Heleen Gerritsen

Heleen Gerritsen is the Artistic Director of Deutsche Kinemathek.

Heleen Gerritsen participated in “Greatest” Short Films of All Time 2025, a first-ever poll of its kind as a collective love letter to the art of short-form moving image. yanco and Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, in collaboration with Talking Shorts, invited filmmakers, curators, distributors, critics, and scholars worldwide to nominate 10 audiovisual works under sixty minutes that they personally consider the “greatest” of all time. This was Heleen Gerritsen’s submission:

This is a great idea! I made a weird little list, which could have been much, much longer...

— Heleen Gerritsen

Movie	Original Title	Director	Country	Year
Wintergartenprogramm	Max Skladanowsky	Germany	1895	8’
The compilation is still fascinating and mesmerising—the original "bioscope" programme—130 years old
Regen Rain	Joris Ivens , Manus Franken	The Netherlands	1929	16’
I like Ivens' political films too, especially Indonesia Calling, but Regen is very poetic and pure. Esthetics and poetry remained important for Ivens throughout his career, even during his worst maoist times.
I Like Life a Lot Nekem az élet teccik nagyon	Kati Macskássy	Hungary	1977	9’
A brilliant animation film codirected by Kati Macskássy (daughter of the famous Gyula, one of Hungary's most prominent animation filmmakers) and a group of Roma children. Their drawings and stories make up the film which was certainly revolutionary at its time in communist Hungary.
Farewell, Little Island! Isten veled, kis sziget!	Sándor Reisenbüchler	Hungary	1986	12’
The esthetics (drawing heavily on Hungarian/Transsilvanian folk art), the soundtrack and the dramaturgy are all equally impressive in this animated social-critical eco-drama by Grandmaster Reisenbüchler. (I love all of his films)
Dimensions of Dialogue Možnosti dialogu	Jan Švankmajer	Czechoslovakia	1983	12’
I could have mentioned Virile Games, Food or Jabberwalky here as well. I love Svankmajer! This ode to Archimboldo about the human (in)ability to communicate is a bit of everything: smart, funny, disgusting, creative, insane...
Chat écoutant de la musique Cat Listening to Music	Chris Marker	France	1988	3’
La Jetée is great, Sans Soleil is too long for this list. The cat film is simply the most touching, imo.
The Seasons Տարվա եղանակները	Artavazd Peleshian	Soviet Union	1975	29’
I like all of Pelechan's films - especially also Nash Vek (Our Century) about human hubris and crashing airplanes. But Seasons of the Year shows humans and nature in their perfect form.
Plastic Semiotic	Radu Jude	Romania	2021	22’
An un-animated object film reflecting about the various stages of life. With Radu's usual dark sense of humor and various literary quotes.
Grandmamauntsistercat	Zuza Banasińska	Poland, The Netherlands	2024	23’
A collage made out of archival educational and propaganda films from communist Poland, turning gender norms and family relations on their head.
Bow Tie Duty for Squareheads Fliegenpflicht für Quadratköpfe	Stephan Flint-Müller	Germany	2004	13’
I moved to Berlin in 2003 and whenever I miss that time and place, I watch Bow Tie Duty for Squareheads. It's a little low-budget ode to the creativity of the anarchists and slackers of Germany's capital city.