Steinerei

Steinerei is an annual German-language brickfilming festival and competition. It was started by Mathias Mertens who ran it from 2005 to 2010, and has since been run by a different volunteer each year. It is run in official association with BrickBoard. Entrants usually attend the festival in person. It is the longest-running annual event in brickfilming, predating the Twenty-four Hour Animation Contest by a couple of months.

History
The creation of Steinerei was inspired by a thread posted to BrickBoard by Maximilian "Brickfilmer_Mario" Rajczyk on August 30, 2004. He asked if there were any German brickfilming competitions or festivals, which there were not at the time, and this question soon inspired Mathias Mertens. Although he had only been brickfilming for three weeks at his initial time of responding, Mertens had eight years experience organising cultural events and was also well connected in the media. He began making plans for a real-life brickfilming festival to occur in Germany, and by the beginning of 2005 announced that this event would be taking place within the year.

Mertens formally announced "The First German Brickfilm-Festival" on January 10, 2005, and was using the name Steinerei by February. The first Steinerei occurred in May 2005, and Mertens would continue to run the festival annually until 2010.

(Mert stepping down info)

Steinerei 2005
Steinerei 2005, the first Steinerei, was held on the 28th of May at the Zentrum für Medien und Interaktivität in Gießen. Films were grouped into those running less than 4 minutes and those running over 4 minutes. They were judged by a jury and by the audience in the categories of Best Film and Most Promising Director. The jury consisted of FAZ editor and two-time Adolf-Grimme-Preis winner Michael Althen, University of Leipzig media professor and Telepolis journalist Karin Wehn, and Stern editor Sven Stillich. 13 films were screened, many of which had been previously released. Mertens sought out permission to screen many of the pre-exisiting films, so not all films were director-submitted and not all directors were present in person. Physical prizes for the Audience Choice winners were later presented at Steinerei 2007.

 Results  Best Film:
 * Jury Choice: Der Auftrag by Cornelius Koch and Theodor Becker
 * Audience Choice: Totentanz by Steffen Troeger and Andreas Mooslechner

Most Promising Director:
 * Jury Choice: Dirk Boettcher (for Ärger im Teehaus 2005)
 * Audience Choice: "prisac" (for paradise)

List of all films entered:

Steinerei 2006
Steinerei 2006 took place on May 13 at the Kino im Künstlerhaus in Hannover, with 160 seats. It was run in association with Literaturbüro Hannover, and it was the first Steinerei to incorporate a theme, Literaturverfilmung ("Literary Adaptation"). 13 films were submitted to the festival. The awards were simplified from Steinerei 2005, being reduced to one award for Jury Choice and Audience Choice. The jury consisted of Spiegel Online journalist Christian Stöcker and writer Tobias O. Meißner, and either actress Hansi Jochmann or Literaturbüro Hannover head Kathrin Dittmer.

 Results  Jury Choice:
 * Vom Fischer und seiner Frau by Mirko Horstmann

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Vom Fischer und seiner Frau by Mirko Horstmann
 * 2) Gefunden by Steffen Troeger and Sandra Abele

It is unknown if there are further results. Sources only list the first places, and Steffen Troeger reported himself that his film placed second in Audience Choice.

List of all entries:

Also on the entry list is Das verräterische Herz by Felix C., which was expected to be submitted but was not shown at the festival as it was never finished. Also, the film Glück und Traum was not screened at the festival. The film Helden 06 was screened in the intermission during which the jury decided on the winner.

Steinerei 2007
Steinerei 2007 was again held in association with Literaturbüro Hannover at the Kino im Künstlerhaus in Hannover on May 19. The theme was Geflügelte Worte (literally "Winged Words", similar to "Words of Wisdom"). This was inspired by the Words of Wisdom Contest held on Brickfilms.com, and several films made for this contest were used as examples of the theme. The jury consisted of Zeit Wissen chief editor Christoph Drösser, FAZ editor and BildBlog.de founder Stefan Niggemeier and University of Hildesheim professor Volker Wortmann. 19 films were submitted to the festival, including the festival's first entry from outside a German-speaking country, from Dutch brickfilmer Stefan van Zwam, who attended in person.

