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Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg
03—08.06.2025

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published in Festivals
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Hardly any festival has such a legendary reputation as Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg (which, by the way, is one of the reasons why the author of these lines has dedicated himself to the short cinematic form). From the lovingly designed festival center, which serves as a much-loved industry meeting place in early June, to the mass film walk A Wall Is A Screen, to the radically ecstatic 35ml bar, a model for uninhibited get-to-know-you rituals.

© Claudia Hoehne
© Claudia Hoehne
© Claudia Hoehne
© Claudia Hoehne
© Claudia Hoehne
© Claudia Hoehne

The festival team around Sven Schwarz and Maike Mia Höhne works hard to live up to this reputation every year, designing a program that often oscillates between hardcore experimentation and popular formats and providing plenty of room for discussion in between. These can sometimes drag on for hours and even nights, especially when the bar is simply far too close. And did I mention that Hamburg is always worth a trip anyway? Anyway, see you at the 35ml bar!

Text by Daniel Hadenius-Ebner

Reading List

}
Bathroom Blues

looking she said I forget by Naomi Pacifique

Review by Savina Petkova
}
Digital Witnesses

Man Number 4 by Miranda Pennell

Review by Patrick Gamble

Reading List

}
Resistance Through Intimacy

Mast-del by Maryam Tafakory

Review by Teresa Vieira
}
Circle of Shame

The Smell of Burning Ants by Jay Rosenblatt

Review by Bjorn Gabriels
Landslide}
Spirit of the Public Square

Landslide by Daniel Cortés Ramirez

Review by Dora Leu
Slimane (Carlos Pereira, 2023)}
Embracing Uncertainty
Carlos Pereira on Slimane
Interview with Carlos Pereira by Yan Guan Rosanna Suter
Shrooms}
Psilocybin Dreams

Shrooms by Jorge Jácome

Review by Zachary Seager
Between Delicate and Violent (Şirin Bahar Demirel, 2023)}
Re-Framing the Family Archive
Using Home Videos in Documentary Filmmaking
Essay by Patrick Gamble
}
Desiring Young Woman

27 by Flóra Anna Buda

Review by Savina Petkova
The Birthday Party (Francesco Sossai, 2023)}
I Hate and I Love

The Birthday Party by Francesco Sossai

Review by Zachary Seager
*Jill, Uncredited* (Anthony Ing, 2022)}
Which Direction Home?
How Different Sources of Capital Direct Our Personal Agency
Essay by Fedor Tot
Remember How I Used to Ride a White Horse}
Apathy’s Grip

Remember How I Used to Ride a White Horse by Ivana Bošnjak Volda, Thomas Johnson Volda

Review by Laura Stoeckler
Hardly Working (Total Refusal, 2022)}
Film Or Elevated Video Game Critique?

Hardly Working by Total Refusal

Review by Vladan Petković
}
Love and Fiction, Our Saviours!

Flores del otro Patio by Jorge Cadena

Review by Savina Petkova

Reading List

Alpha Kings}
Alphaland

Alpha Kings by Faye Tsakas, Enrique Pedráza-Botero

Review by Anas Sareen
A Kind of Testament}
You Are Being Watched

A Kind of Testament by Stephen Vuillemin

Review by Michiel Philippaerts
All Tomorrow’s Parties}
Until We Meet Again

All Tomorrow’s Parties by Zhang Dalei

Review by Yan Guan Rosanna Suter
Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays}
Empire of the Sun

Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays by Christian Avilés

Review by Olivia Popp
Will You Look At Me}
Tracing The Invisible

Will You Look At Me by Shuli Huang

Review by Niv Fux

Reading List

backflip}
8.640 Jumps A Day

backflip by Nikita Diakur

Review by Jason Todd
}
The Sense of Discomfort

Madrugada by Leonor Noivo

Review by Susanne Gottlieb
It’s Raining Frogs Outside}
The Horror of Memory

It’s Raining Frogs Outside by Maria Estela Paiso

Review by Sabrina Vetter

Reading List

One Hundred Steps (Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca, 2021)}
Unframed, Reframed

One Hundred Steps by Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca

Review by Sanne Jehoul
A Present Light}
“It Is Better To Light A Candle Than Curse The Darkness”

A Present Light by Diogo Costa Amarante

Review by Laurence Boyce
Lemongrass Girl}
Belief In Fiction

Lemongrass Girl by Pom Bunsermvicha

Review by Matthew Chan
}
From the Point Of View of the Curator
Curators Choice Programme at Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg
The End of Suffering (A Proposal)}
Of Consolation And Constellations

The End of Suffering (A Proposal) by Jacqueline Lentzou

Review by Michiel Philippaerts
}
Water as conductor

The Unseen River by Phạm Ngọc Lân

Review by Bo Alfaro Decreton

Reading List

}
Nothing To Declare

Bab Sebta by Randa Maroufi

Review by Bo Alfaro Decreton

Reading List

}
Future Nostalgia

Past Perfect by Jorge Jácome

Review by Bo Alfaro Decreton
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Footnotes

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Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg — Talking Shorts

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Short films are key to cinematic innovation. Because of their brevity, they allow filmmakers to react to the world around them more instinctively and showcase a stunning range of artistic expressions. As a magazine dedicated to short films, Talking Shorts aims to create a wider discourse about this often-overlooked art form.

We strive to produce universally readable content that can inspire, cultivate, and educate a broad range of audiences, from students and scholars to non-cinephile readers, in an attempt to connect filmmakers, audiences, festival organisers, and a young generation of film lovers who might not yet know what short films are or can do.

Since 2023, Talking Shorts is the official outlet of The European Network for Film Discourse (The END), which consists of 8 unique and diverse European film festivals and is funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Our work and publications are closely connected to the (European) film festival landscape.

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