JOIN USExperimenta, International Festival of Moving Image Art opened recently. The week long festival is presented by Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan and Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, in collaboration with Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council.
The festival that will go on till December 3 will witness pathbreaking films of Chick Strand, Peggy Ahwesh, Kidlat Tahimik, Kamal Swaroop, Rox Lee, Keith Sanborn, Peter Hutton, Ruy Guerra, Sarah Maldoror, Fernando Birri and Uday Shankar. Some insights are expected to be offered by artists from Thailand, France, Germany, Italy, Phillippines, USA, UK, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Argentina, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Vietnam, Canada and India.
Philippines-based film maker Kidlat Tahimik inaugurated the event with festival director Shai Heredia by opening the 'Experimenta' catalogue.
The event started with the screening of 'Monangambee' and 'Mueda, Memoria E Massacre', curated by Nicole Wolf, senior lecturer in Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London. Nicole Wolf personally presented and showcased these films, giving a brief of both the movies.
Sarah Maldoror's 1969 movie 'Monangambee' showcased how the Portuguese ignored the Angolan culture, treated and imprisoned people, who opposed colonialism. The second piece, Ruy Guerra's 1979 film 'Mueda, Memoria E Massacre', was based on the public massacre of over 600 people by Portuguese governor in Mueda.
The audience varied from students of film studies to movie-makers. Kamal Swaroop, one of the jury members was happy seeing many youngsters being interested in such films. "Youngsters have bought a new dimension for the experimental movies," he said. "Way back when we were in FTII, there were very few takers for such movies but today, I see a good response to these," he added.
"We are looking forward to interactive sessions with eminent filmmakers as we get to learn a lot from them," said Tanmaya, a student of Srishti.
Films are screened from 12.15 pm to 9 pm at Max Mueller Bhavan. For more details, log on to www.experimenta.in