"489 Years" by Hayoun Kwon, a video about the demilitarized zone between North and South Corea, has won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the International Short Film Days Oberhausen 2016. For the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen the International Jury choose "Venusia" by Louise Carrin from Switzerland, a "study about the relationship between the owner of a brothel and her only friend", the festival says. Its Principal Prize the International Jury awarded to a short film by Philippine director Lav Diaz, "Ang araw bago ang wakas" (The Day Before the End). Diaz caused a sensation at this year's Berlinale with his eight hours competition entry "A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery".
In about 100 showings in 5 days the International Short Film Festival 2016 screened more than 550 films, including 64 films in 10 programs of the International Competition. “Anyone who wants to understand where cinema is going and what kind of alternatives societies offer will be able to discover in short films a variety of options and concepts that is far more diverse than long films have to offer”, says festival director Lars Henrik Gass. In addition to the competition programs, including the popular children's and youth film competition, the festival in a thematic program entitled "El pueblo" will show films from Latin America, and under the label "profiles" retrospectives of five artists: Sun Xun (China), Josef Dabernig (Austria), Anne Haugsgjerd (Norway) and Raquel Chalfi (Israel).
Link: Festival website