WORLD OF SHORTS a shortfilm magazine published by daazo.com – the european shortfilm centre Short Films in Museums
sarajevo / venice 2013
WOSH by Daazo.com 1
image by Daniel Canogar
CONTENT 4
Sarajevo: who & what to look out for this year
the Biennale and its short ďŹ lms
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12
Venice:
Be Prepared: Pitch Page
and Tips&Tricks how to present your films
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Short Films
in Museums: all you need to know about their symbiosis
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Daazo’s Top Shorts: our favourite picks
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Calendar: workshop agenda and festival panorama
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Your
FIND z CONTEXT text by Dániel Deák, co-founder of Daazo.com
We live in a world where – according to the saying – content is king. This sounds promising for filmmakers, doesn't it? The bad news is that creating content is less exclusive nowadays. You don’t have to be a qualified filmmaker to do it: even 3-year-old kids and 99-year-old grandmas can record something that can be interesting for someone, somewhere. Of course, quality always finds its way. Films will always mean more than video (not only as material, but as an approach too). Your film has to be very well made to find its audience, but that is just the start of everything. The question is: what could be the right direction for the career of a well made short film. Film festivals? The Internet? Or maybe museums? Museums are more than interesting phenomena in the 21st century. In our childhood they used to be boring places with cabinets, shelves, funny smells and fractious old ladies, who strictly intervened as we approached the glass. With a few exceptions we hated museums; we just wanted to see the famous artworks and get out quickly. Today, museums are enormous playgrounds for kids and adults alike. You don't go for the pictures only: you want to enjoy being there. The museum of today is an artwork itself.
Artwork that also creates the context instantly for the artworks in it. That is why we have investigated this topic in the new issue of World of Shorts magazine. We were curious to find out how short films can be exhibited. How the setting modifies the essence of the films and how filmmakers can get prepared for it. We asked many great authors to share their thoughts on these topics. Museum leaders, curators and art historians talk about the aspects of highlighting moving pictures in exhibitions. Besides all that, this is the first issue of World of Shorts which covers two festivals at the same time. This year, we are present in Sarajevo and Venice, focussing on short film related topics and all the programmes which can be relevant for young filmmakers. So there are compilations dealing with the Torino Film Lab, the Sarajevo Talent Campus and the Biennale College Cinema and a lot of useful know-how about pitching and pre-production. All these are garnished with loads of creativity and fun: for instance you can get the points of view of two legendary directors and the portrait of another. Find the games and try to guess who they are! We hope that WOSH serves as the ultimate context for all short film related content and information, just as the best museums are the ultimate context for short films.
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SA RA JE VO The fabulous and quirky Sarajevo Film Festival, one of the most exciting events of the summer in Europe, holds many surprises for filmmakers and cinephiles alike. Discover them on the following pages! Vanja Kaluđerčić, programmer of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s New Current Shorts section, page 5 Map for Sarajevo City of Film, page 8 Talents speak, page 10
A modern and minimal white tent with plush oriental rugs: a perfect symbol for the duality of the city of Sarajevo where East meets West, and tradition merges with the newest trends. This is where we sat down for a Turkish coffee with Vanja Kalud–erc ˇic´ after a panel talk organised by the Sarajevo Talent Campus, to escape the heat at the 2012 edition of the Festival.
“YOU CAN’T SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY” ˇ IC ´– AN INTERVIEW WITH VANJA KALU–DERC PROGRAMMER OF THE SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL’S NEW CURRENT SHORTS SECTION interview by Zsuzsanna Deák and Cristina Grosan illustration by Hollie Chastain
At the panel talk you all agreed that selection is a very subjective business. This is why we would like to hear your personal story. I was really lucky. There are not many positions out there for selectors. I started very early: after two years of studying at university I started working in film distribution. 9 years ago, together with some colleagues from the cinematheque in Ljubljana we established a festival in Slovenia: the Isola Cinema – Kino Otok, a festival dedicated to the cinema of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe since at that time films like that rarely got distributed in a small territory like Slovenia. The idea was to show a small number of films – 25 at the most – but every single director had to come to present their work. It’s a very cinephile-oriented festival that has always been dedicated to auteur cinema. 9 years on, the festival still takes place WOSH by Daazo.com 5
ing, direction, camera, and technique: always something that amazes us – a less conventional type of storytelling. Working alone, you question a lot of things and you make mistakes too. Sometimes I dismiss a film thinking that it is not that good and then I see it in another programme and think, damn, I shouldn’t have done that! Of course, there are a lot of risks when you can’t share the responsibility with anyone else. every year. This year, I was the artistic director of the festival, which was quite a challenge, because I had to balance it with other jobs in Paris and Sarajevo. So, Kino Otok was the first festival I programmed, then in 2004 I was invited to Zagreb to take over the Human Rights Film Festival, which was an altogether new experience but a very informative and exciting one. I did the programming for it for four years and it was a great privilege to have such a position: we have screened a retrospective on Chris Marker, then a programme dedicated to Susan Sontag that centred around films she has written about – it even included using Andy Warhol’s screen tests of Susan Sontag. We even had an animal rights section one year! The way in which we programme each festival is completely different. It depends on the emphasis and the topic of the festival. The selection of the films doesn’t only depend on what you like as a film, but also on the festival, the setting: what fits it most and what the audience is interested in most. How did you get involved with Sarajevo? Initially I was involved in Cinelink, the co-production market, but then I met Philippe Bober, the programmer of the New Currents selection and we started working together. This has been my fifth year. Now I programme the feature selection together with Philippe, and the shorts I do by myself. In the New Currents section, we search for new forms of expression, filmmak6 WOSH by Daazo.com
Do you distinguish between the meaning of “new and current”, or does the context matter? No – All that matters is that it is something we haven’t seen before, something that blows our mind. Or something that has a daring subject – there are some really disturbing films in the current selection containing some harsh, violent scenes. You might be wondering how appropriate it is to show all that but while watching it you realise that it is completely justifiable and in the service of the story. As I mentioned earlier, the approach is less conventional, and as such it is full of risks. However, these filmmakers permanently expand our understanding of cinema often transgressing the canons of conventional filmmaking. Do you think films like these have no place in the official competition sections of festivals? I can’t easily answer this question, however, from my personal experience I can say that each film has to be appropriate in its own suitable context. This is the case with the titles programmed in the New Currents. Sometimes people think they are scandalous and that they don’t belong to festivals – some viewers can get upset and leave. In general, our section has a very loyal and well-established audience, who knows what type of films to expect. How does the public receive the New Current Shorts?
Generally, well – but I have heard booing too! Last year, we screened one title which I knew would cause uproar, but I loved the film so much that I decided I didn’t care. It is a beautiful film that talks very openly about love, God and faith – in a way, it is too expository for some. But this is what New Currents is about; we screen bold films, unburdened with classical practices. Is it a different audience that goes to the official selection and to New Current Shorts? I guess so. I’m sure that cinephiles are thoroughly checking out the entire festival programme, but there is an audience that enjoys and appreciates conventional, traditional storytelling, which in most cases turns out to be a pleasant cinematic experience. For instance, it is wonderful to experience the films in the open-air cinemas in Sarajevo. I personally can’t wait to watch some of the best arthouse movies of the year in such privileged conditions. New Currents demands a certain engagement from the audience, but as I said earlier, during all these years, we have had a very loyal audience. How about your own personal taste? Can you – and do you want to – exclude it when you make your selection? Personal taste is a very important element of the curating process. Besides the film’s obvious excellence and overall quality, there are a few factors which we take into consideration when we select films: the setting, the topic, and the framework in which we work. Take for example New Currents: it’s a framework, where one knows there aren't many conventional films. But personal taste, I think, is a very important element, to me perhaps the most crucial – excluding it would make it very difficult to do the selection, at least when I’m selecting shorts for New Currents. Does it sometimes happen that you dismiss a film first but then it haunts you and you return to it after a while?
Yes – sometimes I put a film aside and go back to it later. Subsequently, I show it to my colleagues and ask for their opinion. It’s great to have the option to work as a team, but it is great to work on your own too. When part of a committee, sometimes you have to give up your favourites because the others don’t like them, but if you work alone, you might select something which you think fits but nobody else does. The downside of working alone is that such practice can bite you back on some occasions. Can you tell us about the Carte Blanche? The idea of the Carte Blanche came when we started a short film platform called Minimarket. For the past couple of years, we’ve been inviting leading film festivals that have distinctive short film selection to showcase their programme in Sarajevo. The programme in which this is done is dubbed Carte Blanche and its curators are given absolute freedom to make their own choices that reflect their artistic direction. So far, we hosted some of the most prominent short film selections, including the selections of the historical Oberhausen and Rotterdam film festivals, the provocative Berlinale or Directors’ Fortnight, and the well-established ClermontFerrand. What is your opinion about distributing films online? Nowadays it is absolutely necessary. We have less and less time – while making DVDs and sending them around is expensive, time consuming and certainly not eco friendly. When it comes to short films, most of the pre-selection I do nowadays happens online. Making your film available online is a different question: it can be password protected before the festival circuit is over, but at a certain point, it is good to make films available to everyone in order to make yourself known to the professionals and the audience.
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See the Sarajevo City of Films on Daazo.com: www.daazo.com/scf/films 3.
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Alena’s journey director: Károly Ujj Mészáros
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Waiting director: Dániel Béres
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Roundabout director: Orsi Nagypál
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Edina director: Nóra Lakos
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Holiday at the seaside director: Cristina Grosan
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Museum of Broken Relationships director: Julia Regina
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Shopping director: Alen Drljevic
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Woman in purple director: Igor Drlja
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Pink River director: Zacharias Mavroeidis
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See you in Sarajevo
10. director: Vanja Svilicˇic´ 1.
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Orange Blanket
12. director: Matija Dabaljuh
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illustration by Katalin Dobos
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Sarajevo Spring director: Nikolina Baric´
Liberation in 26 pictures
13. director: Ivan Ramljak Posthumno
14. director: Cenk Erturk Scenes with Women
15. director: Nikola Ljuca Bodily Function Dane Komljen
16. director:
Morning Prayers
Katarina Stankovic ´, 17. director: Konstantina Kotzamani Something Sweet
18. director: Jelena Gavrilovic
Levan Lomjaria (29, director, Georgia): I think in modern film marketing conditions it is necessary to move towards international perspectives. For example, in a small country like Georgia, the international and regional connections and relationships are extremely important as they may be the only real solution to get things done. The Sarajevo Film Festival, being regionally oriented, aims to foster such useful things. It is very interesting and attractive.
1 Levan
Bella Szederkényi (34, director, Hungary): I think my strength
is that I work in a variety of fields in movie making: I write, design, direct, animate, organise and I even compose. Alongside this I’m a teacher so I share my knowledge with my students, but I also learn from them. Last but not least:
Bella Georgi Krastev (27, screen-
I would like to meet new friends, highly qualified artists and professional partners so that we can exchange cultural, personal writer, Bulgaria):
THE JUST DAYS TALENTSBEFORE SPEAKTHE CAMPUS collected by Anita Libor
Nedim Hadrovic (22, producer, Bosnia and Herzegovina):
Having lived in the Middle East and in third world countries, as well as coming from a country that has seen its fair share of hardship, I would like to become unflinchingly dedicated to creating documentaries and audio-visual pieces about people whose stories would not and cannot ordinarily be told. Ever since high school, I have been passionate about post-production in particular,
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but since graduation, I’ve ventured into directing, conceiving, writing and particularly producing, which while being tough, can be awesome fun.
