Junges Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg Mo&Friese
by Becky Tan

Hamburg’s fortieth short film (Kurzfilm Festival – KFF) festival was June 4-9, 2024, with eighty-six films shown in fifteen locations around the city. Seven films won first prizes including THE MOON WILL CONTAIN US, I THINK OF SILENCES WHEN I THINK OF YOU, and 3350 KM. There were events and workshops, some already beginning June 2 and ending June 10.

An important part of KFF is the Junges Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg Mo&Friese, affectionately known as the Mo&Friese Kids Festival. It runs in tandem with KFF and is renowned as its one of the few children’s film festivals which feature short films. This was Mo&Friese’s twenty-sixth year, showing films for viewers four-sixteen+ years old. There were twenty-seven films shown as well as many moderated events bringing together audiences, filmmakers, and specialists in their fields for invigorating exchanges. Each year differently themed film workshops are presented for kids and adolescents, e.g., to learn how to moderate a film or to write a script and are aimed at stimulating their creativity. The “High 5!” section is where young filmmakers up to eighteen years old have submitted short films for screening during the festival. There were three juries with members as young as seven years old. The three winners were: the Friese-Award 2024, DAS GEHEIMNIS VERLORENER SOCKEN (THE MYSTERY OF MISSING SOCKS, KADUNUD SOKID) by Oskar Lehemaa; the Mo-Award 2024, THE CREATORS by Madeleine Homan; and the NEON-Award 2024, BUBBLING by Che-ming Chang.

Plan in advance for the next amazing and fun short film festivals in Hamburg to be held June 2-8, 2025.