As we ramp up to the closing date of September 15th, for filmmakers to submit their shorts to be eligible for the 2023 T-Port Lighthouse Selections, we wanted to share a bit more about our esteemed curators – as well as finding out what drives them and where they come from.
In this interview with curator Maike Mia Höhne we delve into what makes her tick, which film she’d watch forever on a loop, and how she found herself as a curator for the likes of Berlinale and Hamburg Kurzfilme Festival…
Hi Maike, would you introduce yourself?
Film and the short form has been my universe for many many years. Starting doing my own films I was also always interested in exchange and presenting other people’s work. So from early 2000 onwards I worked for Berlinale, presenting short films during the festival.
Later I was asked to direct the newly-funded section Berlinale Shorts – which was a pleasure to do.
In 2019 I finished Berlinale and took over the Kurzfilm Festival in Hamburg as Artistic Director. It’s been a wonderful challenge and great festival to be part of. Together with my partner we are producing for the German/French TV Channel Arte, it’s a weekly magazine called KURZSCHLUSS– dedicated to the short form only. We are also producing hybrid and documentary formats / films for cinema and stage.
Meanwhile I never forgot my own artistic practice and we are currently producing my second feature-length film- a hybrid fiction on behaviour in bureaucratic and political surroundings.
If you could watch one film forever on a loop – what would it be?
SANS SOLEIL
What do you think a curator’s super power is? (or should be?)
To see the world with very very open eyes and an open heart. Our decisions have an impact on other peoples lives – in curating there is power for change. I like that a lot.
What will you be looking for while selecting Lighthouse films?
Creative, funny, wild, obsessive films.
There are good films and there are great films. What makes a film great?
This is a very personal question – and always depends on mood and moments. I’d say if a film deeply touches me – which is a very personal moment – it is great 😉
Can you name a trope, convention, or other aspect that would immediately turn you off a film?
To turn me off immediately is difficult – still it is about losing yourself and turning a film into something that other people might expect of it, rather than one’s own / personal view.
Could you tell us about how you became a curator / Programmer? What does your career path look like?
I started out at art school inviting people with their works – and I never stopped.
What’s your best piece of advice for filmmakers as they are embarking on their early career?
To really watch not only a lot of movies from yesterday and today but to keep on doing that – watching, reading, getting in contact – with oneself and the other.
We are Seeking the Future of Film – Submit Your Short Today
All films uploaded to T-Port before our deadline of September 15, 2023 will be automatically considered for our T-Port Lighthouse Selections – a curated selection of films picked by leading industry programmers. The T-Port Lighthouse Selections is considered our premium collection and given increased exposure to our network of film professionals.
T-Port films are only accessible to professionals, so your premiere status will not be affected.
Stake your place in the next generation of filmmakers waiting to be discovered for only 15 Euros / year. Find out more on our website and get started with T-Port today. Check out last year’s selected films.
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