For some time now, the respective editions of the OpenEyes Filmfest have had an annually changing thematic focus. The aim is to place a certain theme at the center of the festival, to illuminate it from different perspectives, to interpret it in various directions and to enter into a discourse between the audience, filmmakers and the festival organizers. The festival focus of the 28th OpenEyes Filmfest is ‘TRANSITION’ and can be found in many facets of the festival.
The OpenEyes Filmfest is currently also in a period of change with the move to a new venue and innovations in the structure and organization of the festival. Many of these changes, such as the creation of future-proof working conditions or the strengthening of barrier-free access to short film culture, have not yet been fully completed. Accordingly, the OpenEyes Filmfest locates itself in a time of transition. This is one of the reasons why the festival focus, which usually also has a self-reflexive moment, was chosen.
The festival focus is also reflected in the film program of the OpenEyes Filmfest.
Many of the films in the program deal with themes of transition – for example between genders, places, borders or the transition from one phase of life to the next.
The transitions that occur when film sequences, scenes or shots are strung together can be of varying design – from ‘jump cut’ to a black intermediate image to a soft fade.
In addition to films with particularly striking transitions between film frames, we would like to extend the consideration of transition on the aesthetic level to transitions between genres and categories.
A separate competition block will be dedicated to the festival focus with films that, in the eyes of the program team, have a strong connection to transition.
In the festival design of this year’s art direction Julia Baumgarten and Paula Koschützke, the thematic focus of transition is represented as an abstracted form of film images. The transition as a connecting element between colors, ideas, places and people.
Transition will also be found in many exciting design elements on the festival grounds.