Wismar/ Pilsen (Czech Republic) - On Thursday, 3rd November 2022, student Rebecca Osterberg from the Communication Design and Media diploma course at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences, together with student Dora Pejić Bach from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana, will receive the first prize in the "Rising Stars“ category at the CEE Animation Forum in Pilsen. The award went to their film project with the working title "The Chickens Calling". „For the first time in the history of the CEE Animation Forum," said the jury, „there will be two winners who will share the prize. Why? Because we are convinced that these very different projects both stood out and deserve the top recognition. They are both well developed, radically different and most importantly very authentic and doable. We are so looking forward to seeing these films completed.“ Rebecca Osterberg's film, which is in pre-production so far, is supervised by Prof. Britta Wauer.
The film "The Chicken's Calling" is a bullying story among students. According to the script, some of the characters become chickens who aggressively pick on the protagonist and force him to confront the origin of his feelings. Osterberg started the film project in the summer semester of 2022. Her film is to be realised in stop-motion technique with puppet animation. The student has already built individual puppets for the film and exhibited them at the annual DIA exhibition in July 2022. The film is to be realised from the point-of-view perspective, so that it is possible for the viewer to follow the action from the character's point of view, and is intended for the target audience "adults".
In addition to the award categories "Short Film", "TV Series and Specials", "Feature Films" and "Other Films", the category "Rising Stars“ honours student short films with a maximum length of 20 minutes. The CEE Animation Forum took place in Pilsen (Czech Republic) from 2nd to 4th November 2022. A total of 33 projects were presented in the four main competitions, with the jury awarding a total of 14 animated films. The aim of the CEE Animation Forum is to pitch European animation projects and to network within the film industry with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe. Pitching in this context means presenting ideas for films.