FASCINATIONS: A CONFERENCE ON EXPERIMENTAL
FILM DISTRIBUTION
2nd
Edition
Held as part of the 20th JIHLAVA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM
FESTIVAL
October 26, 2016, 10.00 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Vysočina Regional Gallery
Masarykovo nám. 24, 586 01 Jihlava
The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival (IDFF) organises a conference meeting of
experimental documentary film distributors, gallerists and festival representatives. Following up on
Conference Fascinations 2015 that brought together representatives of experimental film
distribution companies from all over the world, giving them the opportunity to meet, confer and
learn more about the Czech experimental scene, focusing primarily on the curatorship and
institutional-commercial aspect of presenting and disseminating this type of works, this year’s
discussion will revolve around experimental film curatorship in relation to specialised festivals and
the presentation of moving images in gallery spaces.
The conference will take place as part of the 20th
edition of the Jihlava IDFF (October 25 to 30, 2016)
and the main items on the agenda will include experimental film distribution, presentation and
preservation as well as various strategies of bringing experimental works to curators and general
public.
Gallery presentations of experimental films and video-art make up to one half of the profit for some
distributors. However, their previous debates have implied that there are no generally applicable
rules to providing, appraising and displaying these works in gallery spaces. While the communication
with festivals takes place along similar lines, galleries are inclined to prefer “ad hoc” rules.
Representatives of distribution companies, festivals and galleries will have the opportunity to watch
selected works from Czech experimental cinema (Exprmntl.cz competition section) as well as a
special historical cross-section of Eastern European cinema. The Jihlava IDFF has become the first
platform enabling a systematic presentation of Czech experimental films (notably works referring to
reality and including documentary features), at the same time systematically focusing on Eastern
European cinema; the festival’s ambition is to promote Czech films internationally and to facilitate
collaboration with experienced distributors and festivals abroad.
PROGRAMME
9.00 – 10.00 a.m. Registration of participants and technical check of
presentations
10.00 – 10.10 a.m. Welcome speech
10.10 – 11.20 a.m. 5-minute presentations of distributors, festivals and
galleries
Moderator Andrea Slováková
Ann Arbor Film Festival / David Dinnell, Program Director / www.aafilmfest.org / USA
OFF-Bienale Budapest / Tijana Stepanović , Director / www.offbiennale.hu/ Hungary
Image Forum (distribution, education and festival) / Koyo Yamashita, Artistic Director / Japan /
www.imageforum.co.jp
LightCone (distribution company) / Emmanuel Lefrant, Director / www.lightcone.org / France
L U X (distribution company) / Matt Carter, distribution manager / www.lux.org.uk / UK
Sixpack film (distribution company) / Brigitta Burger-Utzer, Managing Director /
www.sixpackfilm.com / Austria
Reykjavik Art Museum / Ólöf Kristín Sigurðardóttir, Director / www.listasafnreykjavikur.is/ Iceland
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw / Łukasz Ronduda, Curator of film collections/
www.artmuseum.pl / Poland
11.20 – 11.30 a.m. Coffee break
11.30 – 12.30 p.m. Discussion panel I
- The curatorship aspect: what criteria do distributors apply when selecting films for festivals vs.
galleries; how do these criteria relate to their collection-building strategies and how does the
submission and assessment of new works and authors take place – what are festivals and
galleries looking for?
(Moderator Andrea Slováková)
Speakers:
David Dinnell, former Program Director (Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Evgeny Gusyatinsky, Festival Programmer of Eastern European films (Rotterdam IFF)
Emmanuel Lefrant, Director (LightCone, France)
12.30 – 2.00 p.m. Lunch (lunch is not a part of the programme)
2.00 – 3.00 p.m. Discussion panel II
- Organisational and economical aspect: the best ways of offering films to festivals vs. galleries,
in what form are they available to/needed by curators, how do curators search for film works;
sharing experience and best practice of searching for and offering experimental films and
videos; practice in the sphere of cinema (festivals) vs. fine arts (galleries) – presentation
possibilities, licences, fees.
(Moderator Andrea Slováková)
Speakers:
Koyo Yamashita, Director (Image Forum, Japan)
Matt Carter, Distribution Manager (L U X, UK)
Ólöf Kristín Sigurðardóttir, Director (Reyjkavik Art Museum)
3.00 – 3.10 p.m. Coffee break
3.10 – 4.10 p.m. Discussion panel III
- Experimental scene and its relation to festivals and galleries in Visegrád group countries.
(moderator Andrea Slováková)
Speakers:
Robert Rampáček, Curator (documentary film festival)
Tijana Stepanović , Director (Off-Bienale Budapest)
Łukasz Ronduda, Curator,( Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw)
4.10 – 4.20 p.m. Coffee break
4.20 – 5.30 p.m. One-to-one meetings
- Presentation of the works of experimental film authors from V4 countries to individual
distributors and gallerists at one-to-one meetings
- Each of 10 tutors provides 3 x 15-minute consultations to Czech filmmakers
5.30 p.m. Invitation to film screenings and an industry drink in Laboratorium
Particular speakers are subject to possible change until Oct 5th
.