I keep an eye on possibilities abroad, take part in workshops, go to festivals and apply to different programmes, just to stay fresh! Sara Stanic´ (27, actress,
I wanted to meet people from different cultures and different historical backgrounds, think about and work on the things that we share a common love of – movies and especially acting. Croatia):
and film experiences with filmmakers from other countries. Sometimes it is difficult to be a young filmmaker. I would like to find new artistic directions, a more adequate value system and people without prejudices. I believe there is a general disconnection between talent on the street and how you can get recognised here in Bosnia and in the region. That is why my aim is, especially after I'm done with my masters, to
Nedim Hadrovic:
establish an organisation or collective that will help young talents (of which there are masses of in the region) get connected with the major players in the industry, to help network them and educate them in the media landscape. I can safely say that I have amassed quite a few influential contacts in the media field here in Europe, East Asia and the US. As part of this organization, I would also like to establish courses, workshops and seminars that will help provide a solid foundation for young people who would like to become active in the audio-visual, film and media arts.
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Bella Szederkényi: I'll definitely have some goodies with me so do not hesitate to come to me and ask for a card or a DVD! Who I'd like to meet? Ummmm... an agile producer who I can work with on international co-productions! I have some really good projects in my back pocket...
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I’m in the process of creating a minimalistic, “easy-for-clients-toapproach” portfolio and personal philosophy on a website. As a relentless “people person”, I am always looking forward to meeting individuals, and groups for that matter, who are successful in their own fields and have an equally curious appetite for new challenges. I would like to make contact with financiers and producers who will help back up at least one of my many projects that I have on paper. For example, one project that I would like to pitch at the Talent Campus is a documentary about the Bosnian Jewish community, and the historical cooperation between Jews and Bosnians.
Sara Sara Stanic´: I hope that after the Talent Campus, I will be enriched with a type of knowledge that at the moment I'm not even aware of. Nedim
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Nedim Hadrovic:
Georgi Georgi Krastev: I think that cinema can be something more than a handful of dollars. Mainly I would like to make new friends and exchange and share creative ideas and projects. Film as an art form will always be part of my life and I want to continue working on my ideas and projects. I think that the Talent Campus is a big step towards accomplishing my dreams. Levan Lomjaria: I’m going to burn a few DVDs with my short films on them. I’m taking plans for a possible presentation for a short and a full length feature film project, including a synopsis and some development plans. Naturally, I'm going to rewatch some Leos Carax films to be properly prepared for his lecture. I have always been inspired by people like him and I'm sure it will be a great pleasure to meet him in person.
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VENICE
Short film is an important element at the Biennale’s Orizzonti section, an international competition dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema. Daazo has asked Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival, about the short film programme and the selection process.
ORIZZONTI where “shorts are a full-fledged element of the section’s programming” interview by Zsuzsanna Deák illustration by Hollie Chastain
The Venice Film Festival turns 70 this year – and there is plenty of reason for a joyful celebration at the oldest film festival of the world which always stays young at heart. Short films will play a special role at the 70th Biennale. Flip the page to see how! Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival, page 13 Venezia 70, page 15 Torino Film Lab presents: Salvo, page 16 Biennale College – Cinema, page 18
Film festivals often get a reputation for favouring a specific type of film. It is said that, for example, Cannes is the place for arthouse cinema, classic dramas are big in Locarno, while experimental films do well in Berlin. Would you say that over the years, Venice has developed a taste for a favourite genre or topic? When selecting shorts for Venice, no particular genre or format is preferred over others, even though the majority of films selected over the past two years have been “narrative”. With respect to other festivals, greater attention is perhaps paid to first films or, at any rate, to debuting filmmakers, even though this is not the norm. Tell me about the process of the Orizzonti short film selection. How does it happen? Who is in the selection committee? How many people are there in the selection committee, and how do they work? Just like for feature films, the Venice Film Festival selection process for shorts is conducted by a selection committee with the collaboraWOSH by Daazo.com 13
tion of foreign correspondents, divided into geographical areas. There are six selectors for the Venice Film Festival.
Cou rte
sy l
aB i
– ASAC enezia di V ale n en
Alberto Barbera
Can you give me some statistics? How many films have you received this year, and which countries do they come from? How many hours did you spend selecting the films? What is the average length for shorts? Approximately 1,500 shorts were viewed for the 2013 Festival. The selection process began in February and ended on July 19th. In order to be admitted for selection for the Venice Film Festival, shorts must be no longer than 20 minutes; the average length of those presented is about 16 minutes. Do you make sure that every country is represented equally – do you try to be politically correct, or is it solely the quality that matters? The selection committee’s decision is based on the quality of the film. Nonetheless, in an international festival, a certain balance must be maintained among the geographical areas represented. Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia and Italy, which have a strong tradition in short films, are evenly represented. There was great participation from Latin America, in particular Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, at the 2012 Festival in the short film category, but that has diminished this year in favour of an increase in short films from India and Southeast Asia. 14 WOSH by Daazo.com
Can personal taste be excluded and only objective points be considered in the evaluation in the evaluation of a film? Is objectivity important while selecting the films? Objectivity is fundamental in a selection process. Nevertheless, a committee of selectors is much more efficient when it is composed of people with different empathies and tastes, and this can certainly influence the choice of films. It is up to the director to integrate these tastes for the final selection. Are there other festivals whose selection the Venice selection team are interested in or get inspired by? We pay great attention to the selections of festivals dedicated exclusively to shorts, such as those in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and in Oberhausen, Germany. But we aren’t necessarily inspired by other programming choices. What is the Orizzonti short film selection’s main aim: do you want to launch careers so that your selected short film makers return to the Biennale with their feature films, or do you want to take short films to another level? The objective is to give shorts the same artistic dignity as feature films, and it is no coincidence that the same jury judges all the films in Orizzonti, regardless of their length. Thus, shorts are not relegated to a “reserve,” but are a full-fledged element of the section’s programming. Is there a particular emphasis or focus on any topic or issue this year that can be observed in the submitted films (e.g. any political or human rights issue, or any existential or philosophical point of view) – and does it get reflected in the final selection? We have noticed that many films, regardless of their provenance, centre around stories about children and adolescents. The final selection reflects this focus.
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70
VENEZIA 70 FUTURE RELOADED text by Zsuzsanna Deák
kortfilm // lühifilm // ffilm fer // короткометражный // kratkometražni film // stuttmynd // ريصق مليف// kısa film // film laburra // sfilma // film de scurt metraj // ταινία μικρού μ // cortometraggio // kratki film // צק טרסר// Kurzfilm // rövidfilm // trumpametražis filmas // scannán gearr // film qasir // curta-metragem // краток // korte film // court métrage // short film // cortometraje // lyhytelokuva // krótki film
70 Directors for Venezia 70 “Shorts are a full-fledged element of the section’s programming”, says festival director Alberto Barbera about the Biennale’s Orizzonti (see our interview with him on the previous pages) – but short films will also play a central and highly symbolic role at the Venice Film Festival this year. It is not an everyday experience to hear such names as Bernardo Bertolucci, Paul Schrader, Shekhar Kapur, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Abbas Kiarostami, Monte Hellman or Walter Salles in context of the world of short film. Yet this year, the Venice Film Festival has decided to honour its 70th edition by inviting these very titans, among others, to direct an ultra-short film lasting between 60 and 90 seconds in absolute creative freedom.
These 70 shorts by the 70 auteurs – great maestros, acclaimed directors, and young filmmakers of recognised talent alike – will be screened at the Lido during the Biennale. "Future Reloaded is both a collective movie tribute to the festival and a reflection on the future of cinema," the Biennale – the first film festival in the world to reach the age of 70 – said in a statement. This initiative shows that short films are not merely, as many tend to think, stylistic exercises or first and forgettable steps towards making features – but a film form that has to be recognised as relevant and important by audiences and industry players worldwide. We can hardly wait to watch these 70 shorts and celebrate the past and the future of cinema through them.
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Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia have a great story to tell: Torino Film Lab played an important role in making their first feature film, Salvo. They developed the project within two of the Torino Film Lab’s programmes and also got production funding from the scheme. Salvo won two main awards at the last Cannes Critics Week. There is also a short film connection, because their short film Rita was a preparation for Salvo, and had also a great success in its festival run. We had a friendly chat with Antonio.
AIM YOUR
ARROW
u the
heart of the story
interview by Anita Libor
It’s a very special setup that you direct your films together. Why do you work as a pair? Working together is a decision we made years ago when we started writing scripts. We are both from Palermo in Sicily and we perceive the world in a similar way, in the same perspective. Directing together was just the natural consequence of a process, the culmination of a long journey. When we write, we know that the best things we have ever made come from our endless conversations and from our conflicts. When we direct, it is the opposite, a very harmonious process, partially because we prepare everything together beforehand in a meticulous way, but also involve the director of photography and the actors. At the moment you are busy with your feature film Salvo – am I right in thinking that your short film Rita was in a way preparation for the big thing? Rita is our first short film and it was made when the script of Salvo already existed. 16 WOSH by Daazo.com
We needed to make the short film to prove to ourselves and to the producers that we were able to direct and not only write. Salvo and Rita are two different stories which share key elements: a blind girl called Rita, Palermo and a stranger sneaking into Rita’s house as a plot point. Naturally the making of the short film has had a major influence on our idea of the character of Rita in Salvo’s story too and especially on our choice of the mise en scène of her blindness. While preparing the short film we were flirting with crucial questions: how to stage the point of view of a blind person? How to induce in the spectator an experience of blindness? In our short film the camera is focussed on Rita without reverse angle shots. Rita is under everyone’s gaze: the gaze of others also acts as a controlling element and a form of surveillance. We can’t see what Rita has before her because she can’t either. These experiences were then used in our work for the feature film too.
What made you apply for the Torino Film Lab for two years in a row? What is so special about it? Right from the outset we decided to develop the project in a number of European workshops, so we could come into contact with a broader cultural context than a purely Italian one such as the Berlinale Talent Campus, Ateliers d’Angers, Binger Film Lab and then the Torino Film Lab. This last decision marked a fundamental stage in the project’s artistic life and production prospects. At the Torino Film Lab we worked with Franz Rodenkirchen, the story editor who has accompanied us, in a very sensitive way, throughout the script development process. Also, from the Torino Film Lab we also obtained the first significant film production contribution and we met Antoine de Clermont-Tonnere, one of the film’s co-producers as well as Raphaël Berdugo. Their contributions, alongside the one provided by Arte France Cinema, have turned out to be crucial in enabling the film to be made. It has also been a great chance to meet other filmmakers developing their first or second feature films. We can’t say that there is a community of filmmakers in Italy, we all live in a very lonely and a somewhat hopeless way, because of the difficulties both in Italian cinema nowadays as well as in the whole of Italy in general. The TFL has given us the possibility of being part of a creative community, which is what we really enjoyed. What is the biggest difference between developing a short story and a feature story? It is huge. Developing a short film is like drawing the bow to shoot one single arrow. You must be accurate, fast and aim your arrow at the heart of the story you want to tell. Writing a feature film is like a long sea voyage in a rough sea surrounded by the waves of uncertainty. It is a journey with detours which lead to sometimes even getting lost. These
steps may help you to get to the coveted and distant final harbour. This World of Shorts magazine is distributed in Sarajevo and Venice. Do you have any memories or stories from these film festivals? We are Italian, so the Venice Film Festival means a lot to us, as it is our national cultural treasure. It is so nice to watch films there, not only at the Lido but also in the outdoor screenings organized in the streets and squares of Venice. Such a unique scenario creates unfor-
Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia
gettable memories. As for Sarajevo, we have been there presenting our short film Rita. It had been our first time in Sarajevo, and it is almost impossible not to be impressed by the city and by the terrible stories of the recent war, which is still very vivid in the memories of everyone there. We remember walking in the hills of Sarajevo and watching the city and the river from the distance which are incredibly beautiful. The screenings were full of young people, absolutely passionate about cinema. It is one of those places where you understand that storytelling and filmmaking can be so important and crucial as a life experience.
