Frankfurt am Main | 14 – 22 October 2023

Programme

The events and films will be shown in the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil. In addition, the B3 is open to visitors daily at various other venues.

Please note that the B3's stay at the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil ends on 18 October. Until 21 October you can see artistic works at NOS / Zeil 121. On 22 October you can still see works by Anna Ridler at the Palmengarten and Federico Solmi at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Day 1saturday, 14.10.2023

  • 09:00 AM – 07:00 PM
    Art

    B3 Moving Image Forum

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    The B3 Moving Image Forum gives an insight into the diverse and ever-changing world of international creative artists with their latest works. More information about the selected works.


  • 09:00 AM – 11:00 PM
    Art

    The latest works of Daniel Canogar

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    Visitors will have the unique opportunity to experience Canogar's fascinating artworks and learn from a pioneer of media art at the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil.


  • 09:30 AM – 11:00 AM
    HessenLab

    B3 HessenLab Pitch

    With: Joshua Gundlach (Artist and Game Developer, Germany)

    Only for participants and mentors of the HessenLab.


    Speaker

    Joshua Gundlach Artist and Game Developer, Germany

    Joshua Gundlach is a story teller. A 2021 graduate from Kunsthochschule Kassel, he centers his art around Judaism, queerness and disability. He primarily works with making games, illustrations and textile art.
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
    Panel Discussion

    B3 Conference Opening | From Hollywood to Netflix & Co. - Is Content still King?

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    With: Christian Franckenstein (CEO, Bavaria Studios, Germany) Adrian Wootton (CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK) Alice Troughton · Judy Tossel ·

    The film and moving image industries are in a constant state of change. With the increasing spread of streaming services and the steadily growing importance of social media, viewing habits have changed dramatically, and at the same time the demand for high-quality content has risen significantly. Where does this content come from and which topics are currently in particular demand by the audience or should be set?

    How can a filmmaker, producer or agency be successful in this volatile environment and what trends can be expected in the future?
    The storytelling of a film or series is more and more being influenced by the way films and moving image content are created and which distribution platforms they are produced for.
    This raises further questions such as what technologies and platforms will industries use in the future, and what new opportunities and risks might result from them?

    The panelists will discuss these topics from different perspectives and take a look behind the scenes of the film and moving image industry.

    This discussion is a great opportunity to gain valuable insights from experienced expert:s and get a glimpse into the future trends and challenges of the industry.

    Speaker

    Christian Franckenstein CEO, Bavaria Studios, Germany

    Dr. Christian Franckenstein (Jahrgang 1963) ist seit 6. Oktober 2014 Vorsitzender der Geschäftsführung der Bavaria Film GmbH. Er kam von der MME Moviement AG, wo er seit 2004 dem Vorstand der MME Moviement AG angehörte und seit 2010 als dessen Sprecher bzw. Vorsitzender. 1999 hatte Christian …
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    Adrian Wootton CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK

    Adrian is a Programme Advisor to the BFI London Film Festival; Venice Film Festival and Noir in Fest, Milan; Founding Director of Shots in the Dark Festival, Nottingham and Curator of the annual Cinema Made In Italy programme, London. Adrian is a recognised authority in various film/TV and …
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    Alice Troughton

    Alice Troughton is an internationally-acclaimed director working between the UK and the US. Having lead directed and exec-produced Baghdad Central (2020) and The Midwich Cuckoos, she is also known for her work on the award-winning shows The Living and The Dead, Cucumber and Dr Who. The Lesson, her …
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    Judy Tossel

    Born in Wiltshire/England in  1966, Judy Tossell studied Classics at Oxford University, before moving to Berlin, Germany, in  1989. After learning the ropes at REGINA ZIEGLER FILMPRODUKTION, Judy founded her own independent company in  1996 as a production platform for a group of talented young …
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    Host

    Aaron Hillis

    Aaron Hillis has lived, breathed and bled independent cinema for over 20 years, and was praised by  Brooklyn Magazine as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture" alongside Lena Dunham and Spike Lee. For the past 18 months, he has been the Director of Programming for Cineverse, …
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  • 01:00 PM – 02:00 PM
    Presentation

    UpStream, an Initiative by Film London. For all those who want to launch internationally with their idea.

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    With: Helena Mackenzie (Head of Inward Investment & Business Development, Film London, UK)

    UPstream is an innovative event focused on new IP which could, with vision, be adapted to TV, Film and/or Games.

    UPstream finds new content creators and provides a platform for the IP to be pitched to development executives and creative producers at production companies in the UK. Maybe you have a podcast, or an animated character, or an amazing true story or an, as yet, unpublished novel? If so, we want hear from you.

