Strong Short Films

Strong Short Films

They are known as the little brothers and sisters of feature films and yet they are just as essential to our film culture. They often provide the basis for the existence of their siblings, are sketches of great emotions and tell their own, trenchant stories from all over the world – often they show the first finger exercises of young filmmakers.

At the 54th Hof International Film Festival 2020, 54 short and medium-length feature, documentary and animation films will be shown – 38 of them are from Germany, 16 are international productions from a total of 11 countries. It is precisely this multinational offering that enables viewers to admire the very different and varied approaches of the filmmakers. Serious stories that question life and the world, yet are told with confidence, heart and humor, will move the audience this year. Precisely because they are about such various topics as growing up, love and relationships, loneliness and growing old, religion or fanaticism, these valuable and strong short films cannot be pressed into a dramaturgy template, but rather show skillful variety.

We are proud not only to host many world premieres, but also to be the venue for German premieres of short films from the short film competitions at the Cannes Film Festival (CAMILLE CONTACTLESS, DAVID), the Venice Film Festival (WHAT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HAPPENED, IF I HADN’T STAYED AT HOME) and the Rotterdam Film Festival (SUN DOG).

For the first time we will be welcoming the award-winning animation filmmaker Andreas Hykade with his work ALTÖTTING and Jan Soldat mit RESIDENT GROUND FLOOR, who is best known for his documentaries. It is also remarkable that young actors are changing sides and present their directing debuts at the Hof International Film Festival: for example, actress Emma Bading with OUTRAGEOUS and Zachary Woods with DANIEL.

Again this year, the short films offer newcomers the chance to shine in front of and behind the camera, to show a profile from which talent develops. In promising discoveries from German and international film schools there are many new faces but also well-known stars to be seen in the short films, such as Will Ferrell in DAVID and Louis Hofmann in EIN KLEINER SCHNITT.

Furthermore, we are of course also pleased to welcome directors who have already made a name for themselves with feature films to Hof with their new short films, such as Franziska Schönenberger and Jayakrishnan Subramanian with MY MIRROR and Jens Schanze with PROUD OF YOU.

On the on-demand platform of the Hof International Film Festival this year, for the first time, individual short films can also be viewed – completely without feature-length films. The necessary short film ticket can be purchased online for 15€ and offers (limited to Germany with geo-blocking) the possibility to follow the festival film events from home.