Tonight the Transmediale Awards 2008 were announced at the House of World Cultures in Berlin. The international jury awarded three works: Julia Meltzer and David Thorne from the USA receive the first prize (endowed with 4,000 euros). Their video "Not a Matter of If but When" (2006) shows the young Syrian performer Remi Farah recounting conditions of uncertainty and chaos.

The second prize (2,500 euros) goes to UBERMORGEN.COM from Austria with Paolo Cirio and
Alessandro Ludovico from Italy for their joint web project "Amazon Noir - The Big Book Crime" (2006). A third prize (1.500 euros) is awarded to Gordan Savicic from Vienna for his per- formative intervention ‚Constraint City: The Pain of Everyday Life’ (2007). Further works received an honorary mention: Francis Hunger ("The Setun Conspiracy") and Christoph Wachter with Mathias Jud (picidae.net).

The transmediale Vilem Flusser Theory Award is awarded for the first time in order to reflect the growing number of theoretical and critical practice works submitted for the competition.

The winner in 2008 is Simon Yuill from Great Britain with ‘All problems of notation will be solved by the masses: Free Open Form Performance, Free/Libre Open Source Software, and Distributive Practice’ (2008). He receives 1,000 euros. 500 euros each go to the Special Mentions: Bureau d'Etudes (‚End of Secrecy’) and Naeem Mohaiemen ("Fear of a Muslim Planet: Hip-Hop’s Hidden History").

The prize money for both, the transmediale Award 2008 and the Transmediale Vilem Flusser Theory Award is donated by Gravis GmbH Berlin. 1,117 entries from 57 countries were submitted for this year’s competition. The jury was composed of Olga Goriunova (Moscow),
Nat Muller (Rotterdam), Wonil Rhee (Seoul), Mihaela Vasile (Bucharest) and Florian Wust (Berlin).

First Prize: “Proof of Life”
Directed by: Herman Asselberghs (Belgium)

Second Prize: "Still Living"
Directed by: Antoine Schmitt (France)

Third Prize: "Cabinet"
Directed by: Tim Shore (UK)