    Speaker

    Helena Mackenzie Head of Inward Investment & Business Development, Film London, UK

    Helena Mackenzie is the Head of Inward Investment & Business Development at Film London. She delivers key industry events such as the London Screenings and the Production Finance Market, helping producers to raise finances for their feature film productions. She originates in & outbound …
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    Jordan McGarry

    Head of Talent Development and Production, Film London, UK
  • 02:00 PM – 03:00 PM
    Keynote

    One of the most influential directors of our time and B3 Honorary Lifetime Achievement Laureate 2023, Sir Stephen Frears, in conversation with Adrian Wootton (OBE), CEO of Film London and British Film Council.

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    With: Adrian Wootton (CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK) Stephen Frears (Director, UK)


    Speaker

    Adrian Wootton CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK

    Adrian is a Programme Advisor to the BFI London Film Festival; Venice Film Festival and Noir in Fest, Milan; Founding Director of Shots in the Dark Festival, Nottingham and Curator of the annual Cinema Made In Italy programme, London. Adrian is a recognised authority in various film/TV and …
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    Stephen Frears Director, UK

    Unanimously regarded as one of Britain's finest directors, Stephen Frears has always embraced a wide variety of styles, themes and genres. He worked almost exclusively for the small screen in the first 15 years of his career, with programs such as One Fine Day by Alan Bennett and Three Men In A …
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  • 03:15 PM – 04:45 PM
    Workshop

    Workshop: Artificial Intelligence in the Creative and Pre-Production Phase of Film and Television

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    With: Oliver Schütte (Screenwriter, Author, Producer, Consultant and Founding Member of the German Film Academy, Germany)

    This workshop focuses on the use of AI technologies in the creative and pre-production phases of film and television projects.

    Participants will get an overview of AI tools and platforms that can be used in different areas of the film and television industry to increase efficiency while exploring new opportunities.

    Topics include ideation and prototyping, scene selection, prop and costume planning, time and resource planning, cast and crew, storytelling and script development, script analysis, casting and character analysis, music and sound design, sound editing and analysis, voiceover, as well as collaboration tools for crew and production.

    Speaker

    Oliver Schütte Screenwriter, Author, Producer, Consultant and Founding Member of the German Film Academy, Germany

    Oliver Schütte studied film and theater in Berlin. He has been a screenwriter for film and television since 1986. He won the German Film Prize in 1988 for his first screenplay, "Koan". Since 1990, he has been working as a Script Consultant. From 1995 until 2008 he was the director of the Master …
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  • 03:30 PM – 06:30 PM
    Film

    The Lost King

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    The Director is present

    Philippa (Sally Hawkins) doesn't have it easy: she is constantly overlooked in her agency job, her sons are slowly going their own way and she is in the middle of a divorce from John (Steve Coogan), with whom she actually gets along quite well.

    After a visit to the theater she develops a fascination for King Richard III. and sets his sights on finding his missing remains. She doesn't want to believe that the controversial monarch was really such a despicable monster as Shakespeare portrayed him. Her search is the starting point for an adventurous journey in which the inconspicuous Philippa follows her intuition against great odds and takes on respected historians to tell the world the true story of Richard III. to tell. After their popular success “Philomena”, acclaimed director Stephen Frears (“The Queen”, “High Fidelity”), Jeff Pope (screenplay) and Steve Coogan (screenplay and actor) have come together again to tell the true and moving story of an unusual woman to tell: two-time Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (“Spencer,” “The Shape of Water”) plays Philippa Langley, who discovered the missing remains of King Richard III in 2012. found and thus changed historiography. “The Lost King” tells Philippa's search as a deeply human journey, a triumph of a woman who doesn't let the male-dominated world of academia deter her from her path and in doing so makes an incredible discovery.

  • 05:00 PM – 06:45 PM
    Film

    Actually Actually January

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    The Director is present

    A bag filled with unexposed analog film material, some of it long overlaid, is the starting point for Filmmaker Jan January is not an easy month: the weather is cold and dreary, the glow of Christmas lights is gone and a feeling of emptiness sets in.

    But there's that drive and all those good New Year's resolutions....Jan Peters wanted to tidy up and found two refrigerator bags from the 1980s, filled with unexposed Super 8 and 16mm film material collected over decades. The idea of exposing a roll of three minutes every day and then developing it himself at home in a bucket with a mixture of instant coffee, vitamin C powder and washing soda could not be followed through. It did, however, provide the starting point for Peters' new diary film EIGENTLICH EIGENTLICH JANUAR, which is simply brilliant. (Ina Borrmann)

  • 06:00 PM – 07:00 PM
    Panel Discussion

    Funding Systems in Hesse and Europe

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    In line with this year's motto of B3, Hessen Film & Medien also aims to expand its horizons. As part of the festival, the funding institution wants to introduce itself to the international professional audience and the participants of the Hessen Lab.

