FOCUS:

Ride the Berlin underground from mid-November through the holiday season, and you will see on an overhead screen some of the cartoon winners and other highlights of the 22nd »Interfilm« — aka Berlin International Short Film Festival (7-12 November 2006). Programmed by founder-director Heinz Hermanns, »Going Underground« is surely one of the best advertising plugs on the festival circuit — indeed, it has become so popular that one can only estimate how many millions view annually the highlights of the Interfilm festival. Now in its sixth year, this subway series works its magic just after the festival has closed as a way of saying »see what you just missed but make a note of it for next year!«

Interfilm 2006 drew an audience of 14,000 for its five-day program of circa 500 films from 48 countries. A festival record was broken when some 4000 films were sent for consideration. Rather astonishing, for this festival manages without much official government support and depends almost entirely on the generosity of two-dozen sponsors and partners, many of whom are often seen sharing in the fun. The secret of the festival’s success lies in the six competitions with separate juries, to which are added a score of sidebars, roundtables, and workshops. More often than not, the six screens at the city’s premier art houses, the Babylon duplex and the Hackesche Höfe multiplex, were packed to the gills with a young crowd. Ditto for the music videos and assorted DVD entries. And you had to get to the Volksbühne venue on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz early to get a seat for »Eject IX — The Long Night of Fall-By-The-Wayside Films,« a popular sidebar now in its ninth season.

Interfilm opened with a salute to Italy’s legendary animation director, Bruno Bozzetto. Honored with a 12-film retrospective at this year’s festival, Bozzetto introduced his Allegro non troppo (1976), his hilarious evergreen spoof of classical music. Other retros honored Czech surrealist artist Jan Svankmajer and Czech animation director Michaela Pavlatova. Programs bore such catching titles as »Quick Flick,« »Love Troubles,« »Staying Alive,« »Ordinary Madness,« »Forever Young,« »Business As Usual,« »Family Affairs,« »Public Intimacies,« »Encounters and Collisions,« »Favela Stories,« »Midnight Movies,« and »The Female View,« among others. Since Interfilm works closely with other international short film festivals — altogether, 18 are listed on the festival website www.interfilm.de — salutes were given to »Classic New York,« »Australia Special,« and »Cortitos« (productions from Spain and Latin America). For animation fans there were the »Best of Anifest 2000-2006« (Czech Republic), »Best of Cartoon d’Or« (awards at European animation festivals), and »Asianima« (animation from Asia). Poetic cinema was highlighted in the »Zebra Poetry Film Award« program, Berlin media artists had their day in the experimental »Flash-Kino« show, and advocates of clips and commercials could enjoy a sixpack from Sweden titled »Four Seasons Traktor.« Heinz Hermanns doesn’t pay much attention to booking »first run« festival entries in his six competitions. Rather, »I look for shorts relatively unknown to the Berlin public, for films that point new directions, for stylistic innovations by talented filmmakers.« Judging from the packed houses, he can also boast of a festival second in importance only to the Berlinale.

Ron Holloway