Rotterdam Chooses Three Short Films for 8th Annual Tiger Awards
The eighth annual Tiger Awards at the International Film Festival Rotterdam went to Makino Takashi’s “Generator” (Japan), Mati Diop’s “Big in Vietnam” (France) and Jeroen Eijsinga’s “Springtime” (Netherlands). Each Tiger winner received a prize of 3,000 Euros.
Charlotte Lim Lay Kuen received a special jury mention for “I’m Lisa”(Malaysia).
Separately, the International Film Festival Rotterdam short film nominee for the European Film Awards 2012 is “Im Freien” (“In the Open”) by Albert Sackl (Austria).
Winners were selected from 21 films, ranging in length from five to 56 minutes. Jurors were documentarian Rania Stephan (The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni”), film curator and writer Andréa Picard from Canada and film critic/screenwriter Dana Linssen from the Netherlands.
Details on the winners and jury statements follow:
GENERATOR by Makino Takashi, Japan, 2011
‘With its impressive soundtrack and hybrid layering, GENERATOR creates an explosive, pulsating experience of an environment on the brink of disaster.’
MAKINO Takashi belongs to the new generation of Japanese experimental filmmakers. While studying at the Nippon University he made several Super-8 films. In 2001 Makino apprenticed with the Quay Brothers. He had his international breakthrough in 2007 with NO IS E. Since then, IFFR has shown several of his movies. In 2008, IFFR honored Makino with a Short Profile.
BIG IN VIETNAM by Mati Diop, France, 2012
‘Raw, defiant and elliptical, BIG IN VIETNAM is suffused with an unusual mood and disarming intimacy.’
Mati Diop lives and works in Paris. While attending the Tokyo National Studio of Contemporary Arts and having an artist in residency of Palais de Tokyo in Paris, she directed her first four short films. In IFFR 2010, her short film ATLANTIQUES won a Tiger Award for Short Films.
SPRINGTIME by Jeroen Eisinga, Netherlands, 2012
‘A monumental and transfixing cinematic portrait created out of a fearless performance etched in buzzing bees and 35mm grain.’
Jeroen Eisinga is a visual artist and was educated at the art academy in Arnhem, the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and in scriptwriting at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. He lives and works in Rotterdam. He has made several short and experimental films. In his work, Eisinga has been inspired by artists like Bas Jan Ader and Chris Burden.
Special Mention:
I’M LISA by Charlotte Lim Lay Kuen, Malaysia, 2010
‘An elegantly composed miniature revealing the mystery within the gestures of the everyday.’
Charlotte LIM Lay Kuen made several TV commercials after completing her studies in broadcasting. She has assisted in direction and production for Malaysian new wave pioneers like James Lee and Ho Yuhang and directed some short films. MY DAUGHTER (2009), Lim’s feature film debut, was also screened at IFFR.
IFFR 2012 Short Film Nominee for the European Awards 2012
IM FREIEN (IN THE OPEN) by Albert Sackl, Austria, 2011
‘For its rigor and its original marshaling of Modernist traditions and structural cinema.’
Albert Sackl studied Philosophy and Art History in Vienna and Film with Peter Kubelka (currently attending IFFR) in Frankfurt. A retrospective on his work was held in Montevideo, Uruguay during TIE 2007. Sackl currently lives and works in Vienna.
