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NTR Early Bird Winner thanks the IFFB
The French director Damien Manivel wins the NTR Early Bird Award 2011 for his‘La dame au chien’, which was announced at the IFFB.
Manivel was not present at the festival, but thanked the IFFB, the judges and the audience in a video message from France.
Manivel was not present at the festival, but thanked the IFFB, the judges and the audience in a video message from France.
(Un)Plugged NET GENERATION
Authenticity or mass culture? Online or offline? The IFFB's mission to represent modern day visual culture in all shapes and forms does not stop at presenting the masters of cinema and their latest efforts. The programme (Un)Plugged focuses on a visual representation of new aspects of film making and original point of view by new directors.
Media Me, you're in my story
These film makers, through their films, shape their (and hopefully our) view on today's online/offline world and find both visual and emotional ways to challenge the current state of mind. Their focus is the individual on the verge of a new time.
Catfish
The contrast of online and offline life are the main theme in the humorous, revealing and ultimately touching reality thriller 'Catfish'. Carefully intertwining documentary and fiction, 'Catfish' (already named 'Hitchcock's finest not directed by Hitchcock') is about internet acquintances and online love. Media artist Bert Kommerij's 'Media me, you're in my story' tackles de digitalised world through documentary means. Following his earlier project 'FlickRadio), which premiered at the IFFB 2009, Kommerij once again researched man's struggle with the digital revolution with it's rapidly changing possibilties while a choir chants 'Welcome to Media Me, you're in my story.'
Club Zeus
A more conventional take on this day and age would be 'Club Zeus', the new film by Amsterdam based director David Verbeek, with his original take on portraying young individuals looking for meaning in the new age that dwarfs them, lit by the loomy glow of neon and computer screens.
But (Un)Plugged is not all about the high new means of modern days. The offline life proves just as intriguing in for instance 'Putty Hill', by up and coming American director Matt Porterfield. 'Putty Hill' sheds a light on a small Baltimore community: young and old, confused though strong in their challenging solitude. This film is, as are all (Un)Plugged films, about the individual battle in a wide wide world. (Un)Plugged is an overwhelming programme for the more daring film enthusiast, both strong and personal as modern and grand.
Putty Hill
IFFB 2011: Media Me
The
reflections on the contemporary Digital Revolution in Bert Kommerijk’s ‘Media
Me’ are mirrored in the proces through which this crossmedial project was
created. Starting out as an audio play, the story was then reworked into a
film, using newly made film footage to illustrate the soundtrack, but also
drawing from the Media Me Flickr pool – an online group where over 500 people
have posted more than 6000 images of their personal media usage.
The different
steps in the creation of ‘Media Me’ can be reread at the project’s weblog: from the first concepts, through
financing, casting, recording and creating the audio play, the film shoot and
editing to the final result which will be shown at the IFFB.
IFFB TV: Eelco Brand
In the second installment of IFFB TV, the students of AKV St. Joost focus on Breda-born artist Eelco Brand. Right in time for the opening of the exposition EELCOBRAND.MOVI this Sunday, which shows a selection of the 'paintings in motion' Brand made over the last six years. Technology and emotion meet in his work, a mix of traditional painting and the latest digital tools.
EELCOBRAND.MOVI
Entry: free entrance
Location: Centrum voor Beeldcultuur, Reigerstraat 16, Breda
Opening exposition: Sunday March 13, 16.00-17.30 uur
Period of exposition: March 17 through 22, 13.00-17.00 uur
March 23 through 27, 13.00 - 23.00 uur
A gogo-girl in luscious black and white
An early sneak peek at the IFFB shorts programme 2011: Félix Dufour-LaPerrière, who was part of last year's Blind Wall programme, returns to Breda with his exciting new film ʻStripsʼ. We met up with him at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival in southern France, where the French-Canadian filmmaker shed some light on whatʼs happening in the exciting Montreal experimental scene and his love for vintage techniques.