    Marion Wagner, head of the funding department of Hessen Film & Medien, explains the funding opportunities for international co-productions. Afterwards, Marjorie Bendeck (Head of Connecting Cottbus & Project Manager for Locarno Open Doors Co-Production Hub) will expand the thematic framework and provide insights into the multi-layered funding system in Europe.

    At a get-together at the bar following the event, there will be the opportunity to further discuss the topics of funding and co-production in Hessen, Germany and Europe and to make contacts.

    Speaker


    Marion Wagner

    Head of the Funding Department at Hessen Film & Medien, Germany

    Marjorie Bendeck

    Head of Connecting Cottbus & Project Manager for Locarno Open Doors Co-Production Hub, Germany
  • 06:45 PM – 07:45 PM
    Performance

    Canadian multidisciplinary visual artist Evond Blake also known as MEDIAH performing live on stage

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    With: Evond (MEDIAH) Blake ·

    'Azurite Fielding' is a trans-dimensional, audio-visual journey performed in real-time that explores metaphysical realms that lie outside of our temporal reality.

    The powerful imagery combines dynamic movement, interweaving sculptural forms and explosive colours. The artwork depicts landscapes that range from luminous nebulae built from magnetic fields and cosmic dust to mechanical territories where multiple structural components collide, assemble, and deconstruct. The project’s theme explores the thin veil between our dimension and the ever after. An ambisonic soundscape has been custom-engineered for this project by New York electronic producer/engineer Noah B.

    Speaker

    Evond (MEDIAH) Blake

    Evond Blake (aka MEDIAH) is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist who weaves contemporary graffiti/street art forms with painterly techniques and digital media to create large-scale, immersive cinematic environments. Heavily inspired by avionics, mechanical engineering and schematics, MEDIAH’s …
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  • 07:30 PM – 08:30 PM
    Presentation

    Adrian Wootton Presents Stephen Spielberg - A Film History

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    With: Adrian Wootton (CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK)

    Adrian Wootton, Film London CEO and film historian gives this militia media illustrated talk.

    Looking at the incredible life and career of this legendary influential and prolific director who is also the most commercially successful and popular filmmaker in movie history, Adrian traces his meteoric rise as a movie “brat” and reveals the behind the scenes stories of the making of classic films such as Jaws, Indiana Jones , Schindlers List and Jurassic Park, lavishly illustrated with film clips and slides. Coming right up date Adrian also explores Steven Spielberg’s latest award-winning and most autobiographical drama The Fablemans.

    Speaker

    Adrian Wootton CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK

    Adrian is a Programme Advisor to the BFI London Film Festival; Venice Film Festival and Noir in Fest, Milan; Founding Director of Shots in the Dark Festival, Nottingham and Curator of the annual Cinema Made In Italy programme, London. Adrian is a recognised authority in various film/TV and …
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  • 07:30 PM – 09:15 PM
    Film

    Hey Viktor!

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    "Hey Viktor!" is the story of once-famous child actor Cody Lightning, best known as Little Viktor from 1998 cult classic "Smoke Signals". Twenty years removed from childhood fame, Cody Lightning has been forced to move home to his reserve in northern Alberta. He still believes himself to be famous, even though the only parts he gets these days are porn and fracking commercials.


  • 07:30 PM – 08:30 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 1

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    The Directors are present

    La Bee de Beeley, Director: Sacha Beeley
    Haven, Director: Maureen O'Connell
    Three Trees Don't Make a Forest, Director: Leonhard Hofmann
    Lily at Home, Director: Daisy Smith
    Enlightened, Director: Nina Bouchaud Cheval


  • 08:00 PM – 09:45 PM
    Film

    The Lesson

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    With Director Talk

    Liam, an aspiring young author, hungry for success and recognition, takes a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author J.M. Sinclair.

    But Liam soon realizes that he is ensnared in a complicated web of family secrets, resentment, and retribution. Sinclair, his wife Hélène, and their son Bertie all guard a dark past, one that threatens their future as well as Liam’s own. As the lines between master and protégé blur, class, ambition, and betrayal become a dangerous combination.

    Academy Award nominee Richard E. Grant ("Can You Ever Forgive Me?"), Academy Award nominee Julie Delpy ("Before Midnight"), and BAFTA nominee Daryl McCormack ("Good Luck to You, Leo Grande") star in a story inspired by the experiences of debut feature screenwriter Alex MacKeith. Directed by Alice Troughton ("Cucumber", "Baghdad Central"), "The Lesson" is a taut noir thriller that modernizes and subverts the genre.

