It is a world of its own, the world of the film labs – especially when referring to the artist-run or self-governing film labs and not the industrial or commercial… Read More
The reel thing – film laboratories between industry and art
Topic
Film festivals now offer events and programmes year-round
One of the many recent upheavals in the film and festival world, in this case caused or presumably accelerated by the pandemic, involves the expansion of festival activities beyond the… Read More
Presenting film festivals online – an interview
How film festivals present themselves to viewers on the internet in lieu of, or in combination with, an actual on-site festival is a pressing topic in these days of a… Read More
Paradigm Shifts in Festival Scene – Cooperations, Programme Exchanges, Networks
Dramatic changes are currently underway in the sense and purpose, as indeed the roles, that festivals assume. And my impression is that almost all the parameters long regarded as self-evident… Read More
Review of award-winning short films in 2020 – a brief analysis
Ever since 2008 we have published an annual review of the short film prizes awarded the previous year. Now it’s time to look back at the year 2020. Listing… Read More
Film Festival Corona Strategies (part two) – Online Streaming versus Theatre Screenings
Film festivals generally serve two main functions. They showcase new films in a festive setting and facilitate encounters between the industry and the audience. Under pandemic conditions, neither is possible… Read More
Film Festival Corona Strategies – A Critical Look at Techniques and Formats (Part One)
Since the start of the pandemic, film festivals have admirably sought out and found alternatives in terms of what they offer their audiences, even in the face of losing… Read More
Submission Fees at Short Film Festivals
In the first week of September 2020, the Short film Festival Hamburg decided that from then on it would charge fees for every film submitted to it. In the short… Read More
Online Please Not Forever!
Some Filmmakers’ Experiences
As a commission member of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, I faced a new challenge with the Covid19 lockdown and the decision to hold the festival online and record… Read More
Review of award-winning short films in 2019 – a brief analysis
Ever since 2008 we have published an annual review of the short film prizes awarded the previous year. Now it’s time to take a look back at the year 2019. Read More
Short Film Goes to School
Kurzfilme sind die Musterschüler*innen unter den Filmen. Sie sind aus verschiedenen Gründen perfekt für den Einsatz im Unterricht geeignet und tatsächlich ist es in diesem Fall wirklich mal die Länge, auf die es ankommt. Oder die Kürze, wenn man genau sein will. Denn ein Kurzfilm lässt sich ganz wunderbar in eine Unterrichtseinheit integrieren, der in Deutschland – noch immer – meist im Rahmen von Blöcken organisiert ist, die entweder 45 oder 90 min. betragen. Read More
Service providers in the short film sector – vertical integration among online suppliers
For some time now, we have been observing a trend among what were once specialized platforms to offer more and more additional services that are not part of their… Read More
Short film festivals and video-on-demand Part 2: Collaborations with VoD providers
Video-on-demand is a viable option for film festivals that want to extend their reach by offering users anytime, anywhere access to films on the internet. In this second part of… Read More
Short film festivals and video-on-demand Part 1: VoD initiatives launched by festivals
Video-on-Demand pioneer: Sundance Film Festival © Screenshot SundanceTV, 17/06/2019 Video-on-demand still makes up only a small share of the audio-visual market compared to other distribution channels such as television,… Read More
Only Our Data Volume Can Stop Us Now!
People are viewing films and series on their smart phones. There, I’ve said it. It makes the eyes of cinema purists well up with tears of wrath, but a long underrated format is finally stepping into the limelight: The web series. Read More
New Festival Types Exploiting Deluge of Films
The first two articles on the subject of film festivals focused on rip-off, pseudo festivals, as well as on a new type of festival being held in city-centre cinemas. The third part of the series is exploring the consequences of this development for the existing film and festival landscape, which is characterised by a deluge of films and a glut of festivals. Conclusions must be drawn from this that challenge all those involved to find new approaches: The filmmakers, festival organisers and cinema operators, as well as those on the film funding and support policy level. Read More
Laurels for Greenbacks – Making Money with Short Films in a Thriving Festival Scene
A few years ago, I already reported on a ‘film festival’ that was never held, but for which an anonymous festival organiser pocketed the film submission fees. At that… Read More
‘Move It’ and the challenges of alternative cinema programming
In 2016, Animate Projects¹ presented a series of touring programmes, Move It², for hire by cinemas across the UK. The four programmes offered a wide cross-section of current animation practice,… Read More
A review of award-winning short films in 2016 – and a small evaluation
After getting the impression at some point that just a handful of short films scoop up the lion’s share of awards and honours each year worldwide, we began publishing here… Read More
Programming and Curating Short Film Screenings
Part 2: Short Films in Cinema Programmes
Programmers and curators both exist in the cinema sector. However, for the majority of movie theatres it is not necessary to draw a terminological distinction between the two activities, as the programme of a normal commercial cinema is determined according to economic criteria in accordance with market forces and not on the basis of other considerations regarding content. In first run cinemas, the selection is limited a priori to those film releases that are offered by the distributors. Within this framework there is some room for individual decisions regarding quality. Read More
Programming and curating short-film screenings
Part 1: Short film in a festival programme
Due to their length, short films are always screened as part of a programme comprising several films. Compiling a good programme is a creative challenge that requires a professional approach…. Read More
Best practice – Digital screening copies for festivals and cinemas
The digitization of cinema initially aroused hopes that short films would be able to make their way to the big screen much faster and at lower cost – without sacrificing… Read More
Microcinemas and pop-ups – alternative forms of cinema offering everything from six-packs to champagne bars
In the midst of complaints about the crisis of cinema, some new and alternative forms of film exhibition are in fact flourishing. Unfortunately, few studies or publications are available to… Read More
Obsolescence – Part 2: The renaissance of obsolete media
In the first part of the theme article on obsolescence, we examined strategies for preserving works stored on obsolete media. A device or product is obsolete when it is so… Read More
In the cinema
Impatiently we hop from channel to channel when the programmes on TV do not spark our immediate interest. We have long become zappers and surfers with attention spans so short… Read More
Crowdsourcing and participatory art – Gillian Wearing invites submissions for film project
Hundreds of appeals have gone out in the past to participate in collective film projects, but this one is different. Or maybe not? The project is called “Your Views” and… Read More
Obsolescence – Part 1: The preservation and restoration of electronic media
New digital media are rendering their old analogue counterparts obsolete. Innovations have of course always resulted in the replacement of old technologies. But the current changeover from old to new… Read More
The filmless film festival
Ten years ago it was still unthinkable that a film festival could be held without analogue films. Today, the ratio of digital projections at feature film festivals is already between… Read More
Things change: Animated film archives in the digital age
Film archives traditionally consist of stacked film reels in cold storage. But the holdings of archives for animated film also include production materials such as props, dolls, sets, screenplays, storyboards… Read More
Streaming video – The reformatting of film and video art on the Internet
Streaming video technologies are becoming increasingly important, not to mention useful, for filmmakers and video artists. Technical improvements and advances such as cloud computing, larger data storage capacities and better… Read More