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43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam
22 January – 2 February 2014
On Sunday 26 January, the three equal Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films 2014 were awarded to Sebastian Buerkner’s The Chimera of M. (United Kingdom), Salla Tykkä’s Giant (Finland/Romania) and La isla by Dominga Sotomayor and Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (Chile/Poland/Denmark). The winning filmmakers each receive a cash prize of € 3,000 and a Canon EOS-M camera. The Chimera of M. was also nominated to compete in the short film category of the annual European Film Awards (EFA).
The tenth Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films comprised twenty-four films with a length of up to sixty minutes. For its Jury, IFFR welcomed two-time Tiger Award winner Mati Diop (1982, France), art historian and visual arts curator at the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, Bart Rutten (1972, Netherlands) and film maker and visual artist Mika Taanila (1965, Finland).
The jury gave the following statement: “The jury was very pleased by the scope of cinematic approach demonstrated throughout the nominees for the Tiger Awards for Short Films. The selection of twenty-four nominated shorts celebrates the richness of this domain in a wonderful way. They are not simply repeating well-known cinematic language but looking for renewal within these boundaries, as well as trying to expand the parameters of the cinematic realm. Here we can see glimpses of newer forms of cinema that will enrich the language in many ways. All of the winners were outstanding productions in this search for new ways of narration.
We were not necessarily looking for craftsmanship in the way the shorts were executed, but rather at the approach taken by the maker towards the story or subject matter, and the ambition to celebrate the power of the cinema in personal, thorough or witty ways. And most importantly, in an uncompromised way. Nevertheless, all three winning films were outstanding in their craftsmanship, either in storytelling, montage, soundtrack – or even by bringing a language to the foreground that we as a jury have never experienced before.”
The three winners, with jury statements, are:
La isla by Dominga Sotomayor and Katarzyna Klimkiewicz, Chile/Poland/Denmark, 2013
“An astonishingly strong, atmospheric film where temporality and space are captured in such a delicate and sensual way that the tension of drama haunts you deeply.”
Dominga Sotomayor (1985, Chile) started the production company Cinestación in 2007. She directed several short films that received awards worldwide. Her first feature film, De jueves a domingo was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund and won a Tiger Award at IFFR 2012. Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (1977, Poland) was educated in film in Lodz and studied at Binger Film Lab in Amsterdam. Her first documentary in 2007 and first feature film in 2012 won several awards.
Giant by Salla Tykkä, Finland/Romania, 2014
“A very focused and pure portrait of a place and a political history in one. The brilliant editing and sound design push the seemingly distant observations to a thrilling friction between dehumanisation and man’s quest for beauty and grace.”
Salla Tykkä (1973, Finland) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. Since 1996, she has worked with photography, video and film. She exhibits solo and in groups. Tykkä's short films have been shown at film festivals worldwide.
The Chimera of M. by Sebastian Buerkner, United Kingdom, 2013
“Its visual language was astonishing and magical in its treatment of the third-person technique, and the combination with the heartfelt dialogue gave this film its hypnotic, poetic feel.”
Sebastian Buerkner (1975, Germany) was educated in Fine Art in Saale in Germany, and received an MFA from the Chelsea College in London. Since 1997, he has participated in many group and sholo shows. He is also a guest lecturer at several colleges and universities.
The Chimera of M. was also chosen by the Jury as International Film Festival Rotterdam’s short film nominee for the European Film Awards 2014.
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