually of course (see his head floating on the right of the Oberhausen Festival Space). We asked him to report back on his best-of-show and critical takeaways.
My first visit to the
Oberhausen Short Film Festival, the world's oldest and largest short film extravaganza, was in 2008 if I remember correctly. After the requisite overnight flight with lovely Images Festival colleagues we piled into a shiny new Volkswagen and the festival driver proceeded at a modest 180km/h clip from Düsseldorf north into the Ruhr valley's post-industrial pocket. At that speed I felt like my face was melting off, which became an inspired metaphor for the entire Oberhausen festival experience --face- and all senses-melting over concentrated days stacked with upwards of 7 slots of short film programs followed by very late nights at the festival lounge. As a film festival worker and lover, I've been incredibly inspired by Oberhausen over the years, its mammoth program and their smooth ability to host hundreds and hundreds of guests from festivals, galleries, distributors, broadcasters and artists.
The immensity of Oberhausen is truly overwhelming; it's also part of its charm. It's a little known secret that the "main" International Competition is often the least interesting part of the program, which is rather unique given that most film festivals emphasize the best of the best from the world (in a German premiere, at minimum, annoyingly, but that premiere policy is in place because Oberhausen is a prestigious Oscar-qualifying festival).
It took many years of jet lag adjustment to finally get up early and catch some
kinder screenings -- experiencing 350+ kids cheering on a Dagie Brundert super-8 film at 8:30 am in the immense main Lichtburg Cinema (where all in-person screenings are held in the centre of town) is something I'll never forget. Unfortunately, I overlooked other sections for years, such as the Archives programs, the stalwart MuVi platform supporting music videos and the always impressive German Competition, when these sections deliver solid programs year over year.
Which brings us to 2021 and Oberhausen, like most film festivals in the world, having to migrate its 67th edition online after hopes of offering a hybrid in person + online edition this May. With such a huge program, how does it all look and feel and work? I know I’m not alone in saying I would much prefer to be sitting at the Lichtburg (or any cinema for that matter) watching films with other humans and talking all night.
For 2021, Oberhausen took its 2020 online platform and expanded the program (again) to include a separate International Online Competition and a German Online Competition in addition to the longstanding respective competitions. When a hybrid model was hoped for, these distinctions almost made sense (making filmmakers choose whether to be considered for in person
or online is rather absurd to this film nerd) but when the latest wave approached and the festival had to deliver 100% online, these distinctions ended up seeming awkward.
For the low price of 15 Euro (approximately $20) anyone could purchase a festival pass and watch everything --a dream come true for short film lovers. Most programs were available for 48 hours; the (non-”online”) competitions each screened live twice; the first followed by a live Q&A in the festival’s robust online “Festival Space” which includes the lounge, chat rooms, guest office, schedule and post-event panels. Sadly, the German competition panels were only delivered in German without live or automatic English captioning, belying the “International” part of the festival (I humbly recognize live captioning is costly; but there are decent auto-transcription programs available). While the online lounge isn’t my preferred way to meet people, the spatial platform did offer easy ways to chat, engage, or if you prefer: just be a listening wallflower avatar in the corner of the room, and worked as well as the extremely functional streaming platform itself.
As for the films: Some standout German films include “Through Yellow Light” by Simon Rupieper (2020, 7’27). This formal portrait of “golden” lights streaming into spaces both built and “natural” was a sparkling meditative opening to German Competition Program 3. A sepia and bronze palette is cut through by various street lights and a stunning combination of intrigue, melancholy and longing. Rupieper made the film while at the Cologne Academy of Media Arts (a nice touch here, many festivals won’t include student works in Competition sections) -- I cannot wait to see his other works.
In the same program is “Seconds” by André Martins, a 30-minute film from 2020. One of many post-coronavirus films I’ve caught so far. This is the kind of piece I usually cannot access, the hyper-real video game doesn't seem to connect to my linear optic nerve. Martins digs into Second Life, the online “alternate reality” that, after 18 years, remains a thriving play-space. Given the lockdown realities of being stuck at home and actively searching the internet for information, distraction, entertainment and beyond, this might have left me exhausted and overwhelmed. But the video turned out to be a lovely, layered story including reflections on the filmmaker's Berlin Kreuzberg neighbourhood that now feels far away to him. While visiting architectural wonders across the globe, we encounter the confounding new economy of Second Life real estate millionaires --a nice and tumultuous examination of time travel in the daze of Covid we find ourselves in.
I also loved Céline Berger’s “Cutting Edges” (2020, 14’30), an experimental reflection on co-working spaces, start-up culture and the emptiness of so called “progressive” enterprises buckling under the weight of late-capitalism. Watching the detailed shots of these empty co-working environments forced the viewer to reflect on how the owned world is simply exacerbating the divide between so-called haves and have nots.
Two more German films from other sections I’d love to highlight: The captivating “Armed Lullaby” by Yana Ugrekhelidze (2019, 8’30) from the Children and Youth Film Award program is a powerful cut-out animated short about four children escaping ethnic cleansing. And indeed a music video from the MuVi International program by Oliver Pietsch (2021, 4’30) for the track “The Pure and the Damned” by Oneohtrix Point Never, a powerful split-screen found footage video that features people acting out in, on, and around automobiles. Pure cinematic cathartic release -- more mind-melting please, Oberhausen!
Scott Miller Berry is a short filmmaker and cultural worker who has lived in Toronto since 2001. By day he is Managing Director at Workman Arts, an arts + mental health organization that presents the Rendezvous With Madness Festival where he leads the film programming committee, previously served ten years as Executive Director at the Images Festival. Scott is a film festival believer and has co-instigated many collective projects/festivals including the 8 fest small gauge film festival, MICE Magazine, Early Monthly Segments and current itinerant programming project, re:assemblage collective. His film “ars memorativa” screened in competition at Oberhausen in 2014 after debuting at Experimenta India in Bangalore. Recent screenings include VUCAVU, London UK, Jakarta, New York, Lisbon, Ottawa, Seoul, Montréal and a fall 2015 solo screening with Colectivo Toronto.
image courtesy Miller Berry