  • 09:15 PM – 11:45 PM
    Film

    A.I. - Künstliche Intelligenz

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    Sometime in the future of the 21st century, in a time when the Greenhouse Effect has melted the icecaps, submerging many of the coastal cities in water, mankind depends upon computers with artificial intelligence to maintain our way of life.

    Man has also found new friends in A.I., in the form of robots that are used for a variety of functions. A robotic boy, the first programmed to love, David (Haley Joel Osment) is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee (Sam Robards) and his wife (Frances O'Connor). Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David. Without final acceptance by humans or machines, David embarks on a journey to discover where he truly belongs, uncovering a world in which the line between robot and machine is both vast and profoundly thin.

  • 09:45 PM – 11:40 PM
    Film

    Mars One

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    The Martins are optimistic dreamers, quietly leading their lives on the margins of a major Brazilian city following the disappointing election of a far-right extremist president. A lower-middle-class Black family, they feel the strain of their new reality as the political dust settles.


  • 11:00 PM – 12:30 AM
    Film

    Disco Boy

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    Following a difficult journey across Europe, Aleksei reaches Paris to enlist in the French Foreign Legion - a highly selective military corp that allows any foreigner, even undocumented, to be granted a French passport.
    In the Niger Delta, Jomo fights against oil companies that threaten the survival of his village. His sister Udoka, meanwhile, dreams of escaping, knowing that all is already lost here. Beyond borders, life and death, their destinies will intertwine.


  • 11:45 PM – 02:15 AM
    Film

    Ready Player One

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    In 2045, the planet is on the brink of chaos and collapse, but people find salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by James Halliday.

    When Halliday dies, he promises his immense fortune to the first person to discover a digital Easter egg that's hidden somewhere in the OASIS. When young Wade Watts joins the contest, he finds himself becoming an unlikely hero in a reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical world of mystery, discovery and danger.

Day 2sunday, 15.10.2023

  • 09:00 AM – 07:00 PM
    Art

    B3 Moving Image Forum

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    The B3 Moving Image Forum gives an insight into the diverse and ever-changing world of international creative artists with their latest works. More information about the selected works.


  • 09:00 AM – 11:00 PM
    Art

    The latest works of Daniel Canogar

    Buy ticket

    Visitors will have the unique opportunity to experience Canogar's fascinating artworks and learn from a pioneer of media art at the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil.


  • 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    Panel Discussion

    Absolutely Necessary and Polarizing. Diversity and Identity Politics In Art, Culture, and Media

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    With: Cameron Kostopoulos (Artist and VR Producer, USA) Joshua Gundlach (Artist and Game Developer, Germany) Abid Khan · Tobi Onabolu ·

    B3 Conference / Special Format Featuring Individual Conversations Followed by a Panel Discussion

    Migration, LGBTQ+, Post-Colonial Discourse, Black Live Matters, Antisemitism, LGBTQ+, Cultural Appropriation, Cancel Culture, Tokenism - these terms and buzzwords have been making their way into the cultural and political sphere for years, even reaching the mainstream. We all encounter one or another aspect of these issues daily and find ourselves challenged to take a stance.

    Diversity and identity politics play a crucial role in film, the arts and culture sector, as they can reflect society's variety and contribute to breaking down discrimination, promoting equal opportunities, and fostering participation. This array of people, ideas, and perspectives is also mirrored in artistic works and cultural events at B3.

    To begin with, in brief individual conversations with artists and media professionals presenting their works at B3, space is created for critical exchange and constructive debates about their personal experiences, art, culture, and politics. In the ensuing panel discussion, they collectively deliberate on solutions and strategies for an inclusive and diverse art and cultural landscape.

    Speaker

    Cameron Kostopoulos Artist and VR Producer, USA

    Cameron Kostopoulos is an award-winning director, filmmaker, and XR pioneer. The overlap between his alternative writing & directing and technical VFX skills frees him to create dreamt worlds, fading memories, and deeply intimate experiences. ​In May 2022, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from …
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    Joshua Gundlach Artist and Game Developer, Germany

    Joshua Gundlach is a story teller. A 2021 graduate from Kunsthochschule Kassel, he centers his art around Judaism, queerness and disability. He primarily works with making games, illustrations and textile art.
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    Abid Khan

    Abid Khan is a self-taught writer-director who worked in a cinema and directed award-winning shorts on weekends. His debut feature film GRANADA NIGHTS was shot in Spain and released in UK and Spain cinemas. Abid Khan has won numerous festival breakthrough awards, including a prestigious Premios …
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    Tobi Onabolu

    Born in London, Tobi Onabolu is an artist and writer who lives nomadically with a base in Grand Popo, Benin Republic. He works in an interdisciplinary and collaborative style predominantly across moving-image, poetry, and performance. Interrogating the process of inner child reconnection, Tobi uses …
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  • 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    Master Class

    Spanish Artist and B3 Honorary Laureate 2023 in the Category of Art, Daniel Canogar, in Conversation with the Director of the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Dr. Sebastian Baden

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    With: Daniel Canogar (Artist, Spain, B3 Honorary Laureate, Category ART 2023)

    Daniel Canogar is a pioneer of interactive art. He creates artworks that blend traditional media with modern technology. His installations explore the connection between humans, nature, and technology in fascinating ways. In his Master Class, he offers insights into his work and creative process, and engages in a conversation with Dr. Sebastian Baden about art, the impact of societal trends and cutting-edge technologies on his artistic practice, art in general, and what this signifies for artistic creation in the future.

