Awards

Taste of Cement by Ziad Kalthoum

Statement of the Jury:

The “Golden Key” goes to an essay-poem that approaches a global phenomenon via a very personal destiny and narrative. In a poetic voice over, lying above the contemplative and meaningfully arranged pictures, “Taste of Cement” immerses itself in the life story of a Syrian construction worker in the midst of the crude shell of a cypher-like skyscraper. Like his father the worker is participating in the construction boom of a post-civil war Libanon, while his homeland is violently levelled to the ground. The same circle of rotation, found in the concrete mixer, in which Ziad Kalthoum tucks the camera once, is depicted by this elegiac, multilayered portrait of growth and decay. Its depiction is framed by a child's dream of the sea whose murmur and shimmer gets audible and visible time and time again. Like the nameless narrator the desires are imprisoned in this construction site that is carved out in front of Beirut's modern cityscape via elaborated long shots and a fantastic sound design. At the same time in the building's basement, that serves as a sparse sleeping spot, small mobile phone displays reveal the infinite destruction of Aleppo. This film makes the taste of cement ultimately perceptible as we taste it too, via our eyes, ears, and hearts.

Sog by Jonatan Schwenk

Radio Kobanî by Reber Dosky

Statement of the jury:

The film tells the story of young radio makers setting up a radio station in a bombed-out city. They want to inform people with their program and help bring life back to the city. It is a hopeful film, showing people's desire to rebuild their homes.

The attitude of the filmmaker, his empathy and the closeness to the people is transferred to the viewer.

The focus is on strong female figures. The protagonists are young and can certainly appeal to peers. Her will to resist and her initiative convinced the young jury in particular. An atmospherically dense film, which - unlike the daily news - allows a differentiated view of a crisis area and its people.

Testimonials by Ralph Schulz

Statement of the jury:

"An absolutely amazing piece of art" reports each enthusiastic judgment of the assumed experts on a work of art. Those are ordered reviews, which in the highest tones and with grand gestures, describe an artistic work that in reality never existed.

These are reviews commissioned for a suspicious low price of 5 to 25 $ from artist Ralph Schulz himself. The language and persuasive gestures of the paid reviewers skillfully and subtly point to staged fake customer reviews which have long since become a lucrative source of income for entire armies of self-proclaimed experts in public and private TV channels as well as on the internet.

Above all the jury appreciates the artist's stringent conceptional approach and how simple, humorous and convincing the artist gained real existing "experts" in a positive testimony to a work that was imagined. The media staging of product reviews, however, as well as the effective staging of political threats has become a highly effective tool of commercial and political marketing.

The work “Testimonials” by Ralph Schulz documents and unveils with irony a long established practice of product marketing as well fundamentally questions the credibility of our evaluation systems.