Hamburg! Germany! Quite a change from Krakow. Really quite rowdy in comparison. My time here began with a visit to the accreditation desk, to be greeted by the 35ml Club. Each accredited person is requested to bring a bottle of schappes from their own country. People then proceed, armed with a shot glass to drink their way through these bottles, being supported by some pretty dirty electro music. Fun times! At 7pm!
Went to a screening at 10pm, which included the brilliant Golden Bear at Berlin winner, Incident By A Bank, a single shot reconstruction of a failed bank robbery in 2006.
Some serious video library action took place on Friday. I became pale due to lack of sunlight. Saw some great stuff though, such as a Finnish student animation, called Benigni, about a lonely musician befriending a tumour that grows on his arm. Strange, but very engrossing.
Another of note was a British short by a young filmmaker, Alex Barrett. His ‘Paintbrush: The Epitaph’ was a comic, and moving tale of Facebook existence.
After a bit more 35ml Club action (and experiencing drinking a shot of Russian vodka out of a bottle the shape and size of a shotgun), it was time for a very interesting Thai shorts screening, in an amazing little cinema called B-Movie.
Four Boys, White Whiskey and Grilled Mouse was here again, but was followed by a very interesting and original short set inside a chat room, Bangkok Tanks.
More, more, more video library action on Saturday, so many films, so little time… A great film called Rita, about a blind girl in Sicily, briefly experiencing freedom was a stand-out choice.
Later a screening in the main cinema, Zeise 1, included a film of Sol Bondy, the producer of a Future Shorts favourite, The Girl With The Yellow Stockings. His new film, Sparrows, aside from looking extremely difficult to make, was a very clever, one-shot story of a man and woman meeting in a bar and spending the night together.
After a night spent in the festival club (but no fish market at 6am – apparently essential if you visit Hamburg), Sunday was leaving day. Awards (announced when I was at the airport), went to the Korean ‘A Perm’, and the Estonian ‘Angry Man’, both very worthy winners…
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