Short films awarded at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2013

42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam
23 January – 3 February 2013

PRESS RELEASE 28 January 2013

Short films awarded at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2013

Monday 28 January, Beatrice Gibson’s THE TIGER’S MIND (UK), Zachary Formwalt’s UNSUPPORTED TRANSIT (Netherlands) and Erik van Lieshout’s JANUS (Netherlands) were awarded the three equal Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films 2013.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam short film nominee for the European Film Awards 2013 is THOUGH I KNOW THE RIVER IS DRY by Omar Robert Hamilton (Egypt).

Canon Netherlands, sponsor of the Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films, offers a Canon camera EOS-M to each of the four winners.


Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films
The ninth Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films comprises twenty-three films with a length of up to sixty minutes. For its Jury the IFFR welcomed filmmaker, photographer and producer Phil Collins (UK/Germany), visual artist Joost Rekveld (Netherlands) and Transat Video CEO Brent Klinkum (New Zealand/France). The Jury handed out the three equal Canon Tiger Awards for Short Film (3,000 Euros) to the winning filmmakers at IFFR venue WORM in Rotterdam on Monday evening 28 January 2013.

The three winners and the jury statements are:

THE TIGER’S MIND by Beatrice Gibson, UK, 2012
'An investigation into the mechanics of film production that strongly draws on a modernist heritage by using codes from a wide variety of artistic disciplines. Incorporating a testimony of the process of its own making, it intelligently weaves together a visually compelling plot, in which spaces and objects also have a distinct voice. The roles of routinely overlooked collaborators are placed at the forefront as a cast cryptically involved in a murder mystery.'

Artist Beatrice Gibson makes her (research-based) work site-specific and participatory by using different mediums. A NECESSARY MUSIC (2008), made with composer Alex Waterman, won the Canon Tiger Award for Best Short Film at the IFFR in 2009. Gibson is currently a PhD candidate at Goldsmiths' Centre for Research Architecture.
(See: www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/films/the-tiger-s-mind/)

UNSUPPORTED TRANSIT by Zachary Formwalt, Netherlands, 2011
'An esthetically and intellectually bold statement. Long, time-lapsed shots invite the viewer to meditate on the historical roots of the film's thematic material and its mode of depiction, offering a near-physical experience of the weight of a monumental symbol. It's the essayistic, poetic marshalling of the histories of cinema and photography, in relation to Marx and Engels' analysis of the stock exchange that offers the foundation for a convincing work by a promising young artist.'

Zachary Formwalt is an artist and filmmaker based in Amsterdam. Among other places, his work has been shown at Kunsthalle Basel and Casco - Office for Art, Design and Theory in Utrecht. The world economy is a recurrent theme in his photographs and videos. In 2012, Formwalt won the Illy Prize in Rotterdam.
(See: www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/films/unsupported-transit/)

JANUS by Erik van Lieshout, Netherlands, 2012
'In JANUS we enter the psychosis of a commitment to the camera. The camera as a tool of provoking, agitating and effortlessly connecting with a cast of characters who reflect on art as an inclusive form of communication and social interaction. The author is by turns fearless, at other moments courageous in his honesty and naivety, and totally present in an informal, colloquial register. This work is a wake-up call to the fact that the world just outside our front door is one ready for discovery and engagement in ways that are transformative.'

Erik van Lieshout makes installations, sculptures and films. Van Lieshout has won several important art awards. He finds inspiration in subcultures and the problems of urban life, and often performs as an actor in his own films. He lives and works in Rotterdam.
(See: www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/films/janus/)


IFFR 2013 Short Film Nominee for the European Awards 2013

Chosen by the Jury of the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Film 2013, the International Film Festival Rotterdam short film nominee for the European Film Awards 2013 is:

THOUGH I KNOW THE RIVER IS DRY by Omar Robert Hamilton, Egypt/Palestine/UK, 2013
'The film is remarkable in the way it connects contemporary political issues with emotional dillema's. Its cinematographic language builds on the qualities of the photographic composition, the direction of the actors and the subtle and intelligent use of archival material. The result embodies a poetic and restrained approach to questions which unfortunately are becoming more and more commonplace. In a particularly undogmatic manner, it offers multiple readings, while simultaneously sharply addressing historical, political and economical realities.'

Independent filmmaker, producer and photographer Omar Robert Hamilton is based in Cairo. He is the founder of the Palestine Festival of Literature in Jerusalem and co-founder of the Mosireen Film collective, which arose from the Egyptian revolution. THOUGH I KNOW THE RIVER IS DRY is the first independent, crowd-sourced film in the post-revolutionary Arab world. Hamilton's photographs have been published by The Guardian, BBC News and The Economist.
(See: www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/films/though-i-know-the-river-is-dry/)

(End of press release)


Film stills of the Tiger Award winning films (and all festival titles) can be downloaded from the IFFR website, direct link:
http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/professionals/press/film-stills-IFFR-2013/

Line up of all films in Tiger Awards Competition of Short Films:
http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/iffr-2013/sections/hivos-tiger-awards-competition-for-short-films/



Press information:
IFFR Press Office, Bert-Jan Zoet/Nancy van Oorschot, [email protected], +31.10.890.90.90