Oberhausen
Manifesto – A Journey into Unfamiliar Time

The Busan International Short Film Festival, which began in 1980, went through several changes in name and form to reach its 31st year. It is now time to look back at the past and reflect on the meaning and significance of what is a “short”. In an era when a short film is considered as a stepping stone to get to a feature film or simply a study, it may just be the right time to “take another look” at the 26 young filmmakers of Germany and their short films who, at the Short Film Festival in Oberhausen 52 years ago, claimed that the old cinema was dead and that they wanted a new kind of film and freedom and aspired to create newness in diverse forms.

Why did they make such a strong statement and felt compelled to make short films in their individual ways? That possibly came out of their challenge against the customary language of film and their conviction toward newness in film where significance can be found in even the most mundane and lowly things, or hidden value detected in ordinary events.

These films remain challenging even now, which is why we must see them again. Even though the contents and forms are diverse, there are 3 characteristics that can map out these films:

1. A sense of participation in German history: Brutality in Stone, Slogans and Signals, Marionettes

2. A way of understanding modernity: Technology of Communication, The Machine

3. Exploring new directions for film aesthetics: Trot Trot, Shadow and a series of attempts with animations.