    Speaker

    Daniel Canogar Artist, Spain, B3 Honorary Laureate, Category ART 2023

    Born in Madrid (1964) to a Spanish father and an American mother, Daniel Canogar’s life and career have bridged between Spain and the U.S. Photography was his earliest medium of choice, receiving a M.A. from NYU at the International Center of photography in 1990, but he soon became interested in …
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    Host

    Sebastian Baden

    Sebastian Baden, born in 1980, is the director of SCHIRN Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany. Before that he has been a curator for contemporary art, sculpture and new media at Kunsthalle Mannheim. From 2010 to 2016 he was teaching art and media theories at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. He …
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  • 12:30 PM – 02:00 PM
    Workshop

    Beyond the Page: Does the New Age of Screenwriting Need the Screenwriter More Than Ever?

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    With: Laura Turner (Screenwriter and Playwright, UK)

    Traditional screenwriting remains an essential skill for aspiring screenwriters. It also forms the basis for most film and television productions and serves as a guide for directors and actors to develop a common vision of the eventual film.

    This workshop will focus on the art of classic screenwriting in the film and television industry. It will also look at possible future trends in screenwriting and discuss how to prepare for changes in the industry through further proliferation of streaming services or the use of the latest AI tools: Will there be more interactive content soon? What role will artificial intelligence play in the scriptwriting process in the future?

    Current AI tools can already help screenwriters in early stages of their creative process to generate ideas, visualize them from the beginning and share them with others in their creative team. Screenplay analysis can also be simplified, improved and accelerated by AI: What changes in the role, task and self-image of the screenwriter will result from these recent developments?

    The workshop offers a great opportunity to expand one's own writing skills and to prepare for the new age of screenwriting in partnership with AI.

    Speaker

    Laura Turner Screenwriter and Playwright, UK

    Laura is a screenwriter and playwright whose first feature film LAPWING was released in cinemas in 2021 (Bulldog Distribution). The film, featuring Hannah Douglas, Emmett J Scanlan and Sebastian de Souza, was selected for the BIFA To Watch List November 2021 and received critical acclaim. …
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  • 01:30 PM – 03:00 PM
    Panel Discussion

    AI, Euphoria and Fear. To What Extent is The Use of AI in Film and Moving Image Acceptable? An overview of the most important current discussion topics. Part 1

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    With: Daniel Chávez Heras (Lecturer in Digital Culture and Creative Computing, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, UK) Evond (MEDIAH) Blake · Jeppe Lange · Hidéo Snes (Artist and Researcher, Finland)

    We recommend you attend the follow-up event on this topic on Monday, October 16, 2023, at 10 a.m. at the Astor Film Lounge.

    For some time now, numerous voices have been raised in public, including those of experts in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), who are calling for a temporary halt to the development of the most advanced AI systems or for a comprehensive worldwide AI regulation on the part of official authorities.

    But even as some experts compare AI's destructive potential to that of a nuclear bomb, and even if AI can design 40,000 potentially lethal chemical agents in 6 hours - apart from the apocalyptic scenarios that could be invoked by AI, the question arises as to what else AI can do and how it can be put to good use. What could this mean for the use of AI in film and moving image?

    The role of AI in these fields has evolved dramatically in recent years. Today, AI-powered tools and technologies are integral to film production and post-production. Through these tools, everything from scriptwriting to color correction and sound design can be automated. But while it is possible that these advances might increase efficiency, they also raise important ethical questions.

    These questions and concerns center on the threat to jobs, creative integrity, originality, and authorship posed by AI. In addition, there are issues related to privacy and security, as well as the need for transparency in AI algorithms and their political and legal regulation.

    The potential for AI to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and biases from its training data, potentially generating often unnoticed discriminatory content, will also be a topic of this panel. If a film that has been made using AI crosses legal or ethical boundaries - for example, by spreading hate speech or creating misleading deepfakes - who will be held responsible? Is it the developer of the AI? The filmmaker who made use of the AI? Or the AI itself? Panelists will examine and discuss these and related questions from different perspectives.