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TorinoFilmLab Alumni Meeting (5-8 September) will take place in Venice during the prestigious 70th Venice Film Festival and in collaboration with Biennale College – Cinema. WOSH by Daazo.com 17
As a new initiative that started in 2012, the Biennale College – Cinema has the ambitious goal of developing and producing three micro-budget feature films every year, providing lectures and workshops to selected emerging filmmakers and offering them a debut at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. It sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. Daazo talked to Savina Neirotti, Head of Programme at the Biennale College – Cinema.
Memphis
MICRO-BUDGET FILMMA text by Zoltán Aprily
Even though this programme is new for the film festival section, the Biennale has had similar programmes in other fields. “The Biennale College is an initiative of the Venice Biennale also operating in the areas of Dance, Theatre and Music, with the aim of fostering young talents, allowing them to work in contact with masters, tutors and trainers in order to develop “creations”. The primary goal of the Biennale College – Cinema, which is realised in partnership with Gucci, is to supplement the Film Festival with an advanced training workshop for the development and production of micro-budget audio-visual works”, says Savina Neirotti, Head of Programme. As there are 12 selected filmmakers and projects on board, the participants go through a certain kind of natural selection process since only three projects are realised at the end. “The quality of the concept/idea comes first. But also the overall coherence of the project – as you can see in the application, we ask for a lot of supporting material: budget, previous works, audience engagement plan, casting idea, director's vision. These help us understand if the project is well thought out, if there is a plan (that can change during the development process) and how it can be carried out to become a feature.” This 18 WOSH by Daazo.com
Memphis
overall coherence seems very important when talking about micro-budget filmmaking, where both the artistic and production side have to stay on ground to ensure the success. Script and concept development is special and has to take all of this into account while working with personal stories and visions. “The real purpose of a well guided development process is that of bringing the director even closer to his/her project – enforcing the intimacy, strengthening the ties between the director and his/her story. Also, the Biennale College – Cinema works only with teams, composed of the director and the creative producer, making sure that the development and production "journeys"
run in parallel, so that the process of bringing the film to the screen is the most organic possible. By exploring the aesthetics of micro-budget filmmaking and the new integrated models of production, which engage an audience from the outset, each team has the opportunity to fully explore the potential of their project.” After this first year of the programme, three productions will have their premiere at the
Yuri Esposito
KING GETS BOOSTED! Yuri Esposito by Alessio Fava The quiet and satisfying life of the slowest man on earth falls apart when he finds out he will be a father. The Year of June by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit A “digital adaptation” of an anonymous school girl’s year-long Twitter stream. She deconstructs herself into hundreds of fragments and the filmmakers reconstruct them back into an imagined narrative. The result is a fast, funny, and fantastical adventure of a school girl in the city of Bangkok. Memphis by Tim Sutton Establishing its own sense of rhythm and time through an observational eye and an ear for quiet meditation, Memphis follows the transformation of Ezra Jack from beloved soul singer to unravelling ecstatic.
festival. Yuri Esposito by Alessio Fava, Memphis by Tim Sutton and The Year of June by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit. Their stories and concepts are just as complex as any other normal budget feature films but they had to deal with a budget of only €150 000. “The teams selected for the first edition have been handling it extremely well: these teams not only had the budget restrictions, but also less time compared to the teams that will come next. From the beginning, each team has a script consultant and a producer consultant attached to the project, and from the last workshop the teams are constantly supported as they come closer to the final budget”, explains Savina Neirotti, who
The Year of June
adds: “The second edition of the Biennale College – Cinema already incorporates some significant modifications: launching the second call after only six months will allow the teams more time to produce and edit, since the first workshops will start in October (instead of January); also, the teams will benefit of one additional workshop dedicated only to script development.” Even though the programme needs some fine-tuning, it will close a successful first edition with the premieres in Venice. The films will be available online for a while as well.
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Find out more about the Biennale College Cinema at http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/collegecinema/ WOSH by Daazo.com 19
text by Wim Vanacker image by Annamária Heinrich
How would one define a good pitch from the point of view of a producer? In other words, what moves a producer? It would be easy to talk about potential and promise here, but in the end, everybody knows we’re all constantly on the lookout for the next best thing, be it suspense, laughter, violence, hope, heart, nudity, sex, happy endings or anything else that conjures up drama. This we know, therefore a slightly more human 20approach WOSH by Daazo.com is needed.
Pitching could easily be described as an Idol for filmmakers, a gallery of assembled talents on display. It is very contemporary and blends in flawlessly with our consumerist and media ridden society. In the end, the principle is the same, only the audience take a more constructive and less condescending stance. There are no fancy pick up lines and malicious delight here. Yes, the attendees will be crunching numbers instead of popcorn; they’ll be slapping that pitch around like vicious loan sharks, and yes, they’ll be dissecting your story like true neurosurgeons. In the end, they’re human as well and act and react out of sheer intuition. We’re all in the same boat here and we need each other to make this work. There is some truth to the fact that this is show biz where it’s all about razzle-dazzle and appearances. If you look good, and you talk well, people will swallow anything. Suspension of disbelief as they call it. Trust me, honesty and sincerity sells. It is a step into the unknown, both for the scriptwriter as well as for the producer. The only thing they have to hang on to is the pitch and most importantly, the person behind the pitch. It’s a lot like dating if you like and it never harms to take things step by step. Love at first sight and matches made in heaven do exist, but it stays a process one has to respect. Infatuation and initial attraction aside, there’s always going to be a certain amount of uncertainty involved. Is the feeling mutual, is the timing right, is this partner right for us? Whether new to this or getting back out there, nothing is as straightforward as AskMarsVenus.com makes it out to be. Finding common ground and mutual understanding to embark on and commit to an intimate and exclusive pact is a constant work in progress. Don’t expect unconditional love straight away. We think big, but they think of the bigger picture. Rest assured, producers know how to spot a great story when they see one, but they also know
that producing a film is a very long journey that requires the right amount of business acumen and vision, because it’s all about making things happen. The fluctuations and change in the industry are like turbulence, which is sweeping away the weak-hearted and the unsavvy so there is no room for initial hesitation. Pitching might conjure up visions of a snakeoil salesman peddling questionable wares to an unsuspecting public, but it’s the basic foundation of the film business, be it formal or informal. As filmmakers, even if we know that this is the one, this is the film we’ll be remembered for, we’ll still have to impart our passion on others. Every film ever made was made as a result of pitching. The film industry is a people’s business and since people move in mysterious ways, communication, be it verbal or nonverbal, trumps all. Visions are worth fighting for, but do avoid blindly and stubbornly holding on to the written word as we might end up being called names as Norma Desmond did so eloquently in Sunset Boulevard: “A writer? You are, are you? Writing words, words, more words! Well, you'll make a rope of words and strangle this business! With a microphone there to catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor to photograph the red, swollen tongues!” The producers might push the eject button before you know it. Cockiness aside, you’re in this together and only an open and receptive mind finds willing partners. We all have dreams to remember. That is why we are here. As Norma Desmond would put it: “This is our life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!” But so do producers. Let’s leave it up to Scorsese to put everything in perspective: “There’s no such thing as simple. Simple is hard." Ready for your close up Norma?
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WOSH by Daazo.com 21
ENHANCING CREATIVITY test your film ideas at EKRAN! text by Agnieszka Marczewska
In the process of filmmaking the most creative time should be spent during the pre-production stage. It’s the time for testing your ideas and transforming them from paper to the screen, the time for experimenting with casting, the locations, the style of photography, the staging and the ways of working with actors. It’s also the time to confront and discuss the director’s, writer’s, producer’s and DOP’s visions and views on the film which they will make in the future. However, in everyday life the creative members of the venture called film often do not devote enough time and energy to check their ideas concerning the visual style and tone of the film. The truth is that after the pre-production period there is no space for experimenting with casting, locations and the visual style of the film. The EKRAN programme is designed for filmmakers who wish to benefit from the creative time spent in the pre-production stage. EKRAN offers them an opportunity to attend stimulating meetings so that they can work out the common language of their films. It’s based on the unique method of feature film projects’ creative development – linking the script 22 WOSH by Daazo.com
development with visualisation process – that is shooting two crucial scenes from each participant’s script. In the condense form of two 11 day shooting sessions EKRAN offers space and time for testing ideas, experiment as well as committing all the mistakes which can’t be committed later on while shooting the film. This way EKRAN helps find the right tone for the film and develops the skill of storytelling with images. The creative team (consisting of the director, screenwriter, producer and DOP) are offered a choice of locations, actors and set design within the usual logistical and financial constraints. In the second session, participants invite their actors from their own country and shoot the scene in their national language. The process of the sessions is literally the journey “from paper to the screen”. We start with the analysis of the scene which is followed up by the re-write, organising casting, rehearsals, storyboard sessions, shooting, editing, and finally screening and analysing the finished scene. EKRAN supports each step of pre-production, production and post-production with the expertise of directors-tutors (amongst
EKRAN, along with many other scriptwriting and production focused programmes is supported by MEDIA, but it is the only one concentrated on directing skills. Up until 2013, nine editions of the programme have been conducted. Each edition of EKRAN involves ca. 60 actors, 15 cinematographers, 3 production managers, 7 editors, as
More detailed information is available on www.ekran.info.pl
well as sound editors, set designers, casting directors, propmasters, make-up artists and researchers. Altogether we produce 18 scenes, each lasting 3–5 min – this experience can only be compared to producing a feature film.
photos by Magda Chołyst
them: Andrzej Wajda, Volker Schlöndorff, Wojciech Marczewski, Udayan Prasad, Ildikó Enyedi, Paweł Pawlikowski, Agnieszka Holland and others). This experience of creative development often influences participants’ future professional lives.
EKRAN takes place in Warsaw, Poland, in Wajda Studio and Wajda School. It was created by Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Marczewski as a meeting ground for both Eastern and Western European film as well as a place where traditional and modern film practice can co-exist. Therefore starting the European training programme focused on directing skills and cooperation within the creative team made up of the director, writer, producer and DOP, was a natural consequence of their mission. Thanks to MEDIA and European Partners (FOCAL, Austrian Film Institute, Croatian Audiovisual Center, Polish Film Institute, Visegrad Fund, AGORA Foundation, Polish Filmmakers Association) you can participate in EKRAN for free.
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EKRAN opens the call for applications in the autumn of each year. In 2013 the deadline is December 2nd. WOSH by Daazo.com 23
BALTIC SHORTS ready to take on Europe
written by Laurence Boyce illustration by Eszter Nyári
The forthcoming Baltic Pitching Forum aims to increase the visibility of Baltic filmmakers amongst their European colleagues. Shorts from the Baltic countries – consisting of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have had a burgeoning reputation over the past few years. While historically Baltic films have always been 24 WOSH by Daazo.com
popular – such as animation from Estonia or the work of experimental filmmakers such as Jonas Mekas from Lithuania – there has been a new generation of emerging films and filmmakers slowly making their mark on the scene with increasing visibility for students from the likes of the Baltic Film and Media School and independent filmmakers beginning to make an impact on the festival circuit. Between 11th and 12th October 2013, the Baltic Pitching Forum will provide a focus for some of the projects and talented filmmakers currently
coming out of the region. The forum will be a special industry event which will help short film projects from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia gain international recognition in the European market place while also promoting the region and its filmmakers. Organised by the Lithuanian Short Film Agency “Lithuanian Shorts” in association with the Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS in Latvia and the Student and Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers in Estonia, the Baltic Pitching Forum will also aim to set up a place for short film makers situated in the Baltic countries to present their new projects whilst sharing common issues and knowledge, exchanging experiences and good practices, developing artistic ideas and making new contacts. The event will also encourage them to attract active European producers, TV commissioners, film fund representatives, VoD and festival programmers and distributors. “Before the Baltic Pitching Forum there were no specific events or platforms for the presentation of Baltic short films or filmmakers’ ideas,” explains Rimantė Daugėlaitė, the head of Vilnius Film Shorts that will be hosting the event. “It’s essential to create a space for filmmakers and industry professionals so that they can distribute, collaborate, produce and, hopefully, invest. The forum will consist of one-day pitching training and one-day pitching sessions of selected projects alongside one-to-one meetings with film professionals from all over Europe. The first day of the Forum will be dedicated to training regarding successful pitching and how to prepare for it. The second day of the Forum will be taken up with the presentation of the selected projects in front of an international panel consisting of 7 members. After the presentation, one-on-one meet-
ings between invited film professionals and participants will take place. The Baltic Pitching Forum will be open to Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian based film directors and/or producers who have finished at least one short film project and are now developing a new project which is a fiction short film no longer than 30 min and which will be targeted at an international audience. 9 short film projects will be selected by the selection committee – 3 projects per country – and up to 2 representatives of each selected project (producer or/and director) will be invited to take part in the training and pitching sessions held in Vilnius. Entrants who were not so successful this time round can still attend the sessions as observers. The Best Short Film Project will get the opportunity to travel to the European Short Film Co-production Forum Euro Connection, which will be part of the 39th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and held between 5th and 6th February 2014. “One of the goals of the Forum is to facilitate interaction, cooperation and co-production between short film makers from the Baltics and the rest of Europe,” says Daugėlaitė. “There’s plenty of talent in the region and it will be the job of the Forum to ensure that it gets the recognition that it deserves. I’m looking forward to seeing the submitted projects over the coming months and getting the opportunity to help show what those filmmakers in the Baltic region really can do.”