 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) Der Künstler by Mirko Horstmann
 * 2) Haschisch Kakalake by nichtgedreht
 * 3) Stone-Time by Mario Baumgartner
 * Special Mention: Das Wort by Manuel Wolff

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Haschisch Kakalake by nichtgedreht
 * 2) Stone-Time by Mario Baumgartner
 * 3) Tied:
 * Was wäre wenn...? by "Holgor"
 * Schatzsuche in Mormala by JuKuWe Xanten (students of the Youth Culture Workshop Xanten)

List of entries in both the Jury Prize and Audience Prize competitions: List of entries only in the Audience Prize competition:

Steinerei 2008
Steinerei 2008 was held on the 12th of July in the Audimax of the University of Hildesheim. The theme was Remake, and a variety of different interpretations of this theme were permitted. The jury consisted of University of Film and Television Potsdam-Babelsberg professor Christina Schindler, FOCUS Online editor Michael Stepper, and Die Helden von Bern co-director Florian Plag. 16 films were submitted and around 400 people attended. This was the first Steinerei to include the Brickfilmer Prize, voted on by the entrants.

 Results  Jury Choice:
 * Remake by Mirko Horstmann

Audience Choice:
 * Weltraffer by nichtgedreht

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * Weltraffer by nichtgedreht

List of entries in all three competitions:

List of entries only in the Audience Prize competition:

Another entry, 802.701 by Steffen Troeger and Sandra Abele, was screened but was not eligible for prizes as it was 12:30 long while the contest had a time limit of 6:30. Troeger and Abele had initially thought to submit one half of the film each as separate entries, but this idea was not well received. The organisers liked the film and wished to screen it in full anyway.

Steinerei 2009


 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) Der Fünfte - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 2) 5 Wochen Schnee - Mario Baumgartner
 * 3) Der Sündenhamster und die fünf Kontinente - nichtgedreht and Cornelius Koch

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Der Fünfte - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 2) 5 Wochen Schnee - Mario Baumgartner

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) Alles ist die Noppe - nichtgedreht
 * 2) Der Fünfte - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 3) MIMUS - Steffen Troeger and Sandra Abele

Additionally, the once-off "Prize for Lifetime Achievement" was created to award Austrian brickfilmer Oliver Berger, after he travelled more than 750 kilometres to attend the festival.

List of entries in all three competitions:

List of entries only in the Audience Prize competition:

Steinerei 2010


 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) Alpenglühen - Dirk Boettcher
 * 2) Was siehst du? - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 3) Objektivation - Cornelius Koch, Sebastian Ladwig, Julian Mitz and Jan-Felix Wuttig

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Was siehst du? - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 2) Herr Schmitzke und das Glück - nichtgedreht and Joscha Denzel
 * 3) Alpenglühen - Dirk Boettcher

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) Zombie Bank - Steffen Troeger, Sandra Abele, and nichtgedreht
 * 2) Was siehst du? - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 3) Tied:
 * Trautes Heim, Glück allein - Anna Benz
 * Auf der Suche nach Glück - Mario Baumgartner

List of all entries:

Steinerei 2011


 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) The Librarian - "Legoander"
 * 2) Das Chamäleon - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 3) Brickcity Bright Lights - Dirk Boettcher

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Das Chamäleon - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 2) Brickcity Bright Lights - Dirk Boettcher
 * 3) Eiskalt - Markus Engel

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) Das Chamäleon - Michael Wolling and Max Zachner
 * 2) Brickcity Bright Lights - Dirk Boettcher
 * 3) The Librarian - "Legoander"

List of all entries:

Steinerei 2012


 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) A Future for All - "Legoander"
 * 2) Perfekt? - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 3) Kalkuliertes Risiko - Markus Engel

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Perfekt? - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Wer lenkt Dich ? - "ZweiStein"
 * 3) A Future for All - "Legoander"

