Languages through Lenses 2009
ELIA has issued a call for proposals for short videos (1 or 3 minutes) within the context of the European Commission’s promotion of multilingualism. The competition was organised as a contribution to the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 and takes place during the PRIX EUROPA, the continent’s largest competition for television, radio and the emerging media.
The European Commission's objective in launching this competition is to raise awareness among young European audiences of the benefits of Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity and the opportunities they provide.
We received 122 proposals from students studying at art schools located in 18 European Union member states as well as Norway and Turkey. 15 winning applications were selected and students studying at art schools in the 12 following countries took part in this year’s competition:
Austria, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom.
Here are the 15 selected applications.
01 Voice Print - Austria
Onomatopoeia means the use of words that imitate the sound of what they refer to. Onomatopoeia is an inconspicuous, but nonetheless indispensable part of the language and varies from one language to another. ...
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02 Eat Me! - Estonia
One day an ordinary rabbit finds that he is bored of living in a forest and decides to go and have a proper lunch in a nearby city. The Rabbit is very excited by the idea of becoming a tourist and discovering completely new surroundings. He catches the next bus to the city with the feeling of a perfect day ahead.
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03 Hybridus Linguaflorum - Finland
Languages are like living organisms that are constantly developing. New words are created and different languages influence and shape each other. The idea of the project is based on comparing the formation of languages to the organic matter of a plant. It is a poetic, metaphoric vision of a flower that speaks ...
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04 Once Upon a Time... - Finland
Once upon a time... is a one-minute animated visual poem. In the animation language appears as a part of the storytelling tradition. The meaning of language as a tool of communication and sharing is emphasised. Diversity is seen as a vivid network of myths, stories and tales from different cultures. ...
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05 Awake, You‘re Younger! - France
‘Awake, you’re younger !’ emphasises the active role that old people can play in Europe, despite the fact that they are usually considered unable to cope with the diversity of languages. It also stresses the importance of the cultural heritage embedded in European literature. ...
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06 Horse Race - Hungary
Horse race is a report about a very special horse race; where every jockey and horse comes from a different country belonging to the European Union. None of the jockeys or horses can speak any language other than his mother tongue. ...
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07 The Riddle - Lithuania
A boy wants to invite a girl for a date. He thinks of an original way to do that – words written in different, lesser known European languages, scattered in various places...
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08 Fond’uerope - The Netherlands
The cook looked around his kitchen. It was a normal day, no different from any other day. The cook prepared European style dishes, from Köttbullar to Tzatziki, from Yorkshire pudding to Bortsch. He was known for his creative menus, combining highlights of all the different cooking traditions of Europe. ...
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09 The Erasmus Party - Portugal
Some say love is the universal language. While this may well be true, speaking the same language will definitely speed up the process. ...
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10 The Hole - Portugal
What would lead four people to dig a hole? Would it be a Treasure hunt? An archaeological dig? An interest in flowers? The search for a corpse? ...
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11 Is This Your Language...? - Slovakia
Is this your language? presents the situation when a patient comes to the optician, who changes the lenses on the trial frame, trying to find the right diopter for the patient. The main character of the video is the camera, in the position of the viewer. It is static during the whole video, using only zoom in ...
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12 Colourful Language - Sweden
Languages are full of unknown possibilities that easily rub off on those who speak them. The film Colourful Language is about how special and exciting the languages found in Europe are. Every language has something that makes it very special: words, ways to say something or single letters ...
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13 Worldomino - Turkey
Do letters have a life of their own? In Worldomino, the languages of the world are represented by domino stones, each with a letter on it. And like domino stones, they all touch, and stand and fall together. As the camera zooms out, we see how they form a map of Europe – but some letters ...
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14 Lost for Words - United Kingdom
A backpacker sits by a fire in the woods. He is joined by a number of dolls representing various nations.
One of them begins to tell a story. It is a very typical story, which will be obvious to viewers: A princess, a prince and a monster. Another interrupts in a different language and takes over. ...
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15 /mi’au, my’au/ - United Kingdom
What’s in a word? A dialect? A language? Surely what is being said is more
important than the way it is being said.
It is dawn. A tree is silhouetted in the pinkish morning light and a bird on a branch bursts into song: ...
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