    Speaker

    Daniel Chávez Heras Lecturer in Digital Culture and Creative Computing, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, UK

    Daniel specialises in the computational production and analysis of visual culture. His research combines critical frameworks in the history and theories of cinema, television, and photography, with advanced technical practice in creative and scientific computing, including applied machine learning …
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    Evond (MEDIAH) Blake

    Evond Blake (aka MEDIAH) is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist who weaves contemporary graffiti/street art forms with painterly techniques and digital media to create large-scale, immersive cinematic environments. Heavily inspired by avionics, mechanical engineering and schematics, MEDIAH’s …
    Read more…

    Jeppe Lange

    Jeppe Lange is an experimental filmmaker and writer. Since 2019 he has been working with AI, utilizing it both as a filmmaking tool and as a subject of examination. He has written articles on AI for Danish newspapers and is currently writing a novel about photography and the end of the world.
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    Hidéo Snes Artist and Researcher, Finland

    It is said Hidéo Snes is otherworldly, different. A creature, so deranged, strange, and twisted, its presence remains in constant flux. A tentacled elder-god, a multi-breasted space-vixen, a many-faced, utterly fiendish beast. Hidéo Snes is not one, but many. Not one thought that echoes through the …
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    Eric Drass

    Artist, UK

    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
    Read more…
  • 02:00 PM – 03:20 PM
    Film

    Geoff McFetridge

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    You may not know his name, but his art is everywhere. It’s on your Apple watch, splashed on the sides of buildings, exhibited in countless galleries around the world, in title designs for films by Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze, and featured in collabs with Vans, Warby Parker, Nike, and more.


  • 02:00 PM – 03:55 PM
    Film

    The Goonies

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    "The Goonies," directed by Richard Donner, is an adventure-filled classic that follows a group of young friends living in a quiet Oregon town. Facing foreclosure on their homes, they stumble upon an old treasure map in the attic, sparking a thrilling quest for hidden pirate treasure.

    Led by the charismatic Mikey Walsh, the Goonies embark on a perilous underground adventure, encountering booby traps, dangerous criminals known as the Fratellis, and uncovering the legend of the notorious pirate One-Eyed Willy. This heartwarming and humorous tale of camaraderie and childhood dreams has become a beloved classic, cherished by audiences of all ages, and continues to inspire the adventurer in all of us.

  • 03:30 PM – 04:30 PM
    Panel Discussion

    Creative Storytelling at a Turning Point. Is AI a Tool or Antagonist of Storytelling?

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    With: Oliver Schütte (Screenwriter, Author, Producer, Consultant and Founding Member of the German Film Academy, Germany) Jonny-Bix Bongers ·

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to fundamentally change the way stories are told and produced in moving images. One of the main arguments for using AI technologies in moving image production is the time and money it saves. By automatically generating ideas up to entire videos and artworks, creating storyboards or transcribing, dubbing and translating videos, workflows can be optimized and resources can be used more efficiently. AI is also already finding its way into script analysis.

    At the same time, AI-assisted processes are generating numerous new ethical, legal, political, and aesthetic concerns, most of which revolve around the protection of copyrights and the handling of sensitive creative data.

    The extent to which the use of AI interferes with the process of human creativity as a whole also raises questions: should the creative control of human creators be allowed to be transferred to AI systems, and do the AI-generated results then still meet human standards or even have the potential to surpass human creativity and intuition, or do they merely complement them?

    Examples such as The Next Rembrandt, a project in which AI generated an artwork in the style of Rembrandt, or NVIDIA GameGAN, which uses AI technology to create new game worlds and scenes, raise fundamental aesthetic and philosophical questions regarding the limits of artistic creation, human authorship, authenticity, and originality.

    The workshop will critically examine and illustrate with hands-on examples the consequences for creative storytelling.

    Speaker

    Oliver Schütte Screenwriter, Author, Producer, Consultant and Founding Member of the German Film Academy, Germany

    Oliver Schütte studied film and theater in Berlin. He has been a screenwriter for film and television since 1986. He won the German Film Prize in 1988 for his first screenplay, "Koan". Since 1990, he has been working as a Script Consultant. From 1995 until 2008 he was the director of the Master …
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    Jonny-Bix Bongers

    Jonny-Bix Bongers studied scenic arts at the University of Hildesheim and theater directing at the ZHdK in Zurich. He has worked as a director at various cultural institutions, including the Münchner Kammerspiele and the Goethe Institut. Since 2020, he has been participating in the first year of …
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 04:30 PM – 06:00 PM
    Film

    Habib

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    Habib is a young actor who dreams of being on stage and in the movies. But up until now he has only been stringing along dead-end roles. His family has a hard time understanding this passion of his that doesn't earn him a cent.


