Bitfilm, held in Hamburg, Germany, is the international festival for digital film and it attracts some very creative entries. Unless otherwise noted, all images ©Tom Bland/Bitfilm Festival 2006.

I didn't really know what to expect when I was invited to visit Bitfilm in Hamburg, Germany, early this month. I'd have to say it was an interesting experience. Bitfilm is the international festival for digital film and it attracts some very creative entries. There are sponsored awards in the following categories:

• The T-Com 3D Space Award -- Anything filmed all or partly with 3D animation technology.

• The MTV Flash Animation Award -- Animations made using Adobe Flash technology.

• The Nokia Micromovie Award -- Short movies created specifically for the micro-screen

• Adobe's FX Mix Award -- Digitally composed hybrid productions which mix various techniques

• Hamburg's Machinima Award -- Animation made in realtime using game technology

• There's also a Grand Prix Digital TV award for the big boys -- Animation and vfx in major motion pictures

The winners in each category were picked via a unique virus vote. It worked this way: all of the finalists were posted on the Bitfilm webpage and viewed by thousands of people who voted. In addition, voters sent links to their favorites to friends. Eventually, more than 30,000 votes were cast. I thought this was a pretty bogus and statistically unsound way to select winners. But in the end, the winners were exactly the ones I voted for. So there must be something valid to it... at least from my perspective. For pure inspiration, I recommend that you got to Bitfilm's site and play the winners.

Why Go?
Consider the setting: Europe can be beautiful in the fall, but I expected Hamburg, up near the North Sea, to be cold and gloomy. I left Aspen in the snow and arrived to see trees with green leaves just starting to turn. It was nice, long sleeve shirt weather. Over the course of my stay, we had a few cool storms and a six-foot storm surge in the harbor. What made it so cool is that I was on a tour boat when it came in. Ride 'em cowboy.

I have to tell you that Hamburg was a surprising and charming city. Called the Venice of the North, it has hundreds of canals and bridges with ancient and modern buildings reaching right down into the water. It has some of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at, and the people virtually everywhere were warm and helpful. Even with the lousy exchange rate, I found Hamburg to be reasonably priced as well. So a special trip to next year's Bitfilm will be fun from many angles.

Mandarin Kasino is Bitfilm's main venue.

Bitfilm is located smack in the middle of the Reeperbahn, heart of St. Pauli's famous red light district. You might wonder what to make of that, and you almost have to be there to get it. First, this red light district is legitimate, and runs according to rules. It's not crawling with hookers. They have specific locations to ply their trade, and they don't bother you if you don't walk down their side of the street. Second, the Reeperbahn is a major center of Hamburg's lively nightlife, with the musical Mama Mia! just down the street from the main Bitfilm venue, Mandarin Kasino. It's considered a fun family destination. On top of that, Hamburg's famous Winterdom, Europe's largest family fun fair was held right around the corner. It is like the biggest county fair in the world, with loads of amazing beer and a mind-boggling array of foods. OK, that's where it is, now more about what Bitfilm is.

What is Bitfilm?
Bitfilm is subsidized and the price of admission is an eerie 9-12 euros depending on the days you pick. It's an intimate affair. Unlike Stuttgart's massive fmx, Bitfilm, it is held in small venues where you might be sitting on comfy couches listening to a presentation with 30-40 others. Better yet, you'll likely be sipping a nice wine or gulping a local Alterwasser. That's Hamburg's version of the Radler or lemon-lime soda and light German beer... very refreshing. This comfortable atmosphere is very conducive to good networking. The audience always gets a few minutes to interact with the presenters with questions and comments. Half the time people in the audience simply interrupted the speaker, asking for clarification. So some presentations were a lot like give and take dialogs.

Unfortunately, some of the presenters would go overtime and only be halfway through their presentations. That limited the regular question sessions. Hopefully, Bitfilm will find ways to deal with this as it matures. Bitfilm presentations are hard to describe. The most ludicrous one came from a French group who did a detailed presentation on how to hack your Game Boy to make music. I failed to see the "why" of it. It was a lot of work to come up with pretty much the same sounds, only lower fi, as you can make with ease using the MIDI card on nearly any computer.