For the backup.award, filmic works were sought that creatively engaged with different productions and expression of the filmic format. The three-person jury awarded prizes to the various and diverse films in the categories video art, animation and fiction on Saturday evening.

In the category video art, the jurors Nicole Stecker, Paula Kroh and Audrey Jama awarded a prize to the film Shunpo, by the Parisian student Steven Briand. The almost four and a half minute film was honoured for "the perfect harmony of picture, editing and dance movement. The director succeeded in creating an extremely aesthetic and dynamic dance film", said Stecker.

Shunpo also wowed the guests of the backup festival: The film about breaking out of drab everyday life through dance was honoured with the People's Choice award.
You can watch the film at this link: http://vimeopro.com/kanameonoyama/portofolio/video/55736885

In the animation category, the jury honoured the film Wind by Robert Löbel. Stecker said, "The artist submerges us in a fascinating world, whose inhabitants have adapted so well to extreme life circumstances that when the system comes to a standstill, things immediately break down into chaos". She also praised the "original animation style and the unexpected selection of everyday life situations and stunning detail".
The €500 prize was sponsored by the Sparkasse Mittelthüringen. 

A further prize, the backup.award was also given this year in the fiction category to the Berlin resident Rike Hoppe and her film Duck and Beginning. "A film that treats handling personal loss with few means and simple production. The dismal mood leaves behind a far-reaching effect on the spectator and achieves this in a personal manner", said Kroh in the jury statement. The €1,000 prize was sponsored by the Sparkasse Mittelthüringen.

In addition, the backup.clip.award was awarded for the 14th time for the best music video. The search for new methods of representation and production also took centre stage. The jury was composed of Johanneses Gierlinger, Maurice Gajda and Andreas Kessler.

Facundo V. Scalerandi's video for the song "Funny Games" by Aidan Bartley won first prize. The jury statement explained: "With its homage to the movie theatre of the 1950s, 'Funny Games' delivers a playful and original love story. A music video that ironically and imaginatively transcends conventional videos."

The guests also agreed with the jury and gave "Funny Games" the People's Choice award for the best music video.

Till Krücken, who made the music video to the song "Dissythekid" by Captain Hook was ecstatic about his €250 prize. The video, which was made at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar "revolves around the self-ironic nature of power relationships in the world of gangsters, so that real gangsters become caricatures", explained jury member Andreas Kessler.

The jury awarded third place to Chema Garcia Ibarra's video for the song "U-Matic" by Tannhäuser. "Here, song and video enter into the symbiosis that music videos must have in order to succeed in three and a half minutes. U-Matic is a welcome change in the otherwise perfect look of current music videos", said Andreas Kessler. The winner receives a jukebox from the backup sponsor Universal.

The backup.herzblut.award, traditionally sponsored by Partisan Vodka, is given not by a jury, but the spectators. The backup@home programme visitors voted and selected the best short film, which was shown in the cozy shared flats of students in Weimar. The public also enjoyed the film "Simplyclever", by the students Franz Müller and Johannes Kürschner, from Mittweida.

As in previous years, the 15th backup_festival included an extensive accompanying programme. Presentations about film and media offered interested audience members opportunities for stimulating discussions in the Lichthaus Theatre.

backup is organized by students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and offers students and Alumni of Media, Art and Design and art institutes from all over the world the opportunity to present their short films. In 2013, the festival received more than 450 submissions from 29 nations, including Mali, Pakistan and Thailand. In last 15 years, the backup_festival international programme has shown a total of 2035 short films from 58 different countries.

If you have any questions, please contact Juliane Fuchs, project manager of the backup_festival:

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Faculty of Media
backup festival
Juliane Fuchs
Bauhausstraße 15, 99423 Weimar
Tel. : +49 (0) 36 43 / 58 11 29
E-mail: Office[at]backup-festival.de
web: www.backup-festival.de