Editor

MUNICH INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
from March 24-26, 2006 at the Mathaeser

For the first time this year, MUNICH INTERNATIONAL short film festival takes place in the Bavarian capitol of Munich, the leading city of film production in Germany. Together with a worldwide network of talent scouts and the submission platform reelport.com, which is a cooperation of well-known short film festivals such as Gothenburg, Tampere and Oberhausen, festival director Martin Blankemeyer assembled five programs of the best recent short films in the world. Films range from the rare gem of exotic cultures to Oscar®-nominated works and winners of renowned short film awards such as the Prix UIP or the Jameson Award.

All films are Bavarian premieres, a majority of which are although celebrating their German premiere. They all testify to the special role of the short film, which has always been the leader and developer of innovative styles in films and technological advances in filmmaking. Because short films have a smaller budget and are generally made by younger filmmakers, a liberating creative spirit inspires its creation, long before it can be found in feature films. MUNICH INTERNATIONAL showcases a variety of talent from all over the world, by presenting new ideas, new stories, new visions, new techniques, new styles and new trends in filmmaking. These short films offer the rare opportunity to view a medium that encourages innovation and originality in filmmaking, thus giving something very special and enriching to the viewer. MUNICH INTERNATIONAL offers an eclectic selection of films for both film professionals and the general movie-going audience alike. All films will be screened i n their original English language or with English subtitles. More information about the individual films and the screening schedule can be found at the festival website www.muc-intl.de.

The festival is presented by the Munich Filmwerkstatt and CommClub Munich, in Cooperation with Munich’s largest movie theatre Mathaeser, and with the support of GO> Munich, Media Campus Bavaria, Italian Cultural Institute, Early Bird Films and Michael Dorka. The festival is operated under the patronage of UNICA (…), which bestows the most innovative film with an award endowed by Kodak with film material for the filmmaker’s next project.

Tickets for each program, screening multiple short films, can be purchased at the Mathaeser for € 5 (€ 4.50 for students). A festival pass, which allows access to all screenings, can be obtained for € 18 (passport-size photo required).

Munich Filmwerkstatt is an association of young directors, producers and other members of the filmmaking community, supporting each other’s films and careers. Some of the members' films, in addition to those outside the organization, are produced and/or distributed by Muenchner Filmwerkstatt.