How Hamburg became the centre of short film

by Britta Schmeis

These are scenes that are almost unimaginable today: At the NoBudget competition, from which the Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg (KFA) had emerged in 1992, the jury did not award a prize in 1993. Directors Wenzel Storch, who was as revered as he was despised, justified this by saying: "There wasn't a single film that deserved to win the prize." Luckily for the short film agency, which received the DM 5000 prize money instead. At the same award ceremony, the theme for the following year's competition will be voted on. The festival management's proposal receives thunderous applause, albeit from the tape. The matter is exposed and the festival management relents. Another unconventional, scandalous incident three years later: "Neulich am Deich" by Janek Rieke is proclaimed the winner of a competition. Unfortunately, not all the votes had been counted yet. Then Fatih Akin's "Sensin - It's You!" is the winner. In short, the prize is shared.

When Alexandra Gramatke looks back on these times, she can't help but smile and is convinced that the surprising, subversive and unconventional is what makes short films what they are. It can be a maximum of 30 minutes long. This requires the desire and creativity to experiment, to develop new forms of visual expression, to tell stories differently. "It is often the courage to be imperfect that characterises filmmakers and short films," says Gramatke, who previously made documentaries herself. She has been the CEO of the KFA since 2008. 14 years in which the industry and the agency have undergone enormous change. The digitalisation of filmmaking took place during this time. It also saw the relocation of the agency with its permanent staff of 15 to 20 employees from the Filmhaus in Ottensen to the former Viktoria barracks and the current fux co-operative building. There, at the jointly operated production site for art, culture and design, business and education, the KFA not only has much more space, but also a creative environment that allows numerous collaborations to develop.

However, the basis for the agency's success and Hamburg's development into a hotspot for the short film scene was created by others, as Gramatke emphasises. First and foremost, there is Markus Schaefer, the first CEO of the KFA and "Godfather of shortfilm", as Gramatke calls him. It was he who laid the foundations for the NoBudget-Festival, which later became the Short Film Festival, and thus the Short Film Agency, with his tenacity and impertinence - against much resistance, including political opposition, and without any financial support from the city because, as the then Senate Commissioner for Film, Hanno Jochimsen, is quoted as saying, the city initially refused to provide Fundings. His reason: "The city did not ask you to organise a short film festival." That was in 1987, and fortunately times have changed completely. Under the second CEO, Astrid Kühl (1997 - 2008, on the left in the cover photo), the wildness of the early days gave way to creative professionalism, and the short film agency increasingly benefited from funding networks to provide a stage for short film.

The KFA now receives support from the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and, for certain projects, the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. The scene already had a powerful advocate in the person of cultural senator Christina Weiss (1991 to 2001), as well as long-time film officer Juana Bienenfeld. Currently, the team around Cultural Senator Carsten Brosda is fully behind the Short Film Agency.

Above all, however, it was and is the passion of the filmmakers who settled in the city, from script development to post production. "The scene is manageable and yet extremely international. That is our unique selling point," says Gramatke. In addition, the University of Fine Arts, the University of Applied Sciences and the Hamburg Media School are three universities in Hamburg that offer film degree programmes.

With the main aim of improving the screening and exploitation possibilities of short films, the KFA sees itself as an interface between filmmakers and users. The central focus is on short film distribution for cinemas and other screening venues, which was founded in 1992. Other focal points are short film distribution with international rights trading as well as the Hamburg Short Film Festival, the Hamburg Young Short Film Festival Mo&Friese and the Short Film School for practical film work in schools. The KFA also has a huge archive of more than 50,000 short films and offers numerous short films for streaming on its YouTube channel with almost 280,000 subscribers.

And the KFA is an important hub and player in the international short film network, for example as a founding and board member of the AG Kurzfilm - Bundesverband Deutscher Kurzfilm, and the Short Circuit, the European association of short film distributors and sales agents. In these functions, the KFA is an influential shaper of film policy and one of the most important institutions of its kind in Germany.

It is therefore all the more consistent and logical that this year the Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg is hosting the distribution of the German Short Film Award, presented by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media, at Kampnagel on 17 November. The format's most important award will be presented there in six categories. A wonderful, albeit labour-intensive gift for the 30th birthday of the KFA, which has retained its charm of the subversive, unconventional and innovative to this day.