FILMFEST DRESDEN - Fans stiften Preis

FILMFEST DRESDEN is an international short film festival which has been held since 1989 and is celebrating its 26th edition this year. It is dedicated to short film in all its forms and genres, and the festival has developed into one of the most important of its kind in Germany and Europe. The main focus of the six-day event is its International and National Competitions. Animated and short fiction films up to a maximum of 30 minutes compete here for the coveted Golden Horsemen prizes.
A brief overview... It all works like this: Taking the more than 2,000 films submitted to the festival, a 10-person viewing and selection committee first nominate the best films for the festival. The juries, consisting of well-known film scene personalities, then decide which of the nominations win the prizes on 19 April 2014.
What this here is about exactly: In order to finance one of the main prizes, we need YOUR combined strength as film fans and cineastes, by your rescuing the "Golden Horseman Animated Film Award" in the International Competition. In order to do so and facilitate the production of new film projects from the winning filmmaker, we require a cool €7,500 to be able to award the prize.

The aim is to achieve alternative financing for the "Golden Horseman Animated Film Award". As it has not proven possible to find a new prize sponsor for this award despite our persistent efforts and the tempting rewards on offer, this is our last chance to secure the prize outside the usual cultural sources. We are doing so by appealing to committed individuals whose hearts beat for animated film and who are willing and ready to give a filmmaker the opportunity to carry out new film projects.
The target group includes everyone who have a place in their hearts for artists and filmmakers and who would like to help FILMFEST DRESDEN get out of this particular financial jam this year.

Well, perhaps you did not realise it, but behind FILMFEST DRESDEN is quite a small non-profit association which has to find sponsors and public funding for the festival each and every year in order to keep it up and running.
Why should YOU support this project of all things?
Because you are the non-profit beneficiaries of our non-profit organisation!
Because you can, with just a minimal outlay, become a vital part of the overall art and culture scene and have an opportunity to join the big names in the industry regardless of how small you part may be. In this way you have a chance to become involved "behind the scenes" here and to a certain extent view yourselves as FILMFEST DRESDEN partners.
Because an array of exclusive and limited thank-yous are awaiting you as our "small partner", which are never received otherwise by anyone outside of the FILMFEST DRESDEN circle of friends and supporters.
Because you will strengthen the city of Dresden as a cosmopolitan and tolerant cultural metropole doing so, through which you are sending a clear message on a political level as well.

Perhaps a brief explanation is good here: Most of the filmmakers who present their short films at FILMFEST DRESDEN are right at the beginning of their careers. For these artists, short film represents an opportunity to test their ideas, develop their own style and establish themselves on the film market. However animation filmmakers have a difficult position here as it is often quite time consuming and costly to produce an animated film and they frequently take several years to complete. Winning a Golden Horseman can give their creative efforts a sound financial basis and provide the impulse for new projects.
Thus if you become a supporter of the prize, you are creating a platform for supporting up-and-coming animation talents within the culture and arts scene.