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) A Future for All - "Legoander"
 * 2) Kalkuliertes Risiko - Markus Engel
 * 3) Wer lenkt Dich ? - "ZweiStein"

List of entries in all three competitions:

List of entries only in the Audience Prize competition:

Steinerei 2013


 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) Der Tag der Sonne - nichtgedreht
 * 2) Realität? - "ZweiStein"
 * 3) MEIER - Mario Baumgartner and Steffen Troeger

Audience Choice:
 * 1) (K)night Times - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Der Tag der Sonne - nichtgedreht
 * 3) Der Knusperverstärker - Dirk Boettcher

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) (K)night Times - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Gewissenskauf - Markus Engel
 * 3) Der Knusperverstärker - Dirk Boettcher

List of entries in all three competitions:

List of entries only in the Audience Prize competition:

Steinerei 2014
Stenerei 2014 was held on the 31st of May in Dortmund. It was run by nichtgedreht. The theme was Zeit ("Time").

 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) Time for $ale - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Immortal - Markus Engel and Dominik Girod
 * 3) UNENDLICH - Steffen Troeger

Audience Choice:
 * 1) Time for $ale - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) UNENDLICH - Steffen Troeger
 * 3) Immortal - Markus Engel and Dominik Girod

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) Immortal - Markus Engel and Dominik Girod
 * 2) Time for $ale - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 3) UNENDLICH - Steffen Troeger

List of entries in all three competitions:

List of entries only in the Audience Prize competition:

Steinerei 2015
Steinerei 2015 was held on May 24 in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria, by Alexander Leitner of Legostudio01 and Andreas Bitzan of A&M Studios. This marked the first time a Steinerei had been held outside Germany. The theme was Licht und Schatten ("Light and Shadow").

 Results  Jury Choice:
 * 1) A Sunny Job - Dirk Boettcher
 * 2) Der Wrapper - Stefan Müller
 * 3) Paragraph - Steffen Troeger and Hendrik Denkhaus

Audience Choice:
 * 1) A Sunny Job - Dirk Boettcher
 * 2) Paragraph - Steffen Troeger and Hendrik Denkhaus
 * 3) Der Wrapper - Stefan Müller

Brickfilmer Choice:
 * 1) Beyond - Markus Engel and Dominik Girod
 * 2) Die Wand - "Twenty-one"
 * 3) A Sunny Job - Dirk Boettcher

List of entries evaluated for prizes:

The following entries were also shown in full because the non-Austrian directors were in attendance (except in the case of Austrian brickfilmer Oliver Berger's film, where it was decided that a film in the long-running Die Megaputzer series deserved to be screened in full at Steinerei):

Only clips of the following remaining entries were shown, but the films were included in full on the DVD:

Steinerei 2016
Steinerei 2016 was hosted by Steffen Troeger in Stuttgart, Germany on the 4th of June. The theme was Absurd.

 Results  Major Categories:

Jury Prize:
 * 1) Die Story meines Lebens - Dirk Boettcher
 * 2) Deine Mudder - Tobias Hucker and Sebastian Geiß-Polnau
 * 3) Seleukia – Stop-Motion AG Edith-Stein-Schule Erfurt

Brickfilmer Prize:
 * 1) Endangered - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Reformationstag - Piet Wenzel
 * 3) Die Story meines Lebens - Dirk Boettcher

Audience Prize:
 * 1) Endangered - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Reunion - Markus Engel and Dominik Girod
 * 3) Guten Abend - "ParadiseBricks"

Minor Categories:

List of entries in all competitions:

List of entries not in the Jury Prize competition:

Steinerei 2017
Steinerei 2017 was hosted by Stefan Müller in Kaiserslautern on May 27. The theme was Es war einmal... ("Once upon a time...").