  • 04:30 PM – 05:30 PM
    Film

    Natura

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    With Director Talk

    NATURA is a mood, a birth, a nature, a universe, a world, an inherited property. NATURA is the encounter of artists from different parts of the world. NATURA is three artists: one woman and two men - twins. NATURA is a meeting of Yugoslavia and Vietnam.

    Two countries at two ends of the world – one non existing anymore... So different and yet so similar and connected (historically, politically, ideologically...) NATURA is an area where East and West meet, intercept, communicate, question, exchange wisdom and (no) knowledge, refuse, face, conflict and accept. NATURA is a project of humanity. NATURA is a return to the precious values that the laws of nature and all religions originally propagated. NATURA is a slowdown in fast-paced living. NATURA is a return to the values we have long forgotten. NATURA is the heartbeat. NATURA opens a new door and is committed to showing that in times of hatred, brutal wars, strangulation, diseases, furious development of new technologies and irresistible greed, there is still hope. NATURA is hope. NATURA is a step back to new times...

  • 05:00 PM – 06:00 PM
    Keynote

    AI-Generated Influencers and Avatars, and Their Impact on Film, Moving Images, Storytelling, and Society

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    With: Wolfgang M. Schmitt (Film Critic and Author, Germany)

    AI technologies are not only being used increasingly in the field of influencer marketing to automatically generate influential personas and content so that content, stories, and human-like avatars can be created quickly and cost-effectively, regardless of working hour regulations. AI avatars that can deceptively mimic human appearance, personality, and behaviors are also emerging in the metaverse and other artistic immersive mixed realities.

    The new possibilities arising from AI-generated influencers and avatars are also being met by critical voices: On the one hand, the question arises as to how authentic AI-generated influencers really appear and whether they are actually relevant for users. On the other hand, the use of AI-generated influencers can stir up ethical conflicts, as the question of whether they can be used in a manipulative way will inevitably come up.

    The newly created personalities are generated by algorithms, thereby changing or even completely replacing human creativity and the ability of authentic communication.

    What consequences does this have, for example, for film, marketing, for storytelling, and for the psychological authenticity and credibility of culturally significant figures and role models? How biased, one-sided, and infused with ideology are these AI influencers or avatars? What "psychology" or "personality models" do their actions follow, or do they increasingly detach themselves from those and become autonomous?

    The keynote and the subsequent panel aim to not only provide a societal context of influencers but also raise awareness about the magnitude of consequences related to the latest AI-based transformative capabilities.

    Speaker

    Wolfgang M. Schmitt Film Critic and Author, Germany

    Wolfgang M. Schmitt is a film critic and author. He runs the ideology-critical YouTube channel "Die Filmanalyse", and also co-hosts the zeitgeist podcast "Die Neuen Zwanziger" ("The New Twenties)" and the economics podcast "Wohlstand für Alle" ("Prosperity for All"). In spring 2021, together with …
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 06:00 PM – 07:00 PM
    Film

    Erna, the Tree is Needling

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    With Director Talk

    Adaption of the 50 year old classic scetch from famouse Frankfurt new School authors "Erna, der Baum nadelt!" telling how an ordinary event can switch rapidly in a hype, mass maniulating... in this chase it a X-mas tree losing needles. The Sketch shows today just like 50 years ago how influence work.

    Speaker


    Dr. Ina Knobloch

    award-winning filmmaker and bestselling author
  • 06:30 PM – 08:00 PM
    Film

    Banel & Adama

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    A small and remote village in northern Senegal today. Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. Longing for a home of their own, they have decided to live apart from their families and that Adama will not accept his blood duty as future chief.

    But when Adama informs the village council of his intentions, the whole community is disrupted. The rain that is supposed to come does not come and the star-crossed lovers learn that where they live, there is no room for passions, let alone for chaos.

  • 07:00 PM – 08:35 PM
    Film

    You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder

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    A father takes his estranged daughter on a road trip in an effort to get her out of trouble. Along the way they meet all types of strangers, as their strained relationship is put to the test.


  • 07:30 PM – 08:30 PM
    Presentation

    Kurosawa and Shakespeare, Adaptation and Reinvention - An Illustrated Lecture by Adrian Wootton

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    With: Adrian Wootton (CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK)

    Adrian Wootton CEO of Film London and film historian will explore the career of legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (1910-1988).

    Focusing particularly on a remarkable trilogy of films, Throne Of Blood (1957) , The Bad Sleep Well (1960) and Ran (1985), adapted from the classic Shakespeare plays Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear, Kurosawa translated them into unique highly influential cinema that also drew deeply on Japanese history and artistic traditions of painting and theatre. Lavishly illustrated with clips and slides Adrian will go behind the scenes and reveal the stories of the making of these extraordinary films and set them in the context of Kurosawa’s incredible canon of movies made over a 50 year period.

