Peer Raben Music Award - Competition Screening / Peer Raben Music Award - Wettbewerbsscreening
T
he Best Original Music in a Short Film is awarded with prize money of €1,500. Nominated are 8 exceptional film scores from award-winning festival highlights of the international short film scene, representing a remarkable diversity of musical approaches and storytelling techniques.
The nominated works include prestigious festival winners and critically acclaimed productions that have captivated audiences worldwide. Among them are Mansi Maheshwari's "Bunnyhood," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won third prize in the La Cinéf category before being longlisted for a BIFA in the Best Short Film category, and Yoriko Mizushiri's contemplative "Ordinary Life" (“Futsu no seikatsu”), which won the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Short Films at the 2025 Berlinale.
The nominated films explore profound themes ranging from environmental crisis and identity to tradition, human connection, and existential reflection. From the surreal "Abyssness," where a black hole transforms a farmer's mundane routine, to Lucie Cabon's dystopian "Instincts," set in a future where reproductive rights are criminalized, each work demonstrates the transformative power of music in short-form cinema. Joshua Kantara's "Alarba" brings us into the sacred jungles of Oussouye for an intimate portrait of friendship and tradition, while Jalal Maghout's "As I Was a Tree" offers a poetic exploration of identity and perception. Ferdinand Ehrhardt's "Detlev" presents a darkly comedic character study of isolation and ritual, and the animated "Woodland" follows a magical forest creature's desperate quest to save nature through music.
These compositions represent the cutting edge of contemporary film scoring, where innovative soundscapes don't merely accompany but actively shape narrative meaning.
The nominated guests will present their works, offering insights into their creative processes and the unique challenges of scoring for short film formats.
Moderation: André Feldhaus.
NOMINATED FILMS in the Screening Order
BUNNYHOOD (United Kingdom, 9min)
Music: Marcin Mazurek
Director: Mansi Maheshwari
ALARBA (Germany, 6min)
Music: Philip Domenico Calisto
Director: Joshua Kantara
DETLEV (Germany, 13min)
Music: Clemens Gutjahr
Director: Ferdinand Ehrhardt
AS I WAS A TREE (Germany/Syria, 11min)
Music: Marcus Sander
Director: Jalal Maghout
WOODLAND (Germany, 7min)
Music: Lukas Stipar
Director: Vanessa Chu, Jim Obmann, Emil Pogolski
INSTINCTS (France, 15min)
Music: Louis Chenu
Director: Lucie Cabon
ORDINARY LIFE (FUTSU NO SEIKATSU) (France/Japan, 10min)
Music: Kengo Tokusashi
Director: Mizushiri Yoriko
ABYSSNESS (Germany, 3min)
Music: Victor Ardelean, Jiro Yoshioka
Director: Jakob Arnu, Larissa Dold, Leonie Hecht, Moritz Hoffmann, Maximillian Otto, Theresa Rehe, Jonas Riedinger
With the purchase of a ticket for the screening of the short films nominated for the Peer Raben Music Award at 6:30 PM, you will also gain access to the See the Sound short film programme at 9:00 PM.
