Media Marathon in Munich: 292 films screened, 50 short-listed, 26 selected for festival, 4 Winners

The 5th International Short Film Festival, called "The Way We Live," felt like a real film festival, with directors, actors, producers and cineastes milling around at night in the mittel-European café of the Munich Film Museum, with movie posters everywhere, and tables full of tiny espresso coffee cups and strudel pastries. Held every other year, the 5th iteration of this festival, organized by the German Association for Media and Disability (ABM), took place November 2-5, directed by Gregor Kern, a theatre professional.

During the last several months, the small staff of ABM under the presidency of well-known actor Peter Radtke, somehow managed to screen 292 entries from 41 countries, short-list 50 and present 26 finalists for review by a jury of media professionals from Switzerland, India, Germany and the UK.

Strong German entries dominate
This year the 26 films selected by the jury were presented in six programs or sessions with the following themes: abled, perceiving the world, international affairs, journey, beginnings – departures and love stories. Nearly half of the 26 finalists were produced or co-produced in Germany, the most memorable of which were the first prize winner, an offbeat love story called ("Wackelkontakt") "Loose Contacts, Meetings or Chance Encounters;" a euphoric dance film entitled "Hands Away;" a portrait of a resilient martial arts trainer in ("Korpergedachtnis") "Muscular Memory;" a heart-wrenchingly honest glimpse into the life of a boy with Tourette's syndrome, ("Domenique Tickt Anders") "Dominic Has a Tic;" a powerful piece without narration or dialogue, ("Arbeit am Ende") "Used Up," showing sheltered workers laboriously dismantling old telephones; and a documentary capturing a marital argument carried out through a hand spelling alphabet, "Lormen." Less effective were the joint German-Romanian production, ("Die Daumendreher") "God Plays Sax and the Devil Violin," a tantalizingly titled but confusing, long and repetitive exposure of life in a large mental institution, and ("Wiedersehen") "See You," a comparatively amateur attempt to dramatize a sexually-charged encounter between a young blind woman and her personal attendant.

Hands Away

Domenique Tickt Anders (Dominic Has a Tic)

A small group of the 26 finalists were produced or co-produced in the UK, Belgium, France or Switzerland, with the following countries also represented: Austria, Burkina Faso, India, Poland, New Zealand, Spain and the U.S. Other strong contenders from this group included "Talking with Angels," a poignant British dramatization of the survival battles of a mother who hears voices and her five youngsters, who are up against an inflexible mental health system; "Happy Birthday, Thalidomide," a British television documentary by Mat Fraser, summing up 50 years of the sordid, international history of the controversial drug; and ("Les Champions") "The Champions," a Burkina Faso production portraying two owners of car repair shops in a competition to see who has done the best job of educating their workers about HIV/AIDS.

Winners
The other three winners chosen by the international jury were: second prize, "For a Miracle" (Po Cud), a fascinating train trip transporting a group of Polish disabled children and adults to Lourdes for a possible cure, which makes no judgments but manages to be alternately witty, wry, poignant and philosophical; third prize, "The Man Who Couldn't Dance," a raucous farce from New Zealand, arriving at Marx Brothers' solutions to the ballroom dancing aspirations of a man without legs; and an honorable mention for "Pulled from the Rubble," a British documentary about a newly-disabled U.S. researcher who survived a terrorist attack in Baghdad on a UN building. Developed by the survivor's young daughter and 58 minutes long, this film has its moments, but for the most part is an emotionally wet, personal tribute, crying out for a tougher editor.

Po Cud

The Man Who Couldn't Dance

Pulled from the Rubble

Discernible Trends
Reflecting on the majority of the finalists and an additional 25 or so entries recommended by ABM staff, there seemed to be a few discernible trends among these films produced from 2003 to 2005. A significant number of these new films, whether documentaries or dramatizations, use road-trips or travel as their vehicle for exploring salient aspects of life with a disability. Some of the more successful of these, in addition to the first and second prize winners, were: "Berocca," a whimsical, sometimes absurd UK road film that literally ends in the ocean; "Gray Zone", an Austrian dramatization of a fatal car accident that reveals the very different ethics of a pair of disabled and non-disabled brothers; "Hit the Road, Wiseguys," a French dramatization about a trio of disabled friends who creatively resist being transported to summer camp; and "The Annointed," an engaging Polish documentary about two men with Down Syndrome whose independent living skills are tested in planning and implementing an excursion on local trains.