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The Baltic Pitching Forum, supported by the Nordic Culture Point, will be held on 11–12th October, 2013 during the 8th International Short Film Festival “Vilnius Film Shorts” in Vilnius, Lithuania. The application deadline is 6th September and the application criteria and information can be found at www.filmshorts.lt/Baltic_Pitching_Forum WOSH by Daazo.com 25
BEHOLD THE SHORTS OF THE FUTURE!
the
PITCH page
‘Be creative, visual, and personal!’ This was Daazo’s advice for filmmakers applying for the Pitch Page section of World of Shorts.
The Pitch Page offers an innovative opportunity for filmmakers to present their film plan without having their heart in their throats, using visual creativity instead of an overwhelming acting appearence. We got a huge number of groovy pitches: here is our shortlist of seven, chosen by Alice Kharoubi, the programme manager of the Cannes Short Film Corner. Which one would you like to see realised? Find out more on daazo.com!
26 WOSH by Daazo.com
THE Projects 1.
a family, a lot of time is needed. Before the Entr'acte questions how time stops when we lose them.
4. -----------------------MERCY ALL THE WAY Scriptwriters: Hannaleena Hauru and Tanja Heinänen
BLACK SEA Ulas Karaoglu
A revolutionary group of 5 is forced to leave the country after a riot. They manage to arrange a fishing boat with which they plan to flee to Bulgaria from Turkey via the Black Sea. This difficult and dangerous journey results in questioning themselves and the persistence of their organisation.
2. -----------------------VINEYARD Gözde Efe, Hande Zerkin
Mumin has been fighting for years to protect the land he got from his great-grandparents. From his 30s on, he sees natural life around the land gradually turn into concrete. Mumin does not give up, he protects his animals and his trees. His brothers, who also have rights to the land, want him to relent and give it up. After years of resisting, Mumin agrees in desperation. He builds a small craft and sails into the sea.
The women of the unemployment office in a small Finnish town have started to give out mercy fucks to outcast young men in order to prevent future school shootings in Finland. Mirja (35) tries to hide that after spending a night with unemployed Marko (23), she has fallen in love. Saving Finland is at stake.
5. -----------------------THE FLY PAPER Luca Gennari
An 11-year-old girl is on her way to a music lesson when she gets pestered by a creepy guy on a bus. She is rescued by a kindly old lady who sees off the creepy man, and then invites the girl to her cottage for tea, to let her recover from her ordeal. Unfortunately, troubles are not over.
6. ------------------------
3. -----------------------BEFORE THE ENTR'ACTE Nagham Osman
Camelia, a 10-year old crawls into her parents’ bed. She sleeps on her mother’s side. Her mother sleeps on her father’s side. They pretend to sleep until the morning. After they wake up, the radio keeps on playing after they have left the house on the next day. To find real love and
FROM THE WOMB TO THE TOMB Rolf Blume-Jensen
The story evolves around the main character, Elian, who struggles with a crisis of existentialism and a growing fear of ageing. In a near dystopian future he embarks on a journey through a decaying city, looking for an answer.
7. -----------------------PIETÀ Dániel Márton Szerencsés
Pietá is a movie about women’s senses and empathy. We see a lonely woman, defenseless and with no shelter – in the middle of a war. She sacrifices herself for a stranger. She devotes herself to unlock her own loneliness and in the meanwhile she discovers her own sensitivity. The moon is shining. WOSH by Daazo.com 27
1. BLACK SEA
drama
Contact: info@ukartproductions.com
Turkey 28 WOSH
2. VINEYARD
documentary
Contact: efegozde@gmail.com; handezerkin@gmail.com WOSH 29
Turkey
3. BEFORE THE ENTR'ACTE
drama
Contact: nagham.o@gmail.com
Egypt 30 WOSH
4. MERCY ALL THE WAY
comedy / satire
Contact: hhauru@gmail.com
Finland WOSH 31
5. THE FLY PAPER
noir / dark fairy tale
Contact: gennariluca@rocketmail.com
Italy 32 WOSH
6. FROM THE WOMB TO THE TOMB
puppet stop-motion drama
Contact: sto_yan@yahoo.com
Denmark WOSH 33
7. PIETĂ€
drama
Contact: julianna.ugrin@eclipsefilm.hu
Hungary 34 WOSH
PRODUCTION
Fact Sheet
1. director: Ulas Karaoglu BLACK SEA
producer: Ulas Karaoglu country: Turkey contact: info@ukartproductions.com production company: UkArt Productions budget: €15,000 covered: €5,000 needed: €10,000 estimated length: 15 minutes genre: drama
4. scriptwriters: Hannaleena Hauru and MERCY ALL THE WAY
Tanja Heinänen producer: Ulla Simonen country: Finland contact: hhauru@gmail.com production company: Made budget: €200,000 covered: Pending – project in development at the Finnish Film Foundation needed: Pending – project in development at the Finnish Film Foundation estimated length: 28 minutes genre: comedy / satire
-------------------------------5. director: Luca Gennari THE FLY PAPER
producer: Luca Gennari country: Italy contact: gennariluca@rocketmail.com production company: Luca Gennari budget: €40,000 covered: €2,500 needed: €37,500 estimated length: 15 minutes genre: noir / dark fairy tale
-------------------------------2. director: Gözde Efe, Hande Zerkin producer: Gözde Efe -------------------------------6. country: Turkey director: Rolf Blume-Jensen contact: efegozde@gmail.com, VINEYARD
FROM THE WOMB TO THE TOMB
handezerkin@gmail.com production company: SNF Film, Anadolu University School of Communication Sciences budget: €15,000 covered: 50% needed: 50% estimated length: 20 minutes genre: documentary
producer: Stoyan Yankov country: Denmark contact: sto_yan@yahoo.com production company: Picturewise Film budget: €48,000 covered: 10% needed: 90% estimated length: 8 minutes genre: puppet stop-motion drama
BEFORE THE ENTR'ACTE
PIETÀ
producer: Nagham Osman country: Egypt contact: nagham.o@gmail.com production company: Qudrat Pictures budget: €11,300 covered: €2000 needed: €9,300 estimated length: 15 minutes genre: drama
producer: Julianna Ugrin country: Hungary contact: julianna.ugrin@eclipsefilm.hu production company: Éclipse Film budget: €13,700 covered: €5,000 needed: €8,700 estimated length: 26 minutes genre: drama
------------------------------- 7. -------------------------------3. director: director: Dániel Márton Szerencsés Nagham Osman
WOSH by Daazo.com 35
Short ďŹ lms transform in a museum environment and get new meaning in this different context. What is the role of museums in the world of ďŹ lm? How do shorts become the organic part of an art collection? Find out in the next section of World of Shorts! Video art and museum, page 37 Watching with the same eyes, page 40 Who sees what, page 43 Displaying new genres and discourses, page 46 Museums: transmedia pioneers, page 48 Short films in museums, page 52
SHORT
FILMS MUSEUMS
image by Daniel Canogar
in
VIDEO ART, experimental animation film
and the museum East vs West. High vs low. text by Brigitta Iványi-Bitter
Not so long ago, Eastern European video artists or experimental animation filmmakers had no chance to show their work in museums, while their Western fellow artists were on the forefront of new art movements finding their way quickly to museums. Ever since the iron curtain fell this difference has been less and less present. Whatever happened to video art on both sides of the iron curtain?
Another important turn was signalled by Bill Viola’s large touring show in several museums, which made it clear that the projected image had become a pervasive format in contemporary art. Viola’s work takes up epic themes of human existence and spiritual transcendence. It is very important to note that from the start, video art was prone to a technological kind of mysticism. With Nam June Paik it is more Zen
Video art in the West came to the fore in the 60s, when pioneers like Nam June Paik or Woody and Steina Vasulka, founders of The Kitchen Center in New York City, were interested in video as a medium, as the substance of their work. The Kitchen Center for Video, Music and Dance in New York meant that video claimed an institutional place between visual and performance art, television and film. After minimalism, video became an important player in the expanded field of art, where it served in part as a continuation of process and performance art by other means. Video became a performance space in its own right, where the viewer was sometimes invited to participate too.1
Buddhist in flavour, with Viola more Christian. Of course cinema has long been similarly inclined, and it continues to strive for ever more intense effects of immediacy through ever more elaborate forms of mediation.2 Another important turn was when Kara Walker and William Kentridge’s animated films got major museum exhibitions from the late 90s on. Kentridge’s short animated films (chalk drawings recorded with an old analogue camera, and later paper cut-outs recorded on video) made an important entrée for animation as a genre in museums worldwide. 1 Art since 1900. ed: Foster, Krauss, Bois, Buchloch. London, 2
Thames and Hudson, 2004. p. 560-564. op. cit. p. 656. WOSH by Daazo.com 37
While these art forms found their museum spaces on a continuous basis in the Western world, things were quite different on the Eastern side of the iron curtain in terms of the connection between institutions and the underground, non-official art world. From the distance of all these years, we have to posit that the classic avant-garde visual language was the common denominator of the cold war era. Whether one speaks of its Eastern or Western
version, the crucial elements of avant-garde art served as key points of reference in both “halves of the field”; the fabric of culture was produced within this “universal” paradigm here, as well as there. Yet now the outcome of the cold war era’s cultural competition is viewed from a different critical position than back in those years.
