New Poster: „Watch Green Screen Flourish“

ECKERNFÖRDE One photograph was convincing at first sight: a giraffe with a bush in place of its head – definitely an eyecatcher! But four hours of intense debate left the jury's heads spinning, and in the end a different entry came out on top. The new poster for the 10th Green Screen Festival from September 14th to 18th features a film reel unwinding to produce a jungle.
The International Wildlife Film Festival had initiated a poster competition in search of a motif to head the advertising material for the anniversary festival. In the beginning, participation was low: a few weeks into the contest, only ten drafts had arrived at our office. Shortly before the deadline however, our mailbox was bulging. „A total of 574 entries from 71 countries was submitted“, says Antje Spitzbarth, who was in charge of running the competition. „Most of the entries came from Germany, Russia and China“. By whatever means the participants came to know about the contest – it proves that the festival can boast an international reputation.
Dmtry Timofeichev is the winner from Moscow, who was awarded 1200 Euros for his poster. Whether he is a filmmaker or a graphic designer, Antje Spitzbarth does not know. „Students have participated, even entire school classes, and filmmakers as well as designers“, she says. „Their ages vary between 13 and 68 years. And one or the other 14-year-old has produced a better draft than some distinguished college professor.“
From the whole range of  entries, Antje Spitzbarth and festival director Gerald Grote selected the top 107 submissions. Then the other jury members joined in: the heads of  the culture depart-ment at two newspapers: Martin Schulte (Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag sh:z) and Konrad Bockemühl (Kieler Nachrichten) as well as Claudia Höhne, who is the manager of the advertising agency „Ideenwerft“ in Kiel. Together, the five of them agreed upon 13 of the best posters – including one local submission from Eckernförde by Vera Braesecke-Kaul and Hilmar Kaul. In the end three contestants remained – the bush-headed giraffe was ruled out. Everybody praised the motif, but the photographic quality was insufficient, image composition was unsatisfactory and the lettering in the wrong position. „If we had called the competitor and asked him to change all that, it would have been unfair towards all others“, says Antje Spitzbarth. „We couln't have done that.“ Luckily, there were many other very good ideas, such as a ladybug whose shards turn out to be a film reel, or the picture of a lawn with a pair of sneakers, which would surely appeal to a young audience. The winning illustration „wonderfully symbolises the festival's central idea“, Martin Schulte explains his decision, while Gerald Grote puns on the „blooming jungle“ and „fertile imagination“: „Watch Green Screen Flourish“.
A large-sized poster will be put up on July 4th at Eckernfördes Lornsenplatz intersection and the motif will be on the cover of the programme booklet. In order to acknowledge the other projects too, they will be exhibited on May 14th and 15th at the artists' house Künstlerhaus on Ottestraße.

Arne Peters