Friedrichshafen Film Festival / ZF Short Film Award (since 2021)

For many years, the ZF Art Foundation has been dedicated to promoting short films in collaboration with the Filmtage Friedrichshafen (Friedrichshafen Film Festival). The short film has been an integral part of the festival since its inception and, with Kurz und Gut, the short film competition, represents one of the festival’s highlights.

The Friedrichshafen Film Festival showcases short and documentary films by young filmmakers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It offers visitors of all ages a diverse selection of short and documentary films. Jetzt oder nie is the motto under which numerous award-winning and must-see films are presented.

Many of the young filmmakers attend in person, making the Friedrichshafen Film Festival particularly attractive and offering numerous opportunities for direct exchange, including moderated audience discussions.

The ZF Art Foundation has supported the short film competition for many years with an audience award (€1,000) and, since 2021, with the ZF Short Film Award (€15,000), which is granted by an expert jury. The substantial prize money is intended to fund a new short film production.

“The short film is an independent cultural form. Short films are not short feature films, just as a poem is not a novel, a drawing is not an oil painting, and a song is not an opera. They have a cultural value that deserves the highest level of attention and support,” says Frank Becher.

In Germany, this support is particularly important: hardly any of the more than 2,000 short films produced annually in Germany are adequately funded. Many good, exciting, and interesting—at the very least, worthwhile—short films face only a few broadcast slots and licensing opportunities from distributors. Above all, short films allow young filmmakers to experiment and give free rein to their creativity. Yet, supporting short films is much more than just fostering emerging talent.

*Frank Becher, in: SHORT report #6, published by AG Kurzfilm, Dresden, November 2014

Futher informations:
www.filmtage.friedrichshafen.de