for Languages through Lenses
The award ceremony of the video clip competition
"Languages through Lenses", launched in the context of the
European Year of Intercultural dialogue 2008, took place
during the PRIX EUROPA Festival in Berlin on 19 October.
In total, 28 short films in competition were screened in the foyer of the Festival Venue. The five prizes of the jury were given to No Fishing from Estonia by Richard Meitern "The Babel Show" by Stephane Kaas, "De pratglada kossornas park" by Oskar Westerberg, "Language is Music" by Peter Palos and "Smile" by Charles Temujin Doran. The festival public was also allowed to vote their favourite; this Public Choice Award went to No Fishing from Estonia by Richard Meitern.
The Competition was initiated in co-operation with ELIA (European League of Institutes of the Arts) for film students throughout Europe. The final objective in launching this competition was to raise awareness among young European audiences of the benefits of Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity. More then 100 students from ELIA member institutions from the 27 EU Member States plus Norway, Iceland, Turkey and Liechtenstein applied. They were asked to develop an artistic film reflecting Europe’s linguistic diversity and the role played by different languages in intercultural dialogue in Europe.
Below you will find 10 of the videos.
Dawn Hourigan & Hrund Atladdottir: 2020
A time when slang and expressions from around Europe have merged into one language. A train, being a place that is not bound to a specific location and supports this movement of people, is the platform to present this reality in a musical clip. The passengers on the train jointly praise the ultimate beauty of the Kalandor Chucha. Individually they romance her in lyrics sang in this new pidgin.
They unite for the chorus, "Kalandor Chucha, Je hou so mucha" which loosely means "Wonder woman, I love you so much" in a mix of Spanish, French, German and Hungarian. The idea of intercultural dialogue creating a new aesthetic perception is visualised through a collage. The passing landscapes are based on postcards sent across Europe. The people on the train are drawn from photographs taken while "interrail¬ing" through the EU. The producers, Dawn and Hrund, approached various people along route to take part and directed them in movements which were then choreographed into a musical.
Gerrit Rietveld Academy
Amsterdam/ The Netherlands
Oskar Westerberg: Garden of Chatty Cows
What if all animals spoke the same language? They would then be able to understand one
another! Well, what if humans spoke the same language? Wouldn’t it be monotonous,
too? It would be better if they learned each other’s languages. My movie illustrates this
by drawing a parallel between animals and mankind. In the world of animals, diversity
is something obvious. Nobody wants to see a world where all animal languages with the
exception of one have become extinct. At the beginning of the movie a group of different
animals communicate within the same cow language.
But then one of the animals, a sheep, starts to talk in its native tongue. At first, the other
animals are surprised, actually shocked. Eventually they follow the sheep’s example
and soon they rediscover their own native tongues and continue to explore each other’s
languages. The movie ends with all the animals expressing themselves in a wide variety
of animal languages. When leaving them they sound like a zoo.
Konstfack, dep. Of Graphic design & Illustration Stockholm, Sweden
Ewa Górzna: Game
Game is a short and humorous video clip involving various visual techniques. It combines
video footage with several types of animations and a multilingual voiceover. The
first part is an amusing animation based on a sequence of words spoken in various languages
and acts as a counterpart to the final scene where a group of multilingual, young
people play a crossword game together.
The final scene reveals the source of the voiceover and the rules of the game. Surreal
animated elements emerge once again when the object representing the last word appears
in the park, to the great surprise of the players. The main goal of the film is to suggest
that multilingualism can be a source of creativity and entertainment. Playing their
multilingual game together, the young people construct something new and intriguing,
that can symbolise the creative potential of Europe’s linguistic diversity.
Finnish Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki, Finland
Peter Palos: Language is Music
Language is Music is a three minute music video with a little difference. Here the singers
are 1–3 year old kids which represent each of the 27 countries of the European Union.
The kids are wearing nappies with the colours of their individual national flags of the EU
and yellow baby-sized construction hats.
While they sing the song in 23 languages (each baby sings in the appropriate language
to his country) they are playing with blue toys. At the end we reveal that the toys have
formed together to shape a map of Europe. Shots throughout the film show the children
interact and work together to create ‘Europe’.
University of Westminster London, United Kingdom
Sandra Garcia Piñero: Look around yourself and absorb
With my project I wish to show how a person can open up through cultural experiences
and evolve from an empty being into a fulfilled person. This first state of ignorance is
represented by a young girl, static and expressionless, reading a blank book. As she
looks up, she sees words from various languages afloat in the room.
She snaps at the words, swallows them and mutates into a figure from a different cultural
background. In this way she successively assumes seven cultural identities. Finally,
she rises, opens the door and discovers a rich multicultural world outside.
Escola Massana, Centre D’ Art i Disseny Barcelone, Spain
Maayke Schurer: Natural Expressions
How do different languages picture the world? Certain experiences, such as those of the
natural environment and changing weather conditions, are common to us all. Our different
languages, however, are extraordinarily creative in turning these experiences into
vivid metaphors and poetic similes.
This film has taken such expressions and animated them to reveal the wealth of imagery
provided by a multilingual perspective. Behind all of these verbal inventions lies a common
need to give human meaning to the natural world.
Glasgow School of Art United Kingdom
Richard Meitern: No fishing
A poor guy fi shing at the river. He is barefoot, has very basic clothes and a wicker basket
for fi sh. Suddenly his bob float starts to vibrate and the man pulls up a golden fish.
Just after the man unhooks the fish, it starts to speak. The goldfish says proudly that he
is not a common fish, but a goldfish. He makes the man an offer – if the man spares him,
the fish will fulfill any wish the man has. The man is very surprised but instead of saying
yes, he replies “No”. He puts the fish into the basket and takes him home. He lives in a
very basic hovel. In the yard there is a goat eating the grass and three young children
playing. When the man arrives, they are very excited as their father has caught a fish.
A woman is standing in the doorway. She looks at the basket and is very happy. She
takes the basket and brings it inside. The fact that the fish is constantly babbling
doesn’t seem to bother her. Meanwhile the fish keeps talking, promising that he can
fulfill a wish, whatever it is, if they let him back to the river. Finally the fish realises that
maybe the family does not understand him, but at this point it is too late…
University of Tartu Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Charles Temujin Doran: Smile
A Lego man, fluent in all 23 European languages, travels round Europe on its train network; chatting to locals, asking for directions, advice, and generally having a great time, experiencing what Europe has to offer from the privileged condition of being able to express himself in the language of each country.
University College Falmouth, United Kingdom
Stephane Kass: The Babel Show
The European Union is similar to the Tower of Babel. They work on one large construction,
whilst no one speaks the same language. This fi lm shows a concrete version of the
European Union.
Ten men and women from ten diff erent countries are invited to a large studio.
They are not allowed to talk before the start sign and after that only in their native language.
How will they build this tower? How will they communicate with each other?
NFTA, Amsterdam The Netherlands
Joseph Martin: Washed up
Twelve people find themselves washed up on a beach. No clue as to how they got there apart from a strange mechanical cog hanging from their necks. With each one a different nationality and seemingly able to speak only their own language communication seems impossible and the situation soon worsens. A mysterious box is found in which the cogs seem to fit. Only through cooperation will they be able to gather any answers from the object.