In the Soviet Bloc many video artists and animation filmmakers pursued a career outside the institutional art scene from the 50s on, but in the meantime, their artistic strategies became part of the visual arts canon. Owing to this, their lifework can now be introduced into a unified space of reception, into the domain of visual art, embracing both film and contemporary art, for museums. This implies that since the 50s, these artists were active practitioners of several genres simultaneously. At that time, and especially under Eastern European 38 WOSH by Daazo.com
circumstances of the time, each art form and genre had its own appointed place regarding its performance, communication and audience. From the 70s, with the spread of the post-essentialist views, artists found it increasingly challenging to work in intersecting fields of different genres, but this only involved a rather small circle of artists. In mainstream culture everybody stuck to his last, the filmmaker stuck to the cinema and the artist to the exhibition space. The interpretation of genres as was characteristic during the cold war era is in sharp contrast to the way genres are conceived in our time. The difference is not only manifest in whether common opinion expects the artist to decide if he/she wishes to be a painter or a filmmaker, or if he/she envisions a work to be made on
film in his/her capacity as an artist or as a filmmaker. It is also perceptible in the way that a society or culture constructs its spaces for the presentation of artwork. It is certain that in those decades Eastern European video or animation artists – working with moving image, drawing, painting and texts – would have had no opportunity to make an exhibition to present their work in every genre at a time in
a single museum space. However, by the 90s intermediality, collage, and quotations came to the fore in the Eastern side of the former iron curtain cultural scene as well. We may contend that the time was ripe for the video/animation filmmakers’ interdisciplinary approach. I believe that while Eastern European video artists were excluded from the institutional framework of fine art back in the cold war era, nowadays their strategy has become an accepted strategy of artists featured in the art spaces of Eastern Europe. This phenomenon can be attributed to two major reasons. Mostly it can be attributed to the complex description of the canon of cold war era art. In a wider sense there is a relationship with the global discourse of theorising experimental video and animation films. However in relation to our major reason, the position of experimental animation art in the cultural canon is still that of a ‘step-child’ as neither art history, nor film history take it seriously. Animation enjoyed a special position during the cold war era, as a lot of creative artists would find asylum in animation studios, where they were able to work on firmly financed artistic films without strict monitoring and last but not least, they all got a good salary. Artists like Jan Svankmajer, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk, György Kovásznai or Sándor Reisenbüchler, who were not quite up to the expectations of the system, were active in these animation stu-
dios, since animation was not among the prestigious old genres which traditionally served as cultural representation. I would like to throw light on the fact that there were quite a few experimental animation artists and video artists working with interdisciplinary strategies, whose legacy is a rich source of inspiration for our contemporaries, and should serve to support the creative filmmaker’s identity. These artists now deserve that the new generation consider the video and experimental animation art of the cold war era as one of the most important types of art production of the 20th century. The good news is that in the last few years even museums in the former Soviet Bloc have felt more and more responsible for collecting video and animation art in separate collections by specialised curators. It is time to position Soviet era Eastern European video and experimental animated film somewhere on the border between fine art and cinema, by reconstructing the special cultural political context.
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WANT TO KNOW MORE? READ THIS! Illuminating Video: an essential guide to video art (New York, Aperture, 1990) Rosalind Krauss: Video: The aesthetics of Narcissism October, no 1., Spring 1976 Chrissie Iles et al.: Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art, 1998. Chris Townsend: The art of Bill Viola, London, 2004 Peter Hames ed: Dark Alchemy. The Cinema of Jan Svankmajer. 2007
WOSH by Daazo.com 39
realise that artists working in time-based media such as video and digital are at the very forefront of the evolution of visual culture, but all too often lack the support structures available through the much larger industry of film. And so the idea to build a platform for such artists was born. The term time-based art applies to a diversity of practices I'm still learning about.
WATCHING WITH z SAME
EYES interview by Anita Libor; image by Lívia Páldi
Time-based art, video art collections and different contexts. We discussed these topics from a fresh and new perspective with Rachel Rits-Volloch, the founding director of MOMENTUM in Berlin.
Let’s start with you. You have a serious background in film theory – why did you decide to open up to time-based art? We are all increasingly inundated with moving images across all visual media. Whether we watch a movie in a cinema, a DVD on our laptops, or whether we're surfing through Daazo.com, or streaming a TV series, we're watching with the same eyes and using the same intellectual tools to analyse what we see. Why should these same tools not apply to video art? We read a work of art with the same tools we use to read a film. This is called visual language, and our visual languages evolve and spread through mass media. Artists are equally influenced by all the moving images surrounding us. It’s a clear step to move from film theory to a broader approach into visual culture. I came to 40 WOSH by Daazo.com
MOMENTUM has a collection of video art: how can you own a piece of video art, or an installation? Collecting and owning video art is just like collecting photography, sculpture, prints, or any media that can be made in editions. The artist makes a limited number of editions of each video work, which ensures their uniqueness as art objects despite the reproducibility of the medium. Each work in our Collection has an edition number and a certificate of authenticity from the artist. Of course when we talk about “video art" these days we usually mean digital video. For security purposes to prevent opportunity for piracy we show the works in the MOMENTUM Collection with a watermark on public media such as our website and Vimeo channel. For gallery exhibitions or screenings, we show the original video from our Collection. It’s challenging in terms of installation and exhibition. You have the element of sound, which usually doesn't factor into painting and sculpture. As a result, video art and sound art are more invasive. Video art is often installed on a plasma screen which can hang on a collector’s wall just like a painting or photograph. But a painting or a photograph doesn’t emit a soundtrack on a repeating loop. And in the case of video installations, the artist might require that a screening room be built, or special conditions adhered to. In your opinion, what is the perfect place, the home of video art? The white cube of a gallery, a platform on the web (like Daazo.com),
a regular cinema, or any alternative screening option like your SKY SCREEN? Some videos are made only to be screened, while others are designed to be seen best on smaller monitors. In public spaces, such as our SKY SCREEN initiative, we run into site specific issues. Some of our locations are busy public spaces like bustling intersections where people come and go and you can't expect people to stop and follow a complicated narrative. Other locations are more geared towards contemplation. And then of course there's the question of how to broadcast the sound of the video in a public space. This is what curators are for – to match each video with its perfect place of exhibition, or to find new ways of showing the work which would add meaning through context. Does context change the meaning? Is it different to watch a short film in the cinema, on the web, or in the museum? Of course, context is very important to our understanding. Seeing something in an artistic milieu (a gallery or museum), immediately validates it as art, like in the case of Jan Svankmajer. Audiences who come across his films on TV (his classic Faust was produced by the BBC and is still often broadcast on Film Four), are bound to read the work in a different context to those who see some of his short films at Tate Modern. But in either case, if your curiosity is aroused and you want to see more, you can go to your local video shop or Amazon and get his collected works on DVD. This is the beauty of the medium of “video” – it can offer a far greater accessibility to audiences. You have a tagline: “Art is for everyone”. Do you really believe that anyone can enjoy and understand time-based art, an installation, video art or a new media piece? Yes. It’s a myth that video art, or contemporary art generally is inaccessible. Anyone who loves movies, or has watched TV or surfed YouTube
has the tools to understand video art if they want to. Artists refer to the same visual language we all speak to make their work, which we can access. The sharp distinctions between popular culture and art, as well as between different media and practices are blurring rapidly. Art often quotes film and TV and vice versa. New media art uses technologies developed for video games and other mass media. The music industry today is built on sampling and citation and from all elements of culture, while much art could not exist without music. And many video artists and filmmakers make their living in the much more lucrative industry of music videos. I believe art is for everyone, every form of art is for everyone. You will have a big event at the Berlin Art Week. What should we expect? Between 20–22 September MOMENTUM presents Thresholds: a performance and video art programme at Berlin's Collegium Hungaricum. We will be showing the MOMENTUM Collection of video art and performance videos, along with a live performance by one of the artists in our Collection. We have also commissioned a new interdisciplinary performance with a German light design specialist, a Japanese ballerina, and Hungarian classical and electronic musicians. There will be a panel of experts on performance art and theatre holding a public discussion entitled: “Curating Performance Art – Where Does Theatre End and Art Begin”. At the MOMENTUM Gallery, we will be showing a video programme that will concurrently be screened as a SKY SCREEN programme of video art in a public space in Istanbul during the opening of their Biennale.
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(http://momentumworldwide.org/sydney-index/)
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interview by Zoltรกn Aprily image by Daniel Canogar
Christopher Eamon has curated exhibitions in museums and galleries including the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; MoMA PS1; the Institute of Contemporary Art, London; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and many others. He is the former curator of the distinguished Pamela and Richard Kramlich Collection of Media Art, former executive director of the New Art Trust, and former assistant curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art. In this interview we discussed the career paths of video artists, and the economy of time-based art.
Our readers are mainly emerging filmmakers who make short films with the aim to enter the film industry. These people want to follow the career path of a filmmaker. We know very little about how a time-based media artist can be discovered, what the forums or platforms are where they
can show their videos or films. Can you tell us about some career examples with their significant stages? In general my rule of thumb would be that there are no rules of thumb. Still, almost everyone in the art world has some notion about how to make a breakthrough. Although many of these ideas are not borne out in reality, and perhaps represent only received notions of a path to success, it is possible to trace a basic trajectory based on visibility. An understanding of who sees what and where is essential because all visual artists are challenged to find their paths as working artists from the outset as they vastly outnumber muchneeded exhibition opportunities that grassroots organisations such as artistrun centers, emerging galleries and other non-profits have traditionally provided. In order to get your work shown in a gallery or an institutional/ museum setting it has to be seen by the curators or a combination of curatorartists who programme content at WOSH by Daazo.com 43
those venues. This more or less forms a continuous matrix of artists, artist-teachers, curatorartists and full-time institutional curators which can be a handicap to film artists (filmmakers, media makers) who haven’t in a sense ‘grown up’ in this milieu. Yet also, time-based or video artists have been to greater or lesser degrees breaking with convention since the beginning. Many pioneering video artists, for instance, were eager to have their work circumvent traditional hierarchies of selection and exhibition by envisioning their work as an artistic form of mass media. Many early video exhibitions and catalogues were characterised as television art in the 70s for example. Today, the Internet promises to realise the potential of the once-radical notion of televised art, if it hasn’t actually done so for most media artists today. The most prominent example of an artist being brought into a gallery, contemporary art centre or museum context to date has to be that of Ryan Trecartin who was putting his work on YouTube when he was still a student at Rhode Island School of Design in the 2000s. A lot has been made of his discovery on YouTube by the art world. It seems unlikely to me that YouTube was the only or even the main mode of transmission or conveyance for this art based on what I said above and also the fact that the RISD is an art college in the vicinity of New York. Still this is more and more a means of transmission, and media art is completely made for this as a way to get your work out there. Many short films I watch at film festivals often experiment with the classic forms of narration and visual language. They confront entertainment-based cinema (often embedding themselves in European cinema traditions), while being cinematic is still a kind of request by festivals. When I see audiovisual works in museums, the concept or the object of investig44 WOSH by Daazo.com
ation seems more important than being cinematic. Do you recognise any evolution in the history of video art in this question? I can’t say I see an evolution as much as I see cycles of emphases. In the late 90s and 2000s there seemed to be a groundswell of work relating to this, but that perception may have been the result of curatorial selection and framing. I suspect this perception may have a material basis as well, as during this time video projects became so good at projecting relative to the past that artists wanting to approach the classical cinema as material using its own language were suddenly more able to do so. The fact is that, at that time, there was also a great deal of 70s performance-based work being made and also very conceptual work as there is now. Are there any gates between the film industry and the art industry? Can someone identify themselves as a video artist but as a film director as well? That’s a very good question. In fact there is still a big disconnection between these two terrains. Many in the visual arts who remain in the dark vis à vis film history and the importance of the many recent media arts (i.e. visual artists working primarily with film and video) have had their films invited to, and shown at, film festivals. Nearly all of these were already well established as mid-career artists. This suggests to me that the artists have to reach a certain level of publicity or stature for them to be recognised by the film world. The art world on the other hand seems to have blinders on with respect to other disciplines. Other forms of art, like dance and film, can become the topic or trend for five or so years, but when it comes to seeing work by actual choreographers and filmmakers in the art context, there seems to be a barrier to entry. I think this too can be linked to economics of the arts and the amount of focus required to really know a field really well. The latter seems to preclude knowing the
other field in more than a superficial way. I am generalising of course, but there is sad truth to this and its something I myself like to work against or bridge in my writing and curating, but it’s difficult. You can stretch both areas too thinly and end up with a very thin soup of an exhibition. Filmmaking can be very expensive. Even if the cost of creating the artwork does not matter, what else defines the value of media art? The subject of value is perpetually controversial probably because, as a society, we are accustomed to assuming the value of art always transcends worldly economics and its rules of supply-and-demand. Of course, a society’s cultural production ought to be valued in, and for, itself. Yet there’s a sort of real politics underlying the entire system of the visual arts that continues to go unacknowledged, at least in nations that rely primarily on the private sector and private philanthropy for support. Historically, time-based media have been understood as rejecting the economies of exhibition by virtue of its historic omission from trade in art objects due to its fundamental immateriality. During the greater part of media art history, film and video art was indeed collected for its cultural value alone (when collected at all) because it was presumed non-discrete in the world and immaterial unlike “real” art that exists as independent and discrete objects. The presumed infinite replicability of media art was never really true when it was analogue. While today’s digital formats are more perfectly replicable, scarcity is built into the system through the legalistic convention of limited editions, which amounts to a kind of agreement between buyers and sellers. So the market for works of media art shares a conceptual grounding with the Law, which is also a kind of agreement between individuals and society. It is interesting to me that this is an effect of its immateriality, which is why its history is so in-
tertwined with conceptual art since the 1960s. Today works of conceptual art made by many the movement’s founding artists, such as Lawrence Wiener and Robert Barry, are sold the same way as film and video art. When speaking of the economics of exhibition, film and video art proposes, creates and lends itself to contradiction. While its replicability and immateriality made it unmarketable and simultaneously the perfect art form for mass distribution, one would think its predisposition to be viewed simultaneously by many make it easier to exhibit and therefore able to accrue cultural value outside of the market. I would argue that the exhibition of film/video art is more, not less, subject to the whims of the art market in the following ways: examine the number of film and video exhibitions at your favorite contemporary art centre or museum each year and also observe the percentage of media works from the institution’s permanent collection on display on a rotating basis. The number will be very small. Even though media art doesn’t take up a great deal of space in storage, many works, especially those given the required amount of ambulatory space for viewers, generally take up a great deal more exhibition space today than other works of art. Furthermore, this bricks-and-mortar fact has to be supported financially in some way through fundraising. A kind of feedback mechanism ensues as a result, probably impacting its culture to a greater extent than we think. As the visibility of media art is diminished, having taken up so much real estate in the museum, its publicity is diminished and so is its market value. Lack of value limits its sexiness to potential donors and therefore fundraisers raise less money for it and the loop continues.
