This year, for the second time in history, there is a shortlist for the German Short Film Award (Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis). Two juries have selected the best entries from all the films proposed by the German film associations and institutions. The feature film jury selected its shortlist from 121 submitted films. DEAD PERIOD, the short film directed by João Pedro Prado and produced by Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in cooperation with University of North Carolina School of the Arts, is one of five works selected for the category “fiction up to 10 minutes.”
In DEAD PERIOD, lifelong friends Caleb, an African American, and Duarte, a Latino, discover they're vying for the same college basketball scholarship. Their bond fractures as they face off, reflecting the plight of Dreamers – immigrants raised with uncertain legal status – in the contemporary U.S. American society. It stars Jason Sanchez as Duarte and Antony Littlepage-Buggs as Caleb.
The announcement was made public by the German Ministry of Culture. DEAD PERIOD will have its premiere in November 2024 at the youth section of the 38th Braunschweig International Film Festival.