The Future Meets the Moment - Berlinale Shorts 2011

The Short Film Jury with its renowned members - artist and photographer Nan Goldin, filmmaker and director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television in Jerusalem, and film producer and director Ibrahim Letaief from Tunisia - awards the DAAD Short Film Prize and the EFA Short Film Nominee Berlin to the following productions:

The DAAD Short Film Prize of the Berlin Artist Programme of the DAAD goes to a young Chilean director: Maria José San Martín for her film La Ducha (The Shower). The Jury explains its choice in the following statement: "For a powerful yet painful portrayal of a separation, unfolding moment by moment between two women in love and for the courageous mis-en-scène, with a 10-minute-long single take that electrifies the audience, the jury announces that a director is born and is delighted to give the DAAD Prize to Maria José San Martín from Chile, director of La Ducha."

The DAAD Short Film Prize is the second honour for this film that has also been nominated for a TEDDY for best short film. The DAAD prize includes a grant for a three-month stay in Berlin. Other scholarship holders participating in the 2011 Artist Programme in the field of film include Avi Moghrabhi from Israel, Sandra Kogut from Brazil and Asghar Farhadi from Iran.

The nomination for the best European short film, the EFA Nominee Berlin, goes to Återfödelsen (The Unliving) by Hugo Lilja from Sweden. In big images the film conjures up a dystopian society in the style of a horror film. Thirty years after an outbreak of zombies, people have gotten used to their presence. Zombies are a cheap source of labour and so enable the rest of society to have a high standard of living. Though first all the so-called normal people have to catch and tame the zombies; they then subject them to bloody experimental lobotomies. This is also the way Katrin and Mark get by. Yet their relationship threatens to fall apart when Mark brings somebody home. The jury states: "Full of passion for cinema, humorous, visually stunning, charismatic. In 28 minutes the audience rides a rollercoaster of cinematic electricity. The EFA nomination goes to Återfödelsen by Hugo Lilja."

The winners of the Golden and Silver Bears for the Best Short Films will be announced tonight at the Award Ceremony that begins at 7:00 pm in the Berlinale Palast.