Sex, love and videotape
Another trend pointed out by Gregor Kern in an article about the festival published on its opening day by the leading Bavarian daily newspaper, is the remarkable number of entries concerning love, sexuality and adult relationships. In addition to those already mentioned, the finalist from Spain, "Species," focuses on a relationship between a young woman without speech and a deaf man; the handsome Dominic is clearly a favorite of the girls, which seems to contribute to his equanimity about his Tourette's syndrome; a delightful short-listed Russian entry, "About Love," features disabled primary school children who are quite confident in their amorous pursuits; and flirtation; and "the thrill of the chase" figure strongly in another of the finalists, "In the Shadow," a joint Belgian-French-Swiss production noir about the intense relationship between a young disabled woman and her neighbor. Finally, a disturbing short-listed dramatization from South Korea, "Papa," centers on the sexuality and abuse of a young girl with autism.

In general, both the road trips (signaling adventure, risk and unexpected detours) and relationship films provide opportunities for exploration of the disabled characters as fully multidimensional, perhaps breaking away from some of the more didactic and limiting disability-focused films of the past.

In confirmation of this trend, the welcome in the Festival program by Christa Stevens of the Bavarian Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs, Family and Women, a Festival sponsor, states, "I am very happy that the welfare associations are now beginning to recognize that self-determination and participation must take the place of paternalism."

Some comparisons
Additionally, compared to just five years ago, there were a large number of entries, especially from across Europe, that were matter of fact in their presentation of children and adolescents with disabilities attending regular schools. On the other hand, very few entries, compared to U.S. disability films, showed people working in the open labor market or concentrated on the lack of employment for disabled persons. There were also few of the films viewed in Munich that focused on the effectiveness or comparability of therapies or treatments for disabling conditions, compared to the spate of U.S. films examining varying approaches to autism, specific learning disabilities or mental illness, or decrying the limited availability of assistive technology, among other services. Perhaps the only finalist film that took a close look at professional and political response to disability was "Happy Birthday, Thalidomide," a film by British "thalidomide ninja" Mat Fraser, who presents a caustic 50 year international history of the controversial drug.

Happy Birthday, Thalidomide

Entre Nos Mains

It is difficult and probably unwise to speculate on the reasons for the differences in approach. But, in general it seems there are far fewer short dramatizations produced in the U.S.; many festival entries produced in the U.S. are documentaries that roughly follow the problem – solution format. The European scene seems to be about equally split between documentaries that are "slice of life" and dramatizations that range from experimental, to animation, to entertainment with more subtle messages. However, in full length commercial films, the U.S. does produce some disability-themed features with subtler messages, most recently, "Murderball," and "Station Agent."

In a post-festival email exchange, Gregor Kern also noted general differences between European and U.S. approaches, commenting that, "I think the selections we get have a lot to do with our motto, 'The Way We Live.' Subjects like assistive technology or the lack of it aren't big problems here, because it is more or less available due to our medical and health systems. Films taking on the advocacy view, or 'problem – solution' as you describe it, are more a television thing in Germany, partly done by our organization, ABM. But, in my opinion, this type of film doesn't open up the view on people with disabilities as people sharing needs and wishes with all other human beings. Perhaps these are just different points of view or perspectives on equality on one hand and individuality on the other."

Festival format
A contributing and perhaps unique aspect of this festival is that the producers, directors or lead actors of the top entries are invited to Munich to take part in question and answer sessions held following each program. So, for example, the audience members were able to question Dominic, Elena Wiele (of "Muscular Memory") and Larry Bissonette (of "My Classic Life as an Artist"), who were among the 49 actors, directors and producers present to discuss the screened films.

Additionally, days were set aside for special screenings for school classes, presented in cooperation with the Young People's Film Festival, and for Germany's first screening of films with audio description for blind viewers.

Judges
Serving as judges for this year's festival were: Revathy, award-winning actress and director from India, who recently helped organize that country's first international disability film festival; Bernd Sahlen of Berlin, whose film ("Die Blindganger") "Blindflyers," has been shown in children's festivals around the world; Ewan Marshall, BBC producer and film director; Alex Oberholzer, film reviewer for Radio 24 in Zurich, the largest radio station in that part of Switzerland; and Thomas Koerner, film director and deputy managing director of ABM.

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