Westfalen Connection

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For the sixth time, the Westfalen Connection section is all about films from the region, with a connection to the region, or films whose filmmakers are connected to Westphalia, sometimes in very different ways. Once again, the Münster-based Westfalen-Initiative Foundation 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 €1,000. Independently of this, several longer films with a running time of more than 30 minutes will also be in the running for €1,500 in prize money.

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 already a guest jury member at the Münster Film Festival two years ago, and the film Disposable by Nina Romming, who is also no stranger to the festival. The competition also shines with a colourful mix of genres and themes: the decolonial fable About Happy Hippos And Sad Peacocks explores the connection between people, nature and history in a visually stunning way. While When I Bleed embarks on a search for acceptance and reconciliation with one’s own (female) body image and Female Walk accompanies the gradual emancipation of a young woman, we immerse ourselves in “a man’s world” with The Moment I Fell in Love With You – or do we?

Three medium-length films have been invited to the second competition of the Westfalen Connection this time, including the documentary Vater und Jaust (Father and Jaust), 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 and Vitja, 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 blocks on Friday, 26 September and Saturday, 27 September. 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 filmmakers to create films worth seeing with mostly limited financial resources.