Symposium—Kaunas, 2019

What are the best ways to foster new forms of cinema?

The On & For public symposium at Kaunas International Film Festival focuses on sharing experiences of artists’ moving image (AMI) production, defining the actors who facilitate AMI creation and their roles, and reflecting on the articulation of AMI's metrics of value.

Programme

9:30 – 10:00 Welcome and coffee

10:00 - 10:05 Introduction and moderation by Ilona Jurkonytė 

(Researcher, Film Curator, Artistic Director of Kaunas IFF) 

10:05 – 12:00 Two Approaches to Understanding Artists’ Moving Image: National/Institutional and an Artist Film Case Analysis

Two talks on artists’ moving image (AMI) production experiences, addressing how different production contexts and frameworks affect the kinds of works that are being produced in different countries and how production and dissemination can be centred around individual artistic practices.

10:05 – 11:05 Navigating the Foggy Seas of Artists’ Moving Image Production – Len Murusalu (Artist, Filmmaker, Producer at ChronoLens, EE)

Special focus on AMI funding reforms in Estonia. The talk will address questions such as what are the conditions for AMI production and distribution in Estonia? What serves as an impulse for major changes in the way AMI is treated on institutional and national cultural policy levels in Estonia? How are negotiations among existing actors evolving?

11:05 – 12:00 “On & For Production” Case Study: Labour Power Plant (FR, DE, 2019, 83 min) by Romana Schmalisch (Artist, Filmmaker, DE) and Robert Schlicht (Artist, Filmmaker, DE)

How was the experience of participating in “On & For Production”? What did it bring to the project? How is this production different from other ways of producing work?

In a broader sense, how are changes to artists’ moving image venues (private or national galleries, collections, cinema theatres, public spaces, etc.) impacting production processes? How do artists navigate film production processes, especially with larger projects? How do they negotiate the demands of various types of funders, or the different languages they speak – commercial, artistic, academic, etc.? 

— Labour Power Plant (FR, DE, 2019, 83 min) by Romana Schmalisch (Artist, Filmmaker, DE) and Robert Schlicht (Artist, Filmmaker, DE) will be screened on September 28: Artist Film in Focus. 

12:00-13:30 Lunch Break

13:30 - 16:00 Defining Artists’ Moving Image Production and Distribution 

How do different institutions participate in AMI production and distribution processes? What are the new funding structures in between traditional film industry and art funding? How does the financing of a film influence its production? How does the production process influence not only the kind of work that is being produced, but also its dissemination potentials? What are the best ways to foster new forms of cinema? Do language and formal requirements set by commissioners and funding bodies help open the potentials of audio-visual critical thinking? How can we redefine the notion of “success” in relation to audio-visual work? How can we rethink existing funding structures and initiate more suitable ones? 

Speakers: Lene Berg (Artist, Filmmaker, NO), Mindaugas Bundza (Chief of Staff, Lithuanian Council for Culture, LT), Dr. Lolita Jablonskienė (Lithuanian National Gallery of Art Chief Curator, LT), Audrius Kuprevičius (Film Production Department, Lithuanian Film Centre, LT), Len Murusalu (Artist, Filmmaker, EE), Asta Vaičiulytė (Curator, Contemporary Art Centre, LT), Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė (Producer, Just a Moment, LT).

Curator Ilona Jurkonytė
Curator’s Assistant Agnė Valatkaitė