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text by Márton Orosz image by Daniel Canogar
DISPLAYING
NEW GENRES AND DISCOURSES The Museum of Fine Arts is Budapest’s biggest art institution – the art historian of the XIX–XX. century collection, Márton Orosz helps us find the answers for questions like: why it is important for a classical museum to develop a film or video art based collection? What are the new challenges they are facing right now?
For a long time, the Museum of Fine Arts, primarily as a collector of classic art, didn’t feel the need to add any form of art to their acquisition policy which differed from the traditional. However, its collections stand as an important point of reference to this day and a source of inspiration for contemporary artists. 46 WOSH by Daazo.com
On multiple occasions it has been the location for important media art events. Most recently Zbigniew Rybczyński had a small exhibition displaying his oeuvre in the Vasarely Museum which is under the auspices of the Museum of Fine Arts, where other temporary video work exhibitions, curated by Dóra Maurer normally take place. One of Hungary's first computer art exhibitions, DigitArt, took place in the Museum of Fine Arts in 1986. Also in the 1980s, the museum added to its blueprint a video art exhibition held on Heroes Square, a gift from a variety of foreign media artists like Tom Phillips. However, no collections with a concept existed right up until 2010. In this year the collection of post-1800 photo and media was established
in order to exhibit it with other works of the 20th century, displaying new genres and discourses developing alongside the history of modernism. This is when we inherited the collection from the Department of Graphics which is made up of more than eighty photographs from artists of international significance (Alexander Rodchenko, György Kepes, Sylvia Plachy, etc). Some of their major work can be found in this core collection which has since been enriched by dozens in the last few years, partially by means of buying (Lucien Hervé) and partially as gifts (Nathan Lerner, Zsuzsa Berényi). The process of obtaining more such valuable work is still in progress. Video art and experimental film is also included in the Museum of Fine Arts list of interest as one of the youngest (and currently the smallest) collections, because so far only a small number of works like these have been added to its inventory. The main reason behind this is that the collection does not have a separate budget for purchasing films or storing them in a safe way. As a result, a number of motion pictures which have museological value, including the complete legacy of Iván Vydareny’s documentary films had to be given over to the National Film Archives. An early electronic based media art legacy, “the television art”, which was considered one of the earliest examples of Ted Kraynik’s seminal work, was offered to the Kepes Institute in Eger as in Hungary experts still exist who could be contracted to restore these works. It is important to emphasise that at the moment the only way of acquiring media art is when works discovered through research into the connection between motion pictures and visual arts are offered as gifts. László MoholyNagy’s only abstract film (made in the 1940s using colourful raw material) was acquired this way and shown in its entirety at the Nathan
Lerner chamber exhibition for the very first time. Since 2006 systematic research including research into motion picture and media arts has been in progress in the post 1800s collection. Thanks to this we were able to reconstruct the relationship which existed between the Hungarian and international animation scenes between the two world wars. This research was partially the starting point of exploring the works of the Hungarian cartoonist Gyula Macskássy who is considered the founding father of cartoons in Hungary. Based on the current research done in the post-1800 collection, the American director Bruce Chesefksy was able to re-make György Gerő’s lost avant-garde motion picture which was made in 1924 and considered the first of its type ever to be made in Hungary. Alongside this film we will try to show other findings and reconstructed classical avantgarde work in the spring of 2014 in what will be the Museum of Fine Arts’ very first thematic exhibition dedicated to film. The presentation of these works is a huge challenge, which we have so far only faced in thought: how can these materials be displayed in an authentic way on the screen? The Museum of Fine Arts is an advocate of the presenting strategy that non-video-based films should not be screened on a video base as they would not have originally been shown on a projector working electromagnetically, rather that the film should be projected on 35 mm or 16 mm raw material. Thus the film keeps not only the originality of its author’s artistic intentions, but thanks to being able to view the material in an analogue form it enriches the viewing experience even further. This naturally entails that we have to create a real screening room to show the film: a cinema where the technical apparatus (the projector itself) has become one of the artefacts of the collection.
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When Transmedia is mentioned in the context of education, the experience is frequently metaphorically described as the hallways of a museum in which the itinerary is not governed by the layout of the artworks. First, you may pass certain walls, a whole exhibition, and even create your own hallways linking a selection of artworks during a personal and interactive visit. Second, you may add your own works and collections and invite others to visit, comment, and modify them... Imagine, finally, that such a museum is virtual and accessible by anyone with the prerequisite materials (a mobile application, Internet access, a touchscreen tablet,...) and you obtain a descriptive diagram of what a Transmedia non-linear experience represents, by the museum which as of now establishes itself as naturally predisposed to Transmedia. However, this potential is still largely unexploited...
nal material artwork is irreplaceable. Unlike in the case of films, it is not about imagining a means to digitalise paintings and sculptures to import them into the digital age, but rather to shape the digital access routes that can facilitate and encourage the access to works exposed in museums. Until now, it was only a question of promotion. However, a device like Transmedia opens many more possibilities than those of the vulgar, yet indispensable, marketing. More than meets the eye
Allow me to associate Transmedia with Transformers, to explain how a toy from a franchise conceived by Hasbro in the 80s finds today its place in a complex mythology that developed posteriorly through cartoons, comic books, video games, and three feature films. An “old” toy found by dad in the attic can become fascinating for today’s child if it is reintegrated in its story, or better yet, if the child is already familiar with its mythology and finds him or
MUSEUMS Transmedia Pioneers text by Domenico La Porta; video installation by Zoltan Aprily, photo by Annamária Heinrich
Associating the immaterial and the material
De facto, multiple virtual museums have seen the light on the Internet or other software platforms, but they met the obstacles posed by the guardians of the material works, who today fight to captivate the interest of the Digital Natives, more impermeable to the appeal of a “classical” museum visit. The Aura of an origi48 WOSH by Daazo.com
herself suddenly in material possession of his/her hero. The toy’s context restores its Aura, or creates a new one, which, in the absence of the child, could turn the adult into a collector. Beyond the pieces of plastic, there is certainly an emotional dimension based on a nostalgia of childhood; but there might especially exist a story developed throughout several media. Whether this story is anterior or posterior to the creation of the object is irrelevant, as long
as it is appealing and gives the object – the work – an indispensable role in the public’s experience of the story, whether the public actively participates or not. If I take an Instagram shot of my Transformers collector toy to share it on Facebook, I invite my friends into my own gallery/museum and donate my own little stone to its mythology, associating to it my own history and contribution as a tale teller (the way in which I introduce the photo, the filter used, the links, the eventual tags and citations,...).
I likewise authorise my friends to complete it by commenting on the photo and integrating it in other collections, private (sharing) or public galleries (blogs, Pinterest,...). This intimate mechanism must be reproducible by the professional collectors that are museums, be it using existing tools (social media, QR codes,...) or new ones created expressly for the needs of the story within which the works will be placed to be presented to the public or to reach it.
Transmedia to regulate the artistic concentration of an exhibition
An exhibition of toys will be able to heighten its artistic concentration thanks to the multiple strata of the Transmedia, which will accentuate its elements by taking them out of their playful context in the strictest sense. Digital means and interactions must then be conceived to immerse the public – pre, in, or post visit – in the different mythologies until it can find its own
place within the exhibition and choose among the proposed itineraries which best suits its purpose (nostalgia, discovery, the pleasure of gaming). A classical museum that exhibits ancestral, sometimes hermetic works, can make good use of Transmedia to dilute its artistic concentration and facilitate the access or comprehension
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of its works. It is notably possible through the use of an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) which organises not a visit but a familiarisation with the works through a game. Ghosts of Chance is the first ARG developed by a museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, between October 2008 and October 2010. More than 3,000 persons completed the multi-platform treasure hunt, deciphering the codes, following the maps, sending text messages, and exhuming hidden objects, among which were numerous artworks desired and sought out by the public in a playful, educational context. Finally, Transmedia can simply switch the dial between the two extreme situations described above. Diluting the artistic concentration of an exhibition until reaching the formula suited to the works exposed, allows the exhibition to adapt itself to the desired story, to the educational level preferred, and to the targeted audience. The possibilities are endless, but few are entirely adapted to the sought-after goal.
Gaming the future of museums
Game theorists (as a paradigm), such as Jane McGonigal, have looked into the issue of museums and have arrived at the conclusion that served as introduction to this article: the museum is predisposed to the Transmedia experience since it is a place to which we come as a couple or as a family and in which we are surrounded by strangers to participate – together – in a common experience: a story. According to McGonigal and to the recent “positive psychology” theories, the museum “aims to make people happy or to augment their happiness index”. Then, of course, the anti-happiness supporters exist, but they leave to the museums, which will undoubtedly do their job, the perspective of long lines of visitors in search of a happy life mixing the best of both worlds: material and immaterial...
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(You can watch Jane McGonigal’s keynote regarding museums on YouTube by typing “gaming the future of museums” in the search engine)
17 – 22 September 2013 Bristol, UK Short Films. Bold Ideas. Join us for six days packed with screenings, talks, workshops, networking and special guests in a dazzling programme spanning film, art, animation, performance and music. Full programme information, festival passes and tickets now available at encounters-festival.org.uk @EncountersSFF
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S H O european eu rop pean T I T C H
THE SPRINGBOARD TO SHORT FILM COPRODUCTION CALL FOR SHORT FILM PROJECTS DEADLINE 30TH OF SEPTEMBER INFO ON W W W . N I S I M A S A . C O M
Scriptwriting session 7-12 January 2014
Coproduction forum 7-9 March 2014
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Moving pictures inside big white walls text by Attila Mocanu
If you still have friends who question whether film is an art form or not, this little collection of modern art and film museums might just be “exhibit A” for you. Films in museums now have a relatively long history, and these are just some of those places where you can experience film not just as an art form, but in an environment that was designed to showcase art. You could just visit the Instant Cinema website to get a glimpse at the experimental short film collection of the EYE Filmmuseum or if you happen to be in Amsterdam, be sure to make EYE one of your top destinations. The stunning architecture, with high-end screening rooms and a huge collection of the wonders of the Silent Era is compiled in this little heaven of motion picture.