 Results  Major Categories:

Jury Prize:
 * 1) Ich glaube, er kommt - Sebastian Geiß-Polnau and Tobias Hucker
 * 2) Der Wolf im Knusperhäuschen – Dirk Boettcher
 * 3) Insight - LEGO-AG Edith Stein Schule Erfurt

Brickfilmer Prize:
 * 1) Roll - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Ich glaube, er kommt - Sebastian Geiß-Polnau and Tobias Hucker
 * 3) Der Wolf im Knusperhäuschen – Dirk Boettcher

Audience Prize:
 * 1) Der Wolf im Knusperhäuschen - Dirk Boettcher
 * 2) Ich glaube, er kommt - Sebastian Geiß-Polnau and Tobias Hucker
 * 3) Roll - A&M Studios and Legostudio01

List of entries in all three competitions:

List of entries not in the Jury Prize competition:

Steinerei 2018
Steinerei 2018 was hosted by Dirk Boettcher in Hamburg. It took place on the 19th of May in the Metropolis Kino. The theme was Einfach heldenhaft! ("Simply heroic!").

 Results  Jury Prize:
 * 1) Heldenhaft - Sebastian Geiß-Polnau and Tobias Hucker
 * 2) #Weltheld – Stefan Müller
 * 3) Quest for Life - Silent Frames

A special prize was also given by the jury to Keep Talking by Steffen Troeger.

Brickfilmer Prize:
 * 1) Mord in der Manege - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 2) Quest for Life - Silent Frames
 * 3) Heldenhaft – Sebastian Geiß-Polnau and Tobias Hucker

Audience Prize: List of entries in all three competitions:
 * 1) Heldenhaft - Sebastian Geiß-Polnau and Tobias Hucker
 * 2) Mord in der Manege - A&M Studios and Legostudio01
 * 3) Quest for Life - Silent Frames

List of entries not in the Jury Prize competition:

Steinerei 2019
Steinerei 2019 was hosted by Torben Hansen in Husum. It took place on the 8th of June in the Kino Center Husum. The theme was Butter bei die Fische ("Butter with the fish"; similar in meaning to "Cut to the chase"). It received 21 entries.

 Results 

List of pre-determined top 12 entries that were shown in full at the event, in screening order:

Further entries screened in full due to being nominated for Best Film by a Newcomer:

Remaining entries:

Steinerei 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Steinerei 2020 took place exclusively as an online livestream. It was hosted by Rainer Storck and Hans Präßler on the 13th of June, and received 17 entries. The theme was Symmetry. All entries were screened in full.

 Results 

List of entries in screening order:

Steinerei 2021
Once again, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Steinerei 2021 took place exclusively as an online livestream, with the intention for this to be the final such case. It was hosted by Philipp Schneider on the 23rd of May, and received 17 entries. The theme was Secret.

 Results 

List of entries in screening order:

Steinerei 2022
Steinerei 2022 was the first Steinerei since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to return to being a real-life event. It was hosted by Jannis Osterburg and took place in Braunschweig (Brunswick) on May 28. The theme was Unendliche weiten ("Endless Expanse"). The festival and theme were announced on July 5, 2021. It received 20 total entries. The top 13 entries were pre-determined and were screened first with each followed by remarks by all of the jury members. The remaining 7 entries were also all able to be screened in full. The Jury consisted of Daniela Heinicke (sociologist, media scientist, team assistant and film mediator at the Braunschweig International Film Festival), Noah Hensler (student of scenic arts at the University of Hildesheim), and Marlen "Grimmona" Krull (brickfilmer, LEGO Masters Germany contestant, and Steinerei 2020 prize winner).

 Results  Winners and other nominees:

List of entries in screening order:

Steinerei 2023
Steinerei 2023 was hosted by Rainer Storck and took place at the Scala Cinema in Leverkusen, Germany, on June 10, 2023. The theme was "Wahre Größe" ("True Greatness"/"True Size").

 Results  Winners and other nominees:

List of entries in screening order:

Steinerei 2024
Steinerei 2024 will be hosted by Oliver Berger and will take place at Moviemento in Linz, Austria, on June 8, 2024. The theme is "Verbundenheit".