Filmfest Oldenburg

Situated in Northwest Germany the Oldenburg International Film Festival covers since 1994 the international movie scene in all of its aspects. This open minded approach leads to an inspiring mix of great premieres, surprising discoveries and original independent productions. Off beat innovation and ideas against the grain are the trademarks of the festival.

Among the guests of honor were Alex Cox, Frank Oz, James B. Harris, Tim Hunter, Belgian Cult-Director Harry Kümel, Jim McBride, Philippe de Broca, Andrzej Zulawski, Ken Russell and Jerry Schatzberg who have all attended the festival for the retrospectives of their work. Iciar Bollain, Seymour Cassel, Asia Argento, Stacy Cochran, Richard Stanley, Ben Gazzara, Larry Clark, Tim Blake Nelson as also Luke and Andrew Wilson have attended the festival for tributes in their honor.

Internationally acclaimed films such as Takeshi Kitano's »Kids Return«, Kevin Spacey's »Albino Alligator«, Steven Soderbergh's »Out of Sight«, David Cronenberg's »Spider«, Larry Clark's »Ken Park«, Luke and Andrew Wilson's »The Wendell Baker Story«, and »The Fountain« by Darren Aronofsky or indie-hits like Larry Fessenden's »Habit«, Cory McAbee's »The American Astronaut«, Michael Polish's »Northfork«, Paul Provenza's »Aristocrats«, Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's »Four Eyed Monsters« or »The Guatemalan Handshake« by Todd Rohal received their celebrated German premiere in Oldenburg.

Tributes and Retrospectives

;Tributes
*Nancy Savoca (1994)
*Katt Shea (1995)
*Iciar Bollain (1997)
*Seymour Cassel (1998)
*Asia Argento (1999)
*Stacy Cochran (2000)
*Ben Gazzara (2001)
*Richard Stanley (2001)
*Larry Clark (2003)
*Tim Blake Nelson (2004)
*Luke Wilson und Andrew Wilson (2005)
*Peter Fleischmann (2006)
*Stacy Keach (2007)
*Marius Müller-Westernhagen (2008)
*Michael Wadleigh (2008)

;Retrospectives
*Alex Cox (1994)
*Frank Oz (1995)
*James B. Harris (1996)
*Tim Hunter (1997)
*Roberto Faenza (1998)
*Harry Kümel (1999)
*William Wellmann Jr. (2000)
*Jim McBride (2001)
*Bernhard Rose(2002)
*Philippe de Broca (2003)
*Andrzej Żuławski (2004)
*Ken Russell (2005)
*Jerry Schatzberg (2006)
*Abel Ferrara (2007)
*James Toback (2008)

Awards

German Independence Award

*Richard Schenkman „Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God...Be Back by Five“ (1998)
*Noah Stern „The Invisibles“ (1999)
*Buket Alakus „Anam“ (2001)
*Scott Thomas „Anacardium“ (2002)
*Michael Polish „Northfolk“ (2003)
*Dennis Iliadis „Hardcore“ (2004)
*Marcos Siega „Pretty Persuation“ (2005)
*Scott Dacko „The Insurgents“ (2006)
*Jan Hinrik Drevs „Underdogs“ (2007)
*Emily Atef „Das Fremde in mir“ (2008)

German Independence Award – Best German Motion Picture

*Andreas Struck „Sugar Orange“ (2004)
*Catharina Deus „About a Girl“ (2005)
*Birgit Grosskopf „Prinzessin“ (2006)
*Jakob M. Erwa „Heile Welt“ (2007)
*Emily Atef „Das Fremde in mir“ (2008)

German Independence Award – Best Short Film

The German Independence Award - Best Short Film is the youngest Award of the Oldenburg International Film Festival.

* Marcos Valin, David Alonso „Atención al cliente“ (2007)
* Liz Adams „Side Effect“ (2008)

Otto-Sprenger-Preis

* Ben Reding, Dominik Reding „Für den unbekannten Hund“ (2007)
*Emily Atef „Das Fremde in mir“ (2008)

Quotes

As a result of the festival's programme that focuses on independent filmmaking the press and industry often calls the Oldenburg International Film Festival the European/German Sundance:
* "Oldenburg: The German Sundance…has become a must in the festival circuit." (Cannes Market News)
* "The German Sundance" (Screen International)

Weblinks

* [http://www.filmfest-oldenburg.de/ official website]