Stop by MOMENTUM Berlin to get instant access to the most vibrant collection of video art in Germany. They are also leading the museum and video scene with their Sky Screen initiative, so be sure to check when you can “Look Up!” to watch a short! If you’re not anywhere near Berlin, see some video art for yourself on their website. 52 WOSH by Daazo.com
While we are mentioning large collections, well-curated avantgarde works, there is MoMA’s Film Department. The world’s largest collection of everything film-related can be found in the endless collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Look out for short film screenings of rare works, and find out about anecdotes concerning the work of the museum’s curators in the heart of NYC. Brakhage, Sharits, Kulešov, Pudovkin and Eisenstein. The names ring a bell, don’t they? Well, the Vienna Film Museum holds works from these pioneers of cinema in its stunning collection of film reels, including tons of pre-1950 footage. The extremely fragile, but also beautifully nostalgic pieces are accompanied by at least 5 various screening series every month. Be sure to catch one.
If you’re in search for a perfectly curated screening series (which happens almost every two weeks), and you would also like to (re)search the United States’ largest collection of artefacts related to the wonders of the moving image, your main destination is Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York City. Be sure to take a short rest inside the gallery to see vivid avant-garde short films on the screens. Take a stroll around Barcelona’s Museu del Cinema and explore their collection of film-related materials, silent classics and documentaries about the times left behind us. Always check what’s on the menu for their current exhibitions and you just might find yourself feeling the spirit of the 1920s.
There is only one way to go if you’d like to jump into the history of German Cinema. See the permanent exhibition or get a library card at the Berlin Filmmuseum and you’ll be surprised how significant German cinema has been in the history of film.
The legendary, Hungarian experimental cinema studio BBS (named after Béla Balázs, one of the pioneers of film theory) got a sweet spot at the Kunsthalle in Budapest, so that every visitor has the chance to explore the works of several decades when the studio was functioning as an “experimenting” ground for emerging film artists, now in a digitally restored environment, following an example of modern art museums around the world.
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DAAZO’S TOP USERS text by Zsuzsanna Deák
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Sorayos Prapapan won Daazo’s Impossible Film Contest 2013 with his film Boonrerm – a beautiful, slow-paced short which sensi-
ing the world, but at least my film made me aware that you shouldn't treat other people in the way that you don't want to be treated.
tively discusses important issues such as social inequality, esprit de corps, and standing up for oneself, all shown from the point of view of a young maid exploited and humiliated by her employer. I asked Sorayos about his background, plans and filmmaking credo.
Sorayos
After I’d graduated from Thammasat University, Thailand, majoring in film and photography, I began my career working as a production assistant on Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (the Palm d'Or winner at Cannes in 2010) alongside Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Subsequently, I've been working as a sound recordist and occasionally a sound editor for Thai independent filmmakers. I’m also thinking of making more of my own films. on being a filmmaker
I have no idea when I decided to become a filmmaker. Maybe because of my field of study, I've never considered a different occupation. I think I really don't know of any job I'd do if I couldn't be a filmmaker. Maybe a magician? Or a comedian? the film scene in Thailand
In Thailand, there are many filmmakers but little audience – especially for arthouse cinema. More importantly, we have difficulties dealing with the censorship board. discussing social issues in film
It is important to draw attention to social injustice. A lot my films are about that. I want to reflect the social problems in my country through my films. I'm not so sure about chang-
on working with amateurs and professionals
I have worked with both amateur and professional actors. I asked my junior to help me carry the boom pole and two of the art department crew in the film are my housemaids. (And the name of one of them is Boonrerm. Does that sound like a contradiction to you?) As my film is a low-budget one, I had no other option but to employ amateurs. However, although they may not have been the best, they were tough and able to follow my instructions effectively. future plans
I'm looking for a distributor for Boonrerm and I want to release it in Thailand. I’m also planning to write a script for my first feature film – a story about a Thai guy who travels to Myanmar and a working-class Burmese girl who is living in Thailand. short film as a format
The short film language might be different from that of feature-length films. We have limited time to convey ideas so we can't waste it (not that we should waste it in a feature film either). Therefore, it seems to me that directing short films is interesting and challenging. I really enjoy making and watching short films. However, I have never directed a feature film before. I would like to try it first to be able to have a better understanding of it, but I think I will not stop making short films. the golden rules of filmmaking
“Watch a lot!”, “listen a lot!”, “think a lot!”, “live and learn!”
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The Europe you Love Watch your favorite European movies subtitled in English! Eurochannel is not available in your country yet. Help us bring Eurochannel to your home, request your local cable or satellite operator to add Eurochannel to its lineup. For more information, please visit: www.eurochannel.com, Facebook and Twitter.
Eurochannel presents Eurochannel prresents only ttop op of the th he line European European programming. prog gramming. FFrom rom traditional traditionaal films tto o the hott est new n cinema, : fr om w eeping, epic hottest from weeping, serials ser ials to to heart-pounding heart-pounding ttelevision elevision ser sseries ies ; fr from om specials o on n hist historical orical ar o Ithe Ithe vvery ery la test in moder n rrock, ock, pop and easy list en ning music. music. artt tto latest modern listening WOSH by Daazo.com 57 EEurochannel urochannel has haas something ffor o or everybody. everybody y .
1. Victor Lindgren: Ta av mig (Undress Me), Sweden (Berlinale) – I still can’t believe what I just saw there.
ANITA LIBOR
2. Abdurrahman Öner: Buhar (Vanished Into Blue), Turkey (Cinefest) – The most beautiful black and white short I’ve seen. 3. Péter Vácz: Nyuszi és őz (Rabbit and Deer), Hungary (Kecskemét Animation Film Festival) – Very funny and very serious at the same time.
4. Barnabás Tóth: Újratervezés (My Guide), Hungary (Fresh Meat Film Festival) – Riding in car with Philemon and Baucis. 5. Michaela Pavlátová: Tram, France/Czech Republic (Kecskemét Animation Film Festival) – A visually feverish hot orgy, and I mean it.
1. Barnabás Tóth: Újratervezés (My Guide), Hungary (Fresh Meat Fest Budapest) – A sensitive drama with a very smart cinematic approach.
1. Panna Horváth-Molnár: Dipendenza, Hungary (Kecskemét Animation Film Festival) – Simple but expressive, this is the story of a tragic love triangle – deeply touching with a pinch of dark humour.
2. Chema Garcia Ibarra: Misterio (Mystery), Spain (Berlinale) – An absurd portrait of a society you rather escape to survive.
3. Victor Lindgren: Ta av mig (Undress Me), Sweden (Berlinale) – After watching this, you keep thinking and thinking and thinking.
4. Andrew Thomas Huang: Solipsist, USA (ClermontFerrand) – One of the most beautiful visual experiments I’ve seen this year.
ZSUZSANNA DEÁK 3. Gudmundsson Gudmundur Arnar: Hvalfjordur, Denmark/ Iceland (Cannes Film Festival, official selection) – I cried when I watched this. A slow-paced and graceful film about hopelessness and fraternal love.
ZOLTÁN ÁPRILY
5. Martin Rosete: Voice Over, Spain (Clermont-Ferrand) – Three professionally created scenes with a surprising twist – what else do we need? 58 WOSH by Daazo.com
2. Adriano Valerio: 37°4 S, France (Cannes Film Festival, official selection) – A piece about young love, loss and hope that has been haunting me ever since I saw it.
4. Joey Izzo: Stepsister, USA (Cannes, Cinéfondation) – A painfully funny story about two jealous women and a helpless man between them.
5. Katalin Glaser: Három nagymamám volt (My Three Grandmas), Hungary (Kecskemét Animation Film Festival) – This is such a charming and happy film – it restores all sorts of faith.
Daazo
-------------- Top Shorts
The favourite activity of the Daazo team, unsurprisingly, is watching short films at film festivals. We have done quite a bit of travelling around this year: Berlin, Cannes, you name it – and we even organised our very own short film fest called Fresh Meat in Budapest. There are so many films we loved: here is the top five of each Daazo guy and gal. If you have a chance to watch them, these are the ones not to miss!
1. Joung Yumi: Love Games, South Korea (Berlinale) – Minimalistic. Well structured. Pathos.
2. Gilles Coulier: Mont Blanc, Belgium (Cannes Film Festival, official selection) – Family. Road. Incomprehensible. 4. Sorayos Prapapan: Boonrerm, Thailand (Daazo Impossible Film Contest) – Empathy. Precise. Women.
3. Hirofumi Nakamoto: The Silent Passenger, Japan (Berlinale) – Unique. Universe. Point of View.
DÁNIEL DEÁK
1. Stefan Kriekhaus: Remains Quiet, Germany (Berlinale) – It’s a beautiful metaphor for the film business, and also for life: if you’re not the royal baby, you start from rock bottom.
2. Maryam Kashkoolinia: Tunnel, Iran (Anifest) – In a place where they never heard of human rights, you sometimes have to dig under the ground to find happiness. Or to survive.
3. Artur Chays: Timeline, France (World of Shorts Film Contest) – Our virtual, online life of timelines is transferred to our physical reality of post-it notes in this refreshing feel-good movie.
5. Min-Young Yoo: Invitation, South Korea (Hamburg International Short Film Festival) – Relationships. Disciplined. Understanding.
4. Javier Badillo: Faith, USA (Daazo.com) – If your mind is set to destroy everything, what if suddenly you can have everything? The power of money and faith is perfectly drawn in this dark comedy.
