Oldenburg International Film Festival

The Oldenburg International Film Festival, sometimes named as the European Sundance,[1] has covered the international movie scene in all aspects since 1994. It is held in Oldenburg, Germany. Its open-minded approach leads to a mixture of movie premieres and original independent productions. Innovation and contrarian ideas are some features of the festival.

The festival logo

History

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Rated among the top 5 Film Festivals worldwide for Independent Films by American film critic Chris Gore in his esteemed 'Ultimate Film Festival Guide', and ranked »Top 25 Coolest Festivals in the World« by MovieMaker, Oldenburg has fostered its success with a strong commitment to innovative and independent filmmaking.

Among the guests of honor were Alex Cox, Frank Oz, James B. Harris, Tim Hunter, Belgian cult director Harry Kümel, Jim McBride, Philippe de Broca, Andrzej Żuławski, Ken Russell, Jerry Schatzberg and Ovidio G. Assonitis who have all attended the festival for the retrospectives of their work. Icíar Bollaín, Seymour Cassel, Asia Argento, Stacy Cochran, Richard Stanley, Ben Gazzara, Larry Clark, Tim Blake Nelson as well as Luke and Andrew Wilson have attended the festival for tributes in their honor.

Internationally acclaimed films, such as Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, Takeshi Kitano’s Kids Return, David Cronenberg’s Spider, Kevin Spacey’s Albino Alligator, Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight, Larry Clark’s Ken Park, Luke and Andrew Wilson’s The Wendell Baker Story, and The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky or indie hits like Larry Fessenden’s Habit, Cory McAbee’s The American Astronaut, Michael Polish’s Northfork, Paul Provenza’s The Aristocrats, Susan Buice and Arin Crumley’s Four Eyed Monsters or The Guatemalan Handshake by Todd Rohal, received their German premiere in Oldenburg.

Tributes and retrospectives

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Tributes (by year)
Retrospectives

Awards

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German Independence Award: Best Film (Audience Award)

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German Independence Award: Best German Film

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The Best German Film award is juried by an international panel of five—filmmakers, actors, artists, writers, producers—of which at least three members come from other countries than Germany. The films are shown in original version with English subtitles. Jury members have been, e.g., in 2011: Matteo Lovadina, Radley Metzger, Ildi Toth Davy, Soopum Sohn, and Matthew Modine. The 2012 festival saw an all-woman jury, consisting of Tamar Simon Hoffs, Gabrielle Miller, Lana Morgan, Debbie Rochon, and Mira Sorvino.

  • 2004: Andreas Struck — Sugar Orange — Germany, 2004
  • 2005: Catharina Deus — About a Girl (Die Boxerin) — Germany, 2005
  • 2006: Birgit Grosskopf — Princess (Prinzessin) — Germany, 2006
  • 2007: Jakob Moritz Erwa — All the Invisible Things (Heile Welt) — Austria, 2006
  • 2008: Emily AtefThe Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir) — Germany, 2008
  • 2009: Thomas Sieben — Distance — Germany, 2009
  • 2010: Philip Koch [de]Picco — Germany, 2010
  • 2011: Linus de Paoli — Dr. Ketel — Germany, 2010
  • 2012: Jan-Ole GersterA Coffee in Berlin (Oh Boy) — Germany, 2012
  • 2013: Tom Lass — Kaptn Oskar — Germany, 2013
  • not awarded since 2014 due to budget cuts

German Independence Award: Best Short Film

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  • 2007: Marcos Valin, David Alonso — Atención al cliente (Customer Service) — Spain, 2007
  • 2008: Liz Adams — Side Effect — USA, 2008
  • 2009: Hassan Said — Mute — USA, 2009 (Best foreign-language short film)
  • 2009: Tom Bewilogua — SCISSU — Germany, 2009 (Best German-language short film)
  • 2010: Jeremy Bradley, Reuben Sack — Salvation Insurance — USA, 2010
  • 2011: Markus Engel — Der letzte Gast (The Last Guest) — Austria, 2011
  • 2012: Meghna Gupta, Gigi Berardi — Unravel — United Kingdom / India, 2012
  • 2013: Patrick Baumeister — Preis — Germany, 2013
  • 2014: Kevin Meul — Cadet — Belgium, 2014
  • 2015: Martijn de Jong — Free — Netherlands, 2014
  • 2016: Ruken Tekes — The Circle (Hevêrk) — Turkey, 2016
  • 2017: Thierry Bessling, Loïc Tanson — Sur le fil — Luxembourg, 2017
  • 2018: Jeremy Comte — Fauve — Canada, 2018
  • 2019: Kahina Le Querrec — Blue Hour — France, 2019
  • 2020: Igor Nevedrov — The Coat — Russia, 2020
  • 2021: Lucas Camps — Wall#4 — Netherlands, 2021
  • 2022: Samuel Bereuther — Jockstrap Jesus — Germany, 2022
  • 2023: María Monreal — When Grass Grows — Spain, 2022
  • 2024: Diego Gaxiola — Nostalgia of a (Still) Alive Heart — Mexico, 2024

German Independence Honorary Award

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Hans Ohlms Award for Best First Feature Film

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Since 2023, the Hans Ohlms Award for Best First Feature Film is awarded in conjunction with the Hans Ohlms Foundation.

  • 2023: Takayuki Hayashi — From Dawn Till Noon On The Sea — Japan
  • 2024: Michael J. Long — Baby Brother — UK

Otto Sprenger Award

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  • 2007: Ben Reding, Dominik Reding — For The Unknown Dog (Für den unbekannten Hund) — Germany, 2005
  • 2008: Emily AtefThe Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir) — Germany, 2008

Seymour Cassel Award: Outstanding Performance

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This actor’s prize is awarded for performances in films nominated for the Best German Film award.

  • 2012: Tom Schilling for his role as Niko Fischer in A Coffee in Berlin (Oh Boy) — Germany, 2012
  • 2013: Martina Schöne-Radunski for her role as Alex in Kaptn Oskar — Germany, 2013
  • 2014: Victoria Schulz [de] for her role as Ruby in Rough Road Ahead [de] (Von jetzt an kein Zurück) — Germany, 2014
  • 2015:
    • Sarah Silverman for her role as Laney in I Smile Back — USA, 2015
    • Nikola Rakočević for his role as Slav in Travelator — Serbia, 2014
  • 2016:
    • Noémie Merlant for her role as Claire in Twisting Fate (À tous les vents du ciel) — France, 2016
    • André M. Hennicke for his role as Udo in Strawberry Bubblegums — Germany, 2016
  • 2017:
    • Lindsay Burdge for her performance in Thirst Street — USA, France 2017
    • Gregory Kasyan for his role as Mills in Quest — USA, 2017
  • 2018:
    • Victoria Carmen Sonne for her role as Sascha in Holiday — Denmark, 2018
    • Gabriela Ramos for her role as Lili in Is that you? — UK, 2018
  • 2019:
    • Patrycja Planik for her performance in Lillian — Austria, 2019
    • Zachary Ray Sherman in Cuck — USA, 2019
  • 2020:
  • 2021:
  • 2022:
  • 2023:
  • 2024:

References

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  1. ^ Prot, Bénédicte (2018-09-19). "Oldenburg 2018 ends on a Promise". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  2. ^ Vena, Teresa (2019-09-16). "In Full Bloom comes out on top at Oldenburg 2019". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
  3. ^ Staff (October 8, 2010). "Oldenburg International Film Festival honors a master of erotic cinema Radley Metzger". Oldenburg International Film Festival. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
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