ʻStripsʼ is a black and white collage created from found footage of an early twentieth century exotic dancer, quite coquette-ish even for modern days. Using footage found through an American online catalogue of historic material Dufour-LaPerrière recreated the images bit by bit: digitally reshaping them, printing stills on paper and reworking them with paint, then scanning and once again digitally rearranging the results. The final film is in part a testament to this labour of love.
Dealing with codes of eroticism, the play of appearance and disappearance, showing and hiding, figuration and abstraction, ʻStripsʼ can be seen both as a playfull approach to a world long gone (or perhaps a stylish naughtiness long lost) and as a more serious work on the female obedience as an object of affection. Dufour-LaPerrière grins: “I feel it is a playfull work myself, though it is of course open to personal interpretation.”
Whatever your feelings may be towards the film, its sheer aesthetic beauty is impossible to miss. Imagine a gogo girl in her thirties, shown in luscious black and white, dancing to her tune and frolicking around through graphic interjections and sheer curtainlike layers. Imagine this girl stuck in endless repitition, her movements underlined in their mock sincerity by background noise. “Then again,” Dufour-LaPerrière interjects, “this is a woman who probably has grandchildren. We certainly intended to be respectful to her.”
The experimental field in Canada is doing well. “In cities like Montreal, where Iʼm from, but also Toronto and Winnipeg, a lot of good work is produced. But always there are far too few screens to present our work to the larger public. A shame of course, now that a lot of younger people are passionate and involved, and festivals for experimental film are growing.”
Does the young director still believe in the 'experimental' tag? Hardly: “The term ʻexperimentalʼ can dissappear if its context is emphasized too much. Certainly more experimental works can compete with a more straightforward narrative approach, as many short films prove. There needs to be a certain degree of willingness for the audience to be overwhelmed and to go with the flow but the basic principles are the same.” Being aware of what has come before is crucial in that regard: “Most of the more experimental works are in fact reactions to previous cinematic endeavors, translations bringing that very experience too a broader field.”
Aaron Rookus looks ahead with CineCrowd
The IFFB has its favorites, of course. Aaron Rookus is one of them. This young filmmaker from Utrecht managed to blow everyone away with his graduation film ʻI Wish I Could Share the Happiness of Being Alone with Someone Elseʼ during the first edition of the festival, and returned last year for the world premiere of his experimental ʻSiroccoʼ. For his new work in progress he has struck an alliance with CineCrowd, a fresh new initiative in the Dutch filmworld. Rookus' 'Woensdagen' ('Wednesdays') will be developed from concept to film with their support.
CineCrowd offers hope for young filmmakers with more talent than budget. Following American examples such as Kickstarter and Indie GoGo, which in the last couple of years have given a few dozen film projects their start, CineCrowd allows promising creators to realise their projects through crowdfunding: direct financing from the audience.
CineCrowd is een online platform where film lovers can invest in small projects by mostly young independent filmmakers. Co-founder Roel van de Weijer explains: "CineCrowd focusses mainly on short films, because these are more easily financed with a limited budget. Also, films funds usually have very limited for these kinds of productions, even though they can often be a stepping stone to feature films."
For Rookus, this new initiative can be a welcome support, now that 'Woensdagen' is starting to take shape. While the Dutch subsidy system is not bad (though far from perfect), filmmakers like him often have trouble finding the necessary funds. En 'Woensdagen' especially is a film that should be made.
CineCrowd was presented in February and plans to add several new projects every month. The first project that was presented was ʻMorgen is alles beterʼ ('Tomorrow everything will be better') by Floris Parlevliet, an atmospheric tale of generation gaps in the Roma community. To adequately present the project to the CineCrowd audience, Parlevliet created a short teaser. This allowed the director (who won a NFF Student Award for his film 'Mesopotamië') to make a first visual sketch en shows potential investors what they are dealing with.