ATTILA MOCANU
5. Masahiro Tsutani: Between Regularity and Irregularity, Japan (Berlinale) – Avant-garde cinema is back!
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e ar st as u u yo or j zo h film r e a th ker a est he ma m, D0 b W lm fil 1 f the fi o a n d a e a f lect . s l co rtup a st
n’t ld n u o io y wibut we th tr ie es dis lm v om c e r a pl th d fi f r to for rce film e fo u a tr e ed ut form -so ose hea t th b i d t a m t r o ist pla row ch the g th imu d in w c st e in n s lm a ne own . Ju erv vid mi ble fi a s s ro the ail ie te ur er re ind rea yo oth ill g, p es av t e o c ate of g w nin ch nly son y g w nit to en t cre ose Tug ree rea is o Ne l u oe t t e c a J u i i v s nd y, y or th nt e yo th d tb te and ets end t an the h a ntl pp r to to tex o o p , t l tt en or g rre of ila ses jhe it to s. I ly a ev it f nou , cu d t im p o n a e s t m e e ki s, s yno r pr e ha ake t fil ativ e th is w lly tha r w p s u gg m en rn at o fu is ne f ste and z yo refo e a h e Tu ally end alte cre o d ess ide o es uz th t rs s c t u p ke ries glin re b to ring us nde t or then ave suc own a n e o u to n i m s lo d of eve rary ou hoted he lm w a ing e m e. J oni fi t T h d t y m o it t or ing ir lib all romees. en foll wr hat ma by t. h s d p e t m t be e c n ir dith . So as tend pe . Jus , fro e is ill ienc roje he au r. e t u t w w c d p d de e nd s ss n yo nt of a oa dwi mak s i filmsine fere r film l au the l e nt e v p a iv eir u dif u ic of e ou u rl m o wo e fil s g r th lm b nly is yo ret gs . h ok n m o a th am US w i o l fo l fi o it l e i t o n s h e e er e t to x F ng na he ely s t e ra ar y ca r th ak labl oes y Bo nci ditio pt. T lik lm’ th e e e m i i o a e fi g th e th cov lm ava ch g nt fin tra scr or he win s fi r s u e i i l t t i e d J e he a e m nt m h n h g t m ollo ov h de the of w m m w m to ly. to s in he fi e, t fro d f n e g 1 r k n t in e ing trea the ious ep akin m, $ ou on ting onl bac rs a m d s s y v l o d e i in m fi s w re s c o wr get fee llow st up new allo d p rts ntly ch a p i o e e t l e o c th al so ik pp ta at ec s liv of f ie o son It al ve l t su , ins to w v t er e o dia e er rs. ha g b m ite 9 e b m i o p r m r, e s 4 m dd sts. sc wn oth they al itte z.c eb $1. i nu a b i c m w ay l o su r o th t so w hfil e u t film a m, T has , rs thei wi wha ie th rs p o e d e s e In s to we s y ted us en ovi on at gra live oto e s w e r i a t a r s p i h o r t m d t c filme. V n Ins ng i n p you all nd ts nd o the ase , a e l c i c m s ee g . o a b a f t en ng hed ou fro re. U etw win ent ilo to ts o like a y p t d , n d c y v o o b e tc n vi war spe ma ow nte d m ide , sh ny e Fa r wa fl , l s n a k o Mo for ll a ey s eo t ic c r a pp ou a h Br ing mbl can vid ry a kam y ing uss ms t o s p o u o o sc l ap w u e, Tu yo and ’s st eb e fr di er fi l e l o t c b h s a a lin t sh u h t en ot eF e ith de uT g w ee nt W sli Yo ta tw co Th tim 62 WOSH by Daazo.com
e- plac dat crewall a Pro e d m s ail e. It s a lis pec uct Mi lyo th pr nd ts, ts o ion wi ni re om ti sc f m r ad p M th .c o s. ote es ipt re-p inds ba ot m s c av br ro is sis he is rv a re ail eak du a p . at ab d ct la iew “so ive le ow ion tfo Ba er cia co for ns . It rm se sw lv lla th , ca ma for to d i d h bo e st ke o ile eo its on te ra wh ing s s rga wa ” p to n tio o lev use thei l a t ch tfo n a le lists ryb isin no isi rs r o i c r n w on wh wn nd re , lo oa g gfi m ha an at ge w i ca rds pe lm whi sb d t ts n a tio , r h c s w s As ra an h a rid s ns ha ey m ona n d c llo ch t’s of ing , l or a ne a w on s ed sh y tas m le w m l i c es ou ow ike te fo us w er ts u sy i a rm i ts t t ing to n se m o o ow . A c, V y to r s n s o o a e a p to f we n N ee i vie to n pr ter am prom ay int bs etfl n th s, F be ice up is -p era ite ix e i sig d . V loa a ote l er ct m i an . It r lo a -v ht istr eam din pro an s s d iew An in ib c t d t g m ev art al t er. s w u t t i e o i h en ed he co th nte w ted ill c e c sing ll p a h . r a G as atr m s r e o Int t it esti o is It al eate nte -loo rso oo an es, ug n e c n k n s s gl iPh wh ge fo rnet an b g as upp o le an a t th ing al p eT o a st ts e u d ro re co e p p o V ne a t’s s e p r ne no nn us ct tin the w se istr jec int p on ed b ec ed of g t i h r er p b ed uf tio wi th theuser ich can buti s, b fa e fe n, th e o . s i ce ut i g s rin th ou ap r w ai re et n p it fi . t n g ere t a p or a h la lm is s - n is k. in- dy eir t-
TAKE A
short BREAK!
rEfResH YouR BraIn whIlE sTaNdiNg in tHe Queue tO gEt in tO tHe scReEniNg, HavIng a sUnbATh, eAtiNg yoU CevApI oR DriNking your eSprEsSo! cOnNecT the nUmbErS aNd teLl us wHo ThE pIcTurE rEveAlS bY SenDiNg HiS nAmE tO GamE@dAazO.cOm. iF yOu’rE lUcKy EnOugH, your rEwaRd wiLl be a grEaT-lOoKinG dAaZo BAg. hErE aRe soMe hiNtS tO HelP you oUt. gAmE uP!
hIs naMe is aN aNaGraM.
bEsIdeS DirEcTinG, He UseD tO aCt anD WriTe reVieWs.
hE WouLDn’t acCePt ThE lOs aNgEleS fIlM cRiTicS aSsOciAtiOn’s aWarD for bEsT fOrEigN lAnGuaGe fILm, BecAusE “cIneMa itSelF is a fOreIgN lAnGuaGe”.
hE DoeSn’t liKe thE WorLd he lIveS in.
hE ThiNkS tHaT tHe diGital film fOrmAt is nOt Ready yEt.
hE ArrIvEd In pArIs To stArT wOrkInG aT the aGe Of 17.
hE SayS hE “lIveS In ThE wOrLd Of ciNeMa”, bUt DoeSn’t reAlLy CoNsiDeR hImSelF A fIlMmaKEr, sIncE He HaS dOnE oNly a fEw FilMs.
hIs trAdEmaRkS aRe a FeDorA hat aNd ShAdeD GlaSsEs. hE RarElY wAtCheS FilMs siNcE hE sTaRteD MakInG hIs owN. hE ChaIn smOkeS cAmEl CiGarEttEs.
hIs 8-YeaR-old dAugHtEr ApPeaReD iN oNe Of thE BigGeSt ArThoUsE hItS oF last year aNd So diD his dOg.
hE’s onLy maDe fiVe feAture fIlmS So FAr, tHreE Of ThEm In hiS 20s.
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Hands down, there is no better way to sell, distribute and make your short film popular than by entering it in a huge film festival. Besides the fact that hundreds, or maybe even thousands of people will get a chance to see your film, these people are mostly film professionals like critics, buyers, distributors or staff members of other festivals – the list is endless.
FESTIVAL
PANORAMA 4
We also know that film festivals in Europe get thousands of submissions every year and only a small chunk make it to the competitions. If you don’t get selected, try not to be upset or disappointed. It does not (necessarily) mean that your movie is bad. It may just be the case that in that particular year when you submitted a film, the leitmotiv or the general state of mind of the programmer didn’t let your film fit in. Before you start to search our selection of film festivals, here are some tips on how to be in favour of the meanie programmer:
7 7
Try to submit your films to as many festivals as possible. Especially if there is no entry fee, what can you really lose? (Okay, there is something to lose, take note of the last advice!)
7 7 7
Try to dig up contenders or winners of previous festivals to which you are applying now. See what kind of stuff the programmer is into.
7
Check out the premiere and Internet policy of the film festivals you are applying to. Maybe it will be great to hear that your film was selected to a smaller short film festival, but then you won’t be eligible for Cannes.
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Every festival has its own set of guidelines. Read them carefully and fulfill the requirements. Don’t miss out on being featured in the competition because you didn’t submit in the right format.
Circumstances change. Always be sure to check the latest news about the festival you’re submitting a film to. If you are just starting your career as a filmmaker or you are still studying, submit to smaller festivals or to ones which have a student competition. These festivals always like to see upand-coming talent.
Festival Camp
Submission deadline
Date
Fee of sub.
Etiuda&Anima Film Festival (Poland)
September 17, 2013
November 22–28, 2013
free
Torino Film Festival (Italy)
September 13, 2013
November 22–30, 2013
free
Zubroffka Short Film Festival (Poland)
October 24, 2013
December 4-8, 2013
free
Sundance Film Festival (USA)
September 16, 2013
January 16–26, 2014
$80
Rotterdam International Film Festival (Netherlands)
September 1, 2013
January 22– February 2, 2014
¤25
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival (France)
October 14, 2013
January 31 – February 8, 2014
free
Berlin International Film Festival (Germany)
to be announced
February 6-16, 2014
¤50
Tampere Film Festival (Finland)
December 1, 2013
March 5–9. 2014
free
SXSW (USA)
around late October, 2013
March 7–15, 2014
$40
Brussels Short Film Festival (Belgium)
February 11, 2014
April 23– May 3, 2014
¤9
Oberhausen Short Film Festival (Germany)
January 15, 2014
May 1–6, 2014
free
Cannes Film Festival (France)
to be announced
May 14-25, 2014
free for shorts
Oscar qual.
Market
Talent
WOSH by Daazo.com 67
WOrKshOp aGenDa
In the pit of the greatest minds, you just might learn how to make films like a pro. Fee: depends on the course Deadline: check out Film Oxford’s website! www.filmoxford.org European Short Pitch
There is no downside to attending workshops. You will soak up knowledge, gain tons of work experience, get to chat with industry leaders and professionals, make friends with fellow up-and-coming talents, and have drinks abroad. Anything else? Go figure.
Our friends at Nisi Masa – European Network of Young Cinema – are always hard at work organising their annual Scriptwriting Workshop and then the Coproduction Forum that follows. If you’re a European filmmaker, try not to miss this.
Eligible countries: Europe www.midpoint-center.eu New York Film Academy: Hands-on Intensive 8-Week Film & Hi-Def Workshop You must’ve heard of the NYFA for some reason. It’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s definitely chic and professional. You don’t even have to go overseas for the Workshop – NYFA has facilities in Florence and Paris, but if you’d like to travel somewhere more exotic, try Abu Dhabi or even Australia. You’ll even get a certified diploma!
Berlinale Talent Campus The cradle of all talents. You, who are reading this magazine right now, must have heard of it. What else is there to say? If you never applied, do it now. If you did, but didn’t get in, try again and again. If you already participated, tell a friend! Fee: free of charge Deadline: September 18 www.berlinale-talentcampus. de/ Film Oxford – Alternative Affordable Digital Film School Your go-to school if you’re looking to extend your knowledge in Photoshop, screenwriting, directing, Final Cut Pro, DSLR Cinematography – you name it. 68 WOSH by Daazo.com
Fee: €500 Deadline: September 30 Eligible countries: European Union + Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland www.nisimasa.com MIDPOINT Workshops Midpoint is a script development training programme for graduating students, who are looking for more practice in filmmaking. If you’re one of them, Midpoint is your target and their target is you! Have a project in hand, that’s what they require. Fee: €100 for both workshops if you’re a graduate of a partner school, €240 if you’re not. Deadline: March 17
Fee: ~ $6,500 Deadline: first-come, first-served www.nyfa.edu Guardian Masterclasses A wide range of all aspects of filmmaking and digital media. Take Alfred Hitchcock's moviemaking masterclass or learn how to pitch your script by leading industry professionals. Fee: starting at £99 Deadline: September 15 www.theguardian.com/ guardian-masterclasses
WORLD OF SHORTS editors in chief: Zoltán Aprily, Dániel Deák editors: Zsuzsanna Deák, Anita Libor art director and graphic design: Tünde Kálmán contributors: Brigitta Iványi-Bitter, Laurence Boyce, Cristina Grosan, Krisztina Jávorszki, Domenico La Porta, Attila Mocanu, Joe Newson, Márton Orosz, Joanna Solecka, Wim Vanacker thanks: Zsuzsanna Bayer, Alice Kharoubi, Nándor Lovas, Jo Peattie, Angela Savoldi, Bogi Szalacsi, Alex Traila photographs: Zoltán Aprily, Daniel Canogar, Magda Cholyst, Annamária Heinrich, Lívia Páldi cover image: Hollie Chastain illustrations by: Hollie Chastain, Katalin Dobos, Eszter Nyári Hollie Chastain: www.holliechastain.com Daniel Canogar: www.danielcanogar.com Katalin Dobos: dobos68@gmail.com Eszter Nyári: www.ndashgraphics.com We would like to thank all the artists who contributed their work for their generosity. You can also find this magazine online here: http://issuu.com/daazo/docs/sarajevovenice2013
World of Shorts magazine is published by Daazo Film and Media Ltd. Published in Hungary August 2013. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden save with the written permission of the publishers. www.daazo.com | info@daazo.com
ISSN 2064-2113 Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre is supported by the MEDIA programme of the EU. This material does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the EU. This magazine was printed on recycled paper.
L.i.t. s.f. l.f.
Life is too short for long films. 17. Internationale KurzďŹ lmtage Winterthur, 5.-10. November 2013 The Short Film Festival of Switzerland www.kurzďŹ lmtage.ch