After last year's completely digital edition of the film market, this year AG Kurzfilm is once again present on location in Clermont-Ferrand. In 2022, out of more than 8,000 submissions from all over the world, six German films have been selected for the competitions of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (28.01.-05.02.2022) and seven more for the special programs. Traditionally, the premiere of the German-French cooperation program Soirée Allemande will take place during the festival. In cooperation with German Films, AG Kurzfilm will also offer comprehensive information on the German short film scene during the film market.

The premiere of the German-French cooperation program "Soirée Allemande - Coup de coeur - Le court métrage allemand" on January 31, 2022 is eagerly awaited. From the more than 400 German submissions to the festival, six current films that show the entire spectrum of German short filmmaking have been selected for the 17th edition: The documentaries ANNA by Julia Roesler and THE UNICORN IN SNOWPANTS SUDDENLY RAN OFF by Philipp Schaeffer, the animated film JEIJAY by Maren Wiese and Petra Stipetić, the experimental documentaries LOWER AMBITIONS by Irem Schwarz and SIRENS by Ilaria Di Carlo, and the short fiction film WHY DOES HELEN KOCH COMMIT SERIOUS VEHICLE THEFT? by Moritz Geiser.

Directors Ilaria Di Carlo, Moritz Geiser and Philipp Schaeffer will be present for the premiere of the program and will be available for a Q&A afterwards. The short film program is a collaboration between AG Kurzfilm, German Films, the International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand, the Goethe-Institute Lyon and the Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg. Subsequently, the program entitled SHORT EXPORT, will not only go on tour with German, French and English subtitles, but for the first time can also be booked with Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian subtitles by Goethe-Institutes and their partners worldwide.

In the International Competition will be featured IN HIS GRACE by Christoph Büttner, STEAKHOUSE by Špela Čadež, SLOUCH by Michael Bohnenstingl and THE SECRET ISLANDS by Marian Freistühler, while the Lab Competition for experimental films will feature A DAY'S WORK by Max Kerkhoff and A GOAT'S SPELL by Gerhard Funk. In the International Competition, 77 films from 55 countries and in the Lab Competition, 27 films from 17 countries will compete for the prizes totaling 29,000€.

In the festival's special programs, another seven German short film productions will be screened: For example, the festival has selected FEST by Nikita Diakur and THE EXTERNAL WORLD by David O'Reilly for the "20 Years Lab Competition" series. In the programs for students, the films SAKA SY VORONA by Franka Sachse, THE SAUSAGE RUN by Thomas Stellmach and BEYOND THE FOG by Feng Xue will be shown. In the program "Plan cul la praline" JUST A GUY by Shoko Hara will be shown and in the European Short Film Audience Awards FLUID BORDER by Joana Vogdt.

In Clermont-Ferrand, AG Kurzfilm will once again use the many opportunities offered by the film market with its thousands of accredited industry profressionals to promote German short films. Among others, the market screening "Matinée Allemande - Coup de foudre - Le court métrage allemand" will take place once again, introducing a selection of brand-new German short films from the short film catalog "German Short Films 2022".

The European Co-Production Forum Euro Connection is an important platform to present planned co-production projects. The two-day pitching and networking event aims to promote cooperation between European and international production companies. Each year, 15 projects from across Europe are invited to pitch. This year, German filmmaker Ronida Alsino will have the opportunity to present her short fiction project HANI. The Book of Projects and Producers of the Euro Connection with all selected projects is available for download here.

Contact AG Kurzfilm in Clermont-Ferrand (31.1.-4.2.2022)
Marché du Film Court, German Booth
Jutta Wille (wille@ag-kurzfilm.de) | Lisa Hering (hering@ag-kurzfilm.de)