Now that the production has started its time at CineCrowd, the meter is running. A full crew is ready to go to work when the funding stage ends in a month and a half. Until then this teaser is a beautiuful promise of what is to come.
From Friday 25 until Sunday 27 March, CineCrowd will be available at their table in the StadsGalerij Film Lounge.
CineCrowd offers hope for young filmmakers with more talent than budget. Following American examples such as Kickstarter and Indie GoGo, which in the last couple of years have given a few dozen film projects their start, CineCrowd allows promising creators to realise their projects through crowdfunding: direct financing from the audience.CineCrowd is een online platform where film lovers can invest in small projects by mostly young independent filmmakers. Co-founder Roel van de Weijer explains: "CineCrowd focusses mainly on short films, because these are more easily financed with a limited budget. Also, films funds usually have very limited for these kinds of productions, even though they can often be a stepping stone to feature films."
For Rookus, this new initiative can be a welcome support, now that 'Woensdagen' is starting to take shape. While the Dutch subsidy system is not bad (though far from perfect), filmmakers like him often have trouble finding the necessary funds. En 'Woensdagen' especially is a film that should be made.
CineCrowd was presented in February and plans to add several new projects every month. The first project that was presented was ʻMorgen is alles beterʼ ('Tomorrow everything will be better') by Floris Parlevliet, an atmospheric tale of generation gaps in the Roma community. To adequately present the project to the CineCrowd audience, Parlevliet created a short teaser. This allowed the director (who won a NFF Student Award for his film 'Mesopotamië') to make a first visual sketch en shows potential investors what they are dealing with.
Now that the production has started its time at CineCrowd, the meter is running. A full crew is ready to go to work when the funding stage ends in a month and a half. Until then this teaser is a beautiuful promise of what is to come.
From Friday 25 until Sunday 27 March, CineCrowd will be available at their table in the StadsGalerij Film Lounge.
Almost there: the IFFB trailer!
Hold your breath because it's almost finished: the official IFFB trailer is almost there and enthusiastic AKV | St Joost students are working on the final version as we speak, or blog really. We can't wait to see the final result!
From early March the final IFFB trailer will give you a clear idea of what the IFFB is all about: simply the Weird & the Wonderfull in all that is film. The AKV | St Joost are now finalisinf the final version of the trailer which lives and breathes the (Un)Plugged approach that is IFFB 2011, just as we like it. What to expect? A fresh look on animation and film top begin with, about a thousand post-its and as far as we can judge from our safe office about three or four ladders for the personal touch. Sounds and looks promising, doesn't it?
Let's get Visual!
It has arrived at last: our IFFB 2011 visual! The Early Bird goes unplugged this year and designers Leon&Rene&Rob&Thomas were quite happy to take our mascotte's somewhat saintly looks a bit further. The results is stunning and makes a nice evolvement of our festivals vision clearer.
Expect our Early Bird 2011 all over town soon.
A sneak peek at IFFB 2011
In just two months time the festival will be back in town and you can yet again see the best and the brightest of film today. The IFFB team is hard at work making sure you get to see the best out there and we'd be happy to give you a preview! Sit back, relax, and take it in...
NEDS, by the amazing Peter Mullan, arthouse favourite since his haunting tale The Magdalene Sisters. And he is an amazing actor on top of that, in NEDS as well.
Kaboom is the latest of Gregg Araki, enfant terrible of all that defies and defines good taste in cinema. We love it: Sci fi, sex, surreal storytelling. This has IFFB Midnight Madness written all over it!
You Are Here, by Canadian director Daniel Cockburn, one of our special guests at the festival.
Here on the Early Bird Blog we'll be giving you updates making sure you know first when we've selected a film.
Volunteers step forward!
Up for a challenge and time to spare? How about joining our team af an official IFFB volunteer? It is an excellent opportunity to meet new people, have the behind the scnes look at the event, watch tons of films and have a good time first and foremost. Sign up now!
