Wednesday November 19th was the day featuring the Student Etudes Competition; the screening of the entrants for the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Tadpole. The screenings were grouped into four blocks, 2 in the morning, and 2 in the afternoon.

Prior to the first block, the competition was introduced on stage. The students competition was one of the two original competition introduced at the very first Camerimage festival. This year, over 300 films were submitted from film schools all over the world, with 22 of them being selected to be screened at the festival, and compete for the Golden Tadpole. The morning blocks of films included the titles Laughter in the Dark, The Visit, Tonya is Crying on the Lovers' Bridge, Anton, The Shadow Forest, Do You Even Know, Scanonization, (Block 1,) My Last Concert, Seagulls, Brother, Berlin Troika, and Albert, (Block 2.) Some of the entrants to the competition are products of the Poland own prestigous "Lodz Film Academy."

 

Still from "Berlin Troika"


Still from "Anton"

 

The films depicted a plethora of styles, and techniques in every determinable category; from stories, dialogue, camera work, colors and lighting, to themes and morals. The touching and deeply moralistic stories of films such as The Visit, were complimented by the dramatic colors and camera movement in films such as Laughter in the Dark, and The Shadow Forest. Power emotions reigned in Brother, and Anton; depictions of the very dark and melevolant, as well as the turbulant and profound. Blending of the light-hearted and humorous with the heavy and soul-trying in Tonya is Crying on the Lovers' Bridge. A heavily metaphorical, and chaotically disturbing combination of images in Scanonization. Uses of eliminated dialogue in Albert, and black and white in My Last Concert. Berlin Troika set a fantastic mix of clever ironic satire, with intense and detailed cinematics. The variety of combinations during the morning screenings was the heaviest induction.

Still from"Do You Even Know"


Still from "The Shadow Forest"

 

Films from all over the world: France, Israel, Russia, Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, immersing the screening room in a sea of diverse languages and depictions of cultures all in a short amount of time. The effect of this was incredibly profound, and truly made testimony to the distance the hand of film can reach. Each of these young directors and cinematographers showed us a unique vision of what is to be expected in the future, and no artistic expression ever fails to advance the evolution of culture. All of these films are winners in this regard.

Neil Potter

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Wednesday at Opera Nova undeniably belonged to the students' etudes. Needles to say that this day was packed with young film-makers who presented their works. The third part of the short films started at 4.15pm at Main Screening Room. The afternoon screening was divided into two blocks, each of them consisted of five etudes, created by students from all over the world.
 
The third block of films included the titles Inherited, Tainted in Red, They Call Me Owl, Die Violine, Wait For Me. The fourth and the last section of student etudes competition consisted of film Room 55, Way in Rye, North, The Strong Coffee Isn't So Bad, The Jacket.

Still from "They Call Me Owl"


Still from "Way in Rye"

All of the short students' film very undoubtedly amazing in terms of cinematography. The most important feature of all of them was that from the very beginning, to the very end they were consistent. They also stuck to one particular style. The stories in most cases were coherent and logical.

Nevertheless, the films were so different, that there was hardly one common motif for all of them. Some of them revolved around the family problem. On the other hand, some that dealt with issues of ethical nature, like for example euthanasia. There were also movies that touched upon historical events. Thus, there were quite a few of the films, that action takes place during II and I World War. However, some of them attempted to deal with more contemporary problems, such as the lack of communication between parents and children.

Still from "The Strong Coffee Isn't So Bad"


Still from "North"

The technique of every film was also different in each case. It is impossible to provide one leitmotif, that would somehow consolidate them all. It seems that film-makers from all over the world derive their inspiration from various sources and from various movie genres. For instance, there were a few films shot in black&white. Some of these referred to the times when film noir was exceptionally popular. The stylistic concept of every etude was yet another aspect, in which they differ. A few films were kept in very serious, almost lofty atmosphere, resembling drama or melodrama. Surprising as it may seem, the comedy genre was the least popular. Only a couple of the films succeeded in incorporating comic relief.

Be that as it may, all the films portrayed young artists' view on modern cinema. It should be really comforting that, among those etudes, there is such a wide range of genres, techniques and themes. In terms of creativity, there are no bad films in this competition. All film-makers exhibited their thorough knowledge about how to shoot movies. To see such a neatly prepared ,visually as well as contextually pieces of art, is really buoying up.