Between today and tomorrow

‘Campus Future’ – that was the theme of this year’s ‘Spontan getan’ short film competition. Eleven diverse, creative entries offered an insight into the students’ ideas and visions at their premiere at the Casablanca.

Shoot, edit and submit in less than 57 hours – that is the concept behind the “Spontan getan!” short film competition. Since 2021, it has been organised by the Studierendenwerk Oldenburg, the AStA and the Gegenlicht University Cinema, in collaboration with various project partners – based on a concept from the Oldenburg short film festival Zwergwerk. In its anniversary year, the university was a co-organiser for the first time.
It was not until Friday afternoon of the competition weekend at the end of April that the registered teams were informed of this year’s theme by email: Campus Future. An additional challenge was to incorporate three elements – a rucksack, the number 50 and new paths – into the film, which was not allowed to be longer than five minutes.

Something all participants could look forward to: a premiere evening at the Casablanca Cinema, hosted by Jürgen Boese, Head of the Student Services’ Cultural Office, and Arne Goerlitz, Cultural Officer of the AStA. Here it became clear just how creative, diverse and, at times, technically highly skilled the students were in meeting the competition’s requirements. The tone of the films ranged from entertaining to cynical, and from optimistic to dystopian. What became clear from the overall programme was that taking a positive view of the future can be difficult given the challenges of the present.

However, a journey into the past can offer new perspectives: the collective 13AB, comprising Eliza Heying, Jule Winnes, Sarah Fittje-Deditius and Joshua Stolle, impressed the jury with their experimental entry “Das Manifest”. In it, the students of cultural and social sciences explore the idea and the aspirations behind the establishment of new universities. What particularly impressed the jury – Petra Löffler, Professor of Theory and History of Contemporary Media, Antonia Schepers from the university cinema Gegenlicht, and Nele Claus, the university’s social media manager – was: the film’s aesthetic, which combines various film techniques – such as stop-motion and futuristic animations – with fragmentary sound snippets and textual elements, thereby offering scope for diverse interpretations and a critical engagement with the history and future of the university.