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JURY: Lisa Birke, Bernd Oppl & Maja Stark

EXPANDED MEDIA AWARD FOR MEDIA IN SPACE
The Expanded Media Award for Media in Space (750 Euros) goes to Susanna Hanna for her video installation THE FIGHT
• Jury Statement: THE FIGHT was created in close collaboration between the artist Susanna Hanna and the multiple kickboxing world champion Michaela Michl. The 11-minute video installation shows Michaela Michl with her hair down in a foggy, sparsely lit interior which functions like a cinematic extension of the darkened exhibition space. Michl was prompted to emulate a kickboxing competition with one important difference—the opponent that confronts Michl is the champion herself, in shadow form. Through a complex lighting set-up and filmed through a transparent scrim as a one-take, the fighters circle one another and meet seemingly face-to-face in this evenly matched fight. We stand with Michl as she builds herself up and engages increasingly more passionately and energetically in the blows, dodges, and complex dance accompanied by the soundtrack of grunts and affecting vocalizations. These eventually die down as the champion is left by herself on the darkened stage. Throughout the contest, it also appears as if outside forces were pressing into the periphery, setting additional challenges to overcome in this phycological playing field. It is fighter set against herself, but also against the world. This contest is not won by sheer muscle power alone– but in an existential struggle against one’s personal demons and self-doubt, which requires a very special type of strength—strength of character.
  In times of the proliferation of media and the overflux of questionable images of women, the figure that Michl presents—a physically strong individual who is simultaneously vulnerable (not weak in the stereotypical understanding) proposes a new understanding of the feminine. In this way, she also represents a new generation of individuals where gender norms have been made more fluid through self-determination.
EXPANDED MEDIA AWARD FOR NETWORK CULTURE
The Expanded Media Award for Network Culture (750 Euros) goes to Marc Lee in collaboration with Shervin Saremi (Sound) for their mobile app EVOLUTION PROTOTYPE-1
• Jury Statement: EVOLUTION PROTOTYPE-1 is a speculation about the future in a 3D game world, insane and yet frighteningly probable, almost baroquely exuberant and yet scientifically sound. In the age of the Anthropocene, Marc Lee holds up a mirror to a society playing God and viewing nature as a system that it can control and shape at will. Humans seem to have the upper hand here; what at first appears to be documentation of a well-researched scientific investigation, sucks the unexpecting viewer into a system where they are implicated in the creation of an entirely new ecosystem consisting of both known and mutated species of plants, fungi, animals and robot variants using an AI plug-in. However, evolutionary control is lost when the creations start to mutate into human-like creatures through the embedded evolutionary AI glitches. This world is all contained within a portable and interactive mobile app with sound by Shervin Saremi.
  In the face of blatant environmental destruction and questionable human interventions into our biome and genetic structures, Marc Lee shows how we humans focus on our food chain for our own benefit without regard for other living creatures or the delicate balance in our natural systems. In doing so, the artist arouses legitimate concern and unease, but also inspires amazement and deeper consideration for our relationship to the natural world. The committee was also impressed by the commitment of the artist to his world building which has taken place over the past three years.
SPECIAL MENTION
A Special Mention goes to Amal Zen for his 360° VR-documentary DO YOU SEE
• Jury Statement: The jury would also like to award Amal Zen’s, DO YOU SEE, with an honorable mention. This multi-layered and self-reflexive 360° virtual reality documentary examines the state of surveillance through the extensive CCTV camera coverage overseeing the activities of students throughout the artist’s University made physically tangible through the medium of VR—the viewer is watching, but are they also being watched?

JURY: Ilaria Di Carlo, María Vallecillos Soldado & Goggo Gensch

NORMAN 2024
The Norman 2024 (4.000 Euros donated by Land capital Stuttgart) goes to VALLEY PRIDE by Lukas Marxt
• Jury Statement: Ecological discussions are brought to us by an experimental film aesthetically created completely without any dialog but only scenic views.
  A poetic film, that is able to convey a strong and clear message, both political and environmental, with astonishing images and sounds which are able to take the viewer inside exploited landscapes.
  Within the film, we reflect on the sustainability of agricultural practices and their impact on the land and its whole surrounding region.
  The issue itself is left unspoken, forcing the spectators to think further.
  Combining and overlapping the sounds of the field and the machines, the film expresses its jarring message. It shakes the viewer with both, the shriek sounds and the factuality of the destruction these fields are causing.
  Since seeing this film, it has resonated in our subconscious minds throughout the whole festival, which has led us to the final decision of endowing the Norman Award to VALLEY PRIDE by Lukas Marxt.
TEAM-WORK-AWARD
The Team-Work-Award (2.000 Euros donated by Ritter Sport) goes to BUURMAN ABDI (NEIGHBOUR ABDI) by Douwe Dijkstra
• Jury Statement: The jury of the International Short Film Competition has decided to endow the Team-Work-Award to a film, which depicts a strong mutual collaboration between the filmmakers and the protagonists.
  Teamwork here is not only leading to the completion of the film itself, but to overcoming traumas, accepting past mistakes, and sharing important issues with the spectators.
  Actual teamwork can thus extend into a movement of solidarity.
  Through their life stories we uncover themes that are sadly painfully present in this historical moment of a worldwide growing hatred and reinforcing far-right wing. War trauma, immigration and racism must not become a minor issue.
  The filmmakers have achieved to deliver us an original, dramatic but at the same time playful and honest story, where reality and fiction fade into each other.
  The Team-Work-Award goes to BUURMAN ABDI (NEIGHBOUR ABDI) by Douwe Dijkstra.
SPECIAL MENTION
A Special Mention goes to I AM A HORSE (나는 말이다 (NANEUN MALLIDA)) by Chaerin Im
• Jury Statement: The jury has decided to give a special mention to a film that has mesmerized us for its poetry, beauty and rhythm.
  We feel the struggle of a woman, who wants to reclaim her feminine identity in a patriarchal society, that leaves no room for women in its iconography, history and art. The patriarchy writes women’s biographies. Trough the film, the artist regains her identity as a woman and does so in a way that is both dreamlike and brutal.
  The graphic technique used by the filmmaker recalls traditional calligraphy in a way of honoring her culture but at the same time breaking through still consistent implicit repression and breaking through gender-based attributions.
  By rewriting her personal history and heritage, she enhances gender empowerment and emancipation.
  A Special Mention is awarded to I AM A HORSE by Chaerin Im.
WAND 5 HONOR AWARD
JURY: The Selection Committee Film of Wand 5
The Wand 5 Honor Award goes to ST. MICKEYLAND by Ulu Braun

