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In any festival the films are the key ingredient. Ebensee had 742 entries!
It is open to all non-commercial movies between 5 and 30 minutes long, so
attracts film students and semi-professionals as well as amateurs. The
standard at the top is very high but amateurs more than hold their own. The
festival's main prizes are cuddly teddy-bears decked out with gold, silver
or bronze sashes and there are various special awards.
23 Gold Bear winners in 2005
| Antoni Gaudi i Cornet |
Erna & Rudi Brunner |
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Pink Room |
Alban Mench |
| Die Kraft des Weges |
Sonja Steger |
Plus la récolte est bonne |
Jean-Pierre Hué |
| Ego sum Alpha et Omega |
Jan-Peter Meier |
Push Hands |
Tamara Anghie & Zanzibar Films |
| Fast Film |
Virgil Widrich |
Roach |
Sven Hughes |
| King of Fools |
Olaf Encke |
Room 69 |
Jean-Patrick Benes & Allan Mauduit |
| Las Viandas |
Jose-Antonio Bonet, Master Cluster S.L. |
Strict Eternum |
Didier Fontan |
| Míjení |
Olga Spátová |
Subway Score |
Alexander Isert |
| Mona Lisa |
Sotiris Dounoukos |
The Battle for Arthur |
Audrey Cummings |
| Mort à l'Écran |
Alexis Ferrebeuf |
The Man without a Head |
Juan Solanas |
| Oldiegarage |
Bernhard Hausberger |
Un beau jour, un coiffeur... |
Gilles Bindi |
| Photoamateurs |
Pascal Tosi |
Un Viaje |
Claudia Gabriela Monroy Dominguez |
| Pilala |
T. Papadoulakis & G. Papadopoulos |
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Pilala from Greece was chosen
Best in Festival |
Un Beau Jour, un Coiffeur
from France was an intellectual
love story with a difference. |
Passing from the Czech Republic
also won Best Youth Entry
and Audience Award |
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Subway Score from Germany
was funny and surprising. |
Room 69 was a very effective
French horror film. |
Strict Eternum from France had
echoes of The Truman Show. |
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Un Viaje from Mexico was the
touching story of a man and his
mentally damaged child. |
King of Fools from Germany was
a tale of love and betrayal with
a difference! |
Plus la récolte est bonne from France
shows life among the Sourmis
tribe in Africa's Rift Valley. |
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The Battle for Arthur from Canada showed
a small community determined to care for a
lonely widower - whether he wanted it or not. |
Fast Film from France/Austria combines hundreds of
film icons into a fascinating kaleidoscope. |
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The Man without a Head from France
took us to a surreal world. |
Ireland's Push Hands won the UNICA prize for
humanity - an old man and a wild youth form an alliance. |
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Oldiegarage from Austria is a celebration of
Manni, whose lack of legs does not stop him
running a very successful business. |
Las Viandas from Spain is an awful warning of the risk
when you upset a temperamental chef. |
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Mona Lisa from Australia deals with a clinging
mother reluctant to let her son go. |
Photoamateur from France is set in a world where
taking a snapshot may mean taking a life. |
As well as the main programme there are several special sections:
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One evening is devoted to "shorties" - movies less than 5 minutes long which
are talked about by the jury but not voted on. Results are in the hands of
the audience. I Just Knew, the one-minute gem by Phil Martin
of Britain came third this year.
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As an experiment this year some longer films were given a late showing but
at the end of a long hot day few enthusiasts had the energy to stay for them.
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One afternoon is devoted to films by young Austrian school children - always
a fascinating collection.
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There is an organised outing one afternoon. Old hands assure me that in more
than 17 years in Ebensee the festival has found a fresh attraction each year.
This year it was a trip to showcaves in the local mountains.
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There is a "bunter abend" - social evening - which begins with a barbecue
in the garden behind the cinema and continues with a variety of special
entertainment. In 2005 these included live performance of extracts from a
musical production and a local stand-up comic whose act makes liberal use
of a chain-saw.
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Weather-permitting there is at least one picnic lunch when the entire festival
is whisked off to the side of beautiful Traunsee lake to enjoy a picnic lunch.
This year the weather was so good we went there three times!
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On the Friday evening while the jury consider their decisions special guests
present a programme of movies from their country. This year it was four cheery
Bulgarian students who screened a fascinating mixture of movies and explained
a bit about the problems of movie-making in their country.
The full results of the festival can be seen on their website:
www.8ung.at/filmfestival
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