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FESTIVAL 1995
For 10 years the International Short Film Festival Leuven went by the name of Leuven Kort (‘Leuven Short’) but the very first edition, in 1995, was simply dubbed Kortfilmavond (‘Short Film Night’). Freshly graduated director Jan Bosmans and Johan Van Schaeren, organizer of all sorts of festivals, joined hands to set up a small event where short films from other graduates could be screened. The festival program counted only 13 short films, highlights were short films by Jaco van Dormael (The Eighth Day) and Frank Van Passel (Villa des Roses). Though only a one evening event, the festival managed to attract a sponsor deal, regional media attention and over 450 visitors, a number the festival organizers didn’t dear to dream of. The conclusion was quick and simple: more!
FACTS
Date: December 11th 1995
Visitors: 450
Competition: none
FESTIVAL 1996
For the 2nd edition of Leuven Kort, now a 3 days festival, the non-profit organization Fonk was founded. The festival program counted 15 screenings, work from young filmmakers combined with retrospective programs on more ‘renowned’ directors such as Rudolph Mestdagh. The key elements of the festival’s trademark where already apparent : a consumer-minded selection of films in compilations of maximum 1h30min, screened in optimal technical conditions. Though there was no financial support for the festival, a lot of return was given in kind, mostly from media partners. A first TV ad was produced and backup from popular media like Studio Brussels, the national youth radio, helped to lift short film from the dark, obscure corner where it had been put away so many years.
FACTS
Dates: December 11, 12 and 13th 1996
Visitors: 1 000
Competition: none
FESTIVAL 1997
In 1997 the festival was granted (a modest) government funding which allowed the festival organizers to get a small remuneration for their work. The 4 days festivals was spread over 3 different locations, one of which was the arts centre STUK, that is to this day the centre of the Short Film Festival. A total of 40 compilations was screened, a mix of live-action and animated, old and new Flemish shorts. The winner of the Audience Award, Pieter Van Hees (Left Bank), received a series of production vouchers. Again, the festival attracted a lot of media attention, new sponsors were attracted and audience attendance kept increasing.
FACTS
Dates: December 10, 11, 12 and 13th 1997
Visitors: 2 000
National Competition: Live action Audience Award: Big in Belgium (Pieter Van Hees)
FESTIVAL 1998
As the scale of the festival budget didn’t quite match that of the festival’s program, the organization decided to put things straight: more funding was acquired in 1998, while the number of shorts on the program remained more or the less the same. Nevertheless, the festival was lengthened with by day and the (Flemish) competition now comprised 3 awards. Music videos were screened, which was relatively new at the time and for the first time Walloon films were included in the program. For the first time a festival jury was appointed to award two of the three competition prizes: the Jury Prize and the Prize for the Best Newcomer. Though the festival had many odds in favor, audience attendance fell shorts and the campaign, contrived by a design bureau, were conceived as too artistic and deterred more than attracted audiences.
FACTS
Dates: December 16- 20th 1998
Visitors: 2 350
National Competition: Live action Audience Award: Los Taxios (Lars Damoiseaux), Jury Award: 13 (Gert Embrechts), Award for Best Newcomer: Het Kan Nog Erger (Dennis Nap)
Jury Members: Patrice Toye (BE, director), Jan Temmerman (BE, film journalist), Bart De Pauw (BE, director), Chantal Pattyn (BE, journalist)
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FESTIVAL 1999
The 5th edition of the Short Film Festival can be considered as a tremendous success. An eye-catching campaign, an extended competition, an international selection, live talk shows, open air screenings with live carillon music, extensive media coverage and an infamous jury made 1999 one of the most legendary editions of the festival. The campaign was an idea of the festival organizers and consisted of (local) media celebrities posing with a ‘Leuven Kort’ tattoo on their shoulder. The combination of the familiar faces and the underlying thought of “we support/like short films” hit the mark: the audience attendance almost doubled to 4300 visitors and the posters became media front pages. Competition was extended to animated shorts and music videos, the festival now had 5 prizes to award. The Jury however thought otherwise: judging the quality of the live action competition too poor, they awarded a Special Jury Prize (which they paid for themselves!) to an animated short. The 1999 edition was successful though turbulent in many ways and again, the budget no longer matched the scale of the festival.
FACTS
Dates: November 22-28th 1999
Visitors: 4 300
National Competition:
Live action Audience Award: Black XXX-mas (Pieter Van Hees), Jury Award: Wooww (Fien Troch), Award for Best Newcomer: Zand Erover (Sven Huybrechts) Animated shorts Audience Award: Wachtkamer Blues (Koen Van Mierlo), Special Jury Award: Mort Subite (Jo Goigne) Music Videos Audience Award: I Spy (Pieter Van Hees)
Jury Members: Erik Stockman (BE, film journalist), Jan Verheyen (BE, director), Willem Wallyn (BE, director), Bart De Pauw (BE, director), Luc Joris (BE, film journalist), Patrice Toye (BE, director), Hilde Van Mieghem (BE, actress, director)
FESTIVAL 2000
As the necessary government funds raise wasn’t possible, the festival organizers, still the same two enthusiastic from 6 years ago, decided a ‘normal’ film festival wasn’t an option with the budget at hand. However, they didn’t want to discontinue their ‘Leuven Kort’ and decided on a, at the time revolutionary solution: an online film festival. ‘Leuven Kort Virtueel’ (Virtual Leuven Short) was Belgium’s first full online film festival: all programs could be viewed and rated online, the only ‘real life’ event was the award ceremony. The virtual festival ran for 3 months online, over that period more than 51000 films were viewed. With 21 films selected, each film had about 2500 views and 6000 votes were casted. Though still high maintenance and high cost, it’s no exaggeration to say that the virtual festival was a huge success.
FACTS
Dates: November 1st – February 1st 2001
Visitors: 51 000 online viewers (2 500 viewers per film)
National Competition:
Live action Audience Award: Billet-Doux (Frauke Dierickx), Jury Award: The Thread + Inasmuch (Lieven Van Baelen) Animated shorts Audience Award: Dick Head (Kris Genijn), Jury Award: Pygmalion (Björn Deneve) Music Videos Audience Award: Your Shadow (Walter Hilhorst), Jury Award: When Logics Die (Stephen Dewaele)
Jury Members: Dominic Deruddere (BE, director), Ruben Nollet (BE, film journalist), Barbara Sarafian (BE, actress), Bie Boeykens (BE, director), Stany Crets (BE, director), Freddy Sartor (BE, film journalist)
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