JURY: Sabine Willmann, Nina Kormann & Charlotte Maria Kätzl

2 MINUTES SHORT FILM AWARD
The 2 Minutes Short Film Award (1.500 Euros) goes to NERVAL'S FUGUE by Chris Furby
• Jury Statement: NERVAL'S FUGUE tells the story of a lobster on the run, moving through La Rochelle in three exciting shots. It's a movie without much of a message, yet it expresses a creature's desire for freedom.
  The title tells the story of a captive lobster that escapes and makes its way seemingly aimlessly through the city, visualized in sparse images. As the lobster continues to "trip" from left to right, turning day into evening, we follow it through a photograph of a small street covered in water that moves and makes itself heard in sloshing sounds as the clouds drift by in the sky. A neon sign with a lobster flickers in image and sound. The electrifying sound pulsates in time with the two antennae that an unexpected creature pushes through the arcades of the building, only to pull them back again. Then the lobster surprises us by crawling behind two people in an alleyway, a collision in the sound.
  With sensitivity for image, sound and timing, Chris Furby makes us laugh and casually poses one of the biggest questions of existence: where are we going and why? The precise sound design evokes perhaps even more than the image.
  Humor is the mediating instrument. NERVAL'S FUGUE is a movie that works through a perfectly coordinated level of sound and image and the grandiose timing that requires no language.
  This movie could not be shorter or longer. 1'53’’ minutes perfectly filled and therefore just right for the 2 Minutes Short Film Award.
SPECIAL MENTION
A Special Mention goes to A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES by Gabriel Tempea
• Jury Statement: With a great sense of editing and timing, excerpts from Orson Welles' 1946 film “The Stranger” are combined with footage of a pub night during a soccer match at the European Football Championship in 2016. Gabriel Tempea's film A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES takes us into a created situation of action and reaction. Spellbound, amused, horrified, embarrassed and dismayed, the pub-goers react to the film scenes intercut in which a new, completely different story emerges.

JURY: Conrad Veit, Louis Steins & Katja Spiess

BUGGLES AWARD 2024
The Buggles Award 2024 (1.000 Euros donated by Pop-Büro Region Stuttgart) goes to HUSH (by Perigon) by Sabrina Schray
• Jury Statement: The music video HUSH by Sabrina Schray and PERIGON inspires with charm, the courage to experiment and a skillful break with clichés. HUSH is a sophisticated, childlike play with bodies and material and at the same time an ironic play with the elements and the colors in the room. HUSH gives us an unspent aesthetic that is particularly enchanting in its imperfection. There is cheerful fizzing and tonguing, lolling, sliding and swinging and sometimes even shameless flirting with the camera. And whenever the whole thing threatens to become too slick and explicitly bad-girl-like, thankfully a fluffy tiger pops into the scene, something goes up in flames or something simply collapses. This is intelligent trash and breathes punk. Because HUSH rejects the slick high-end images of our time and gives a big middle finger to music video stereotypes and the male gaze. A refreshing queer-feminist position - ironic, charming, unpretentious and courageous...!

  Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

SPECIAL MENTION
A Special Mention goes to FLEE (by Die Amöben) by Nana Hülsewig & Valentin Kemmner
• Jury Statement: It was not an easy decision for us, which is why FLEE by Nana Hülsewig, Valentin Kemmner and the Stuttgart band DIE AMÖBEN deserves at least an Special Mention from the jury. We were particularly moved by this work because it reveals a vulnerability in the search that expresses an honest and deep desire for the supposedly other connecting element. Amoebas, literally translated as "the changing ones", are unicellular creatures that have no fixed form and constantly change their shape. The flowing, shape-shifting and temporary is an essential stylistic element of the video. It projects human interiors into a natural space and combines body, material and landscape to create an unconventional overall picture. The jury was moved and impressed by the sensitivity and dedication with which the filmmakers present non-standardized female bodies. The supposed kitsch reveals a touching sincerity and the quirky crochet aesthetics an authentically lived feminism.

  Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

ONLINE AUDIENCE AWARD
The Online Audience Award (500 Euros donated by Pop-Büro Region Stuttgart) goes to THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS (by ITCHY) by Bernhard Seidt