The third place was taken by Maarika Rosenstein's animated film "Tech-Humanity," which tells the story of a young man facing the challenges of the digital world.
The second place went to Vladislav Popchenko's film "Verse," created using artificial intelligence and depicting the confrontation between hackers and corporations in a virtual world.
The first place was awarded to Igor Vittorf's animated film "Own Color," about a schoolboy finding his place in the world thanks to meeting musicians in the subway.
For three years now, KinoFF has been providing an incredible opportunity for anyone to create their first short film, regardless of their knowledge in the field of cinema, age, or place of residence. ShootShorts brings people together into creative teams and allows them to tell their unique stories, fulfilling their dreams. The project is supported by the British Council Estonia.
Participants were gently, and sometimes not so gently, guided by experienced mentors, including producers Natalja Matšenene and Andreas Dorošuk, as well as directors Anita Kremm and Vera Pirogova.
In the end, we received 25 short films and two teasers for future films. Among them were a music video, three animated films, one film in the Screenlife format, and two that utilized the Screenlife format. Additionally, there was a unique film in which Artificial Intelligence assisted in scriptwriting, generated images, and provided character voiceovers.
ShootShorts in Numbers:
Webinars: 23
Educational hours: approximately 40
Lecturers working in the Estonian film industry: 13
Mentors: 4
Total people working on the films: nearly 200
Youngest participant: 16 years old
Oldest participant: 59 years old
Total runtime of films: over 2 hours
Countries: Estonia, France, Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Belarus, Spain, Israel, Germany, Bulgaria.
Project enthusiasts participating for the third consecutive year: 2
The majority of the films were created by first-time authors and teams!
Article "KinoFF is the author of a unique project: ShootShorts" about the results of ShootShorts 2023.
The films are being watched and evaluated by a professional jury, including Marina Hirv, winner of the OBJEKT: shorts 2022 project ("Every Day," 2022); director, animator, and illustrator Alexandra Shadrina ("Shtander, shtander, Katya!", 2023); sound engineer Dmitry Natalevich ("Yoyogi," 2022); editor of the Narva Radio 4 studio and host of "Narody vazhno" on ETV+ Mikhail Komashko; actress Tatiana Manevskaia ("Goodbye Soviet Union", 2020).
Article "KinoFF is the author of a unique project: ShootShorts" about the results of ShootShorts 2023.
Cover: Short film "Verse," directed by Vladislav Popchenko
OBJEKT: shorts project has finished! The final event and award ceremony took place in frames of KinoFF Industry Day. The main prizes included screening three best films at Apollo Astri cinema (short films section „Memories of the past“), as well as unique KinoFF NFTs.
1st place: film “Every day” by Marina Hirv
2nd place: “I want to die” by Alex Lev
3rd place: animation film” Virtuality Ontogenesis” by Nadiia Pliamko.
OBJEKT: shorts in numbers:
Eventually all the participants are winners, because they gained new knowledge, skills, and got the chance to share their unique story with others.
For the second time in a row, creative hub OBJEKT (Narva) is holding the filmmaking camp OBJEKT: shorts. People of any age or background, who would like to share their stories through visual art and speak about serious subjects in front of big audiences, are welcome to join.
Camp coordinator Natalia Machenene notes: „It is maybe impossible to learn filmmaking in 1,5 months. But this time is enough to learn the basics and, guided by supervisors, go all the way to making your own short film – from developing the idea to montage“.
The camp offers webinars and workshops from film industry professionals. Among them are: Yulia Idlis (screenwriter for TV-series Fartsa ("Фарца"), co-screenwriter for The X-Files: Deep State mobile game), director German Golub (his short film My Dear Corpses has been awarded with Student Oscar), sound director Dmitri Natalevich (documentary Ott Tänak, narrative films Portugal and Green Cats), lighting designer Andrei Kulpin (narrative films Estonian Funeral, Kratt, Minsk), operator Aleksei Kulikov (short film I Loved, documentary On Silver Heels), montage specialist Yaroslav Ziko (short film I Loved, documentary Voices Behind the Hills).
The films will be shown at OBJEKT creative hub in frames of KinoFF festival. The audience will have the chance to discuss films with authors. The best films will be shown on the big screen at Apollo Astri cinema.
Supervisors:
Natalia Machenene, theatre and film producer. Screenwriter for animation and short films. Has directed three films. Her film Victim (2020) was premiered at PÖFF Shorts festival in the Shorts National Competition programme.
Alexandra Shadrina, director, artist, illustrator. Has graduated from studio-school Shar. Is finalizing her diploma project at Baltic Film and Media School. Animation film Coast Warning (2010) has achieved 5 Russian and 7 international awards.
Anita Kremm, director, artist. Has started her MA studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Has studied at Meksvideo studio. Is experimenting with different video formats. Short films Habit and Daysteps („Päeva sammud“) have achieved success at international film festivals.
Filmmaking camp OBJEKT: shorts is organized by Narva creative hub OBJEKT with support from Integration Foundation and Viru Film Fund.