For the sixth time, the Westfalen Connection festival section is all about films from the region or films whose filmmakers are connected to Westphalia, sometimes in very different ways. Once again, the Münster-based Stiftung Westfalen-Initiative is offering two prizes for the competition. On the one hand, the best short film in the region with a maximum length of 30 minutes will be honoured and receive prize money of EUR 1,000. Independently of this, a number of longer films of more than 30 minutes in length will also be in the running for EUR 1,500 in prize money.
“Never before have we received so many films from the region – and never before has the artistic quality of the films been as consistently high as this year,” says Carsten Happe, who runs the Münster Film Festival together with Risna Olthuis.
Several films are celebrating their festival premieres in the Westfalen Connection short film competition, including the directorial debut Und was ist mit uns? by actress Michelle Barthel, who was a guest jury member at the Münster Film Festival two years ago. The leading role in her touching family drama is played by the renowned actress Elisa Schlott, who has been honoured with the Förderpreis Deutscher Film, among other awards.
The film Disposable by the Münster production company Butchers & Duchess and the documentary Der Moment in dem ich dich ins Herz schloss by Mustafa Khalaf from the Kunstakademie Münster will also be premiered as part of the Westfalen Connection.
The competition also shines with a colourful mix of genres and themes: the decolonial fable About Happy Hippos and Sad Peacocks by Johannes Förster & Elkin Calderón Guevara explores the connection between man, nature and history in a visually stunning way. While When I Bleed by Miri Klischat embarks on a search for acceptance and reconciliation with one’s own (female) body image and Female Walk by Lilith Gosmann accompanies the gradual emancipation of a young woman, Petrichor by Lorenz Bach delves into the emotional worlds of a young filmmaker whose life is caught between the search for love, being overwhelmed by everyday life and coming to terms with past relationships.
Three medium-length films have been invited to the second Westfalen Connection competition this time, including the documentary Vater und Jaust by Alexander Peiler, Jonas Bomba and Josua Zehner, which focuses on a childhood characterised by paternal violence and initiates a very honest encounter between father and son. In combination with the feature films Viel Nebel im November by Anna Lena Höhne and Vitja by Christina Keilmann, both graduation films from Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the thematic diversity of this category could hardly be greater.
The short and medium-length films can be seen in a total of four film programmes on Friday, 26 September and Saturday, 27 September at the Schloßtheater Münster. The film selection of the Westfalen Connection testifies to the creative potential that exists in the region and to the commitment and ambition of the film-makers to create films worth seeing with mostly limited financial resources.