    Speaker

    Adrian Wootton CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, UK

    Adrian is a Programme Advisor to the BFI London Film Festival; Venice Film Festival and Noir in Fest, Milan; Founding Director of Shots in the Dark Festival, Nottingham and Curator of the annual Cinema Made In Italy programme, London. Adrian is a recognised authority in various film/TV and …
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  • 07:30 PM – 09:00 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 2

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    Die Regisseur:innen sind anwesend

    Grogan's Lodge, Director: Isaya Evans
    Telos, Director: Atsuhiko Watanabe
    Caretaker, Director: James Hood
    No More Room in Hell, Director: Rebecca Shapass
    Disconnected, Director: Daniel Schulte
    Au Revoir, Olivia, Director: Angela Regius


  • 08:45 PM – 10:45 PM
    Film

    Akira Kurosawas Träume

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    "Dreams" is a 1990 magical realist anthology film of eight vignettes, each based on a different dream, where humans, spirits and nature interact with each other, starring Akira Terao, Martin Scorsese, Chishū Ryū, Mieko Harada and Mitsuko Baisho.

    The film follows a surrogate Kurosawa character through the ages, starting in childhood and ending as a man in the company of death. It was inspired by actual recurring dreams that Kurosawa said he had repeatedly. "Dreams" addresses themes such as childhood, spirituality, art, death, and mistakes and transgressions made by humans against nature. It was his first film in 45 years in which he was the sole author of the screenplay.

  • 08:45 PM – 10:15 PM
    Film

    Granada Nights

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    The Director is present

    A British tourist struggles to mend his broken heart. After a sudden breakup with his girlfriend he finds himself lost and isolated in the foreign city of Granada, Spain.

    It’s only when he befriends a group of young international students that he starts to push himself out of his comfort-zone. From Easter Processions, Moorish influences and Flamenco Gypsies he immerses himself in the many cultures that inhabit the city.

    With his new foreign friends, he enrols on a Spanish class, moves into their apartment and tries to restart his life. But behind every corner is a reminder of his ex-girlfriend and his struggle to find closure.

    A love letter to Granada and the study abroad experience that mixes documentary with fiction to create a real and authentic heartfelt examination on the process of self-discovery. Framed in a unique aspect ratio has never been done before in the history of cinema.

  • 09:00 PM – 10:30 PM
    Film

    Molli and Max in the Future

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    A grounded romantic comedy set in an absurd world, “Molli and Max” takes the character-driven romance of a movie like "When Harry Met Sally" and combines it with an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sci-fi universe found in shows like “Futurama or “Rick and Morty."


Day 3monday, 16.10.2023

  • 09:00 AM – 07:00 PM
    Art

    B3 Moving Image Forum

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    The B3 Moving Image Forum gives an insight into the diverse and ever-changing world of international creative artists with their latest works. More information about the selected works.


  • 09:00 AM – 11:00 PM
    Art

    The latest works of Daniel Canogar

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    Visitors will have the unique opportunity to experience Canogar's fascinating artworks and learn from a pioneer of media art at the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil.


  • 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
    Panel Discussion

    AI and the Future of Film and Media. Are We on Our Way Into a New Media Age? Part 2

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    With: Daniel Chávez Heras (Lecturer in Digital Culture and Creative Computing, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, UK) Eric Drass ·

    After short keynotes, the panelists examine the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and its profound impacts on the film and media industry. On the one hand, the use of AI in creation, production, and marketing offers the promise of enormous savings in time, cost, and effectiveness. This is also the case when AI-powered tools and technologies enable individuals and smaller production companies to create high-quality content without having to rely on expensive professional equipment or large teams.

    On the other hand, AI not only replaces routine jobs, but also requires new skills and abilities from employees in dealing with it. Classic professions such as directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors and visual effects artists will be the ones most affected by this development. But also the area of financing as well as many team coordination and service areas of production will have to make adjustments.

    The panelists discuss which fields of activity may possibly be replaced by or strongly influenced by AI in the future and which skills and knowledge will be particularly important in these professions in order to be successful and to use technological progress together with AI and whether suitable educational offers already exist for this.

    Speaker

    Daniel Chávez Heras Lecturer in Digital Culture and Creative Computing, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, UK

    Daniel specialises in the computational production and analysis of visual culture. His research combines critical frameworks in the history and theories of cinema, television, and photography, with advanced technical practice in creative and scientific computing, including applied machine learning …
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    Eric Drass

    Eric Drass is an artist making work in a range of media, from painting, to music, to machine-learning AI art. Some of his favourite themes are identity, consciousness, the philosophical ramifications of artificial intelligence, big data and the relationship between humans and machines. Sometimes …
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 12:00 PM – 01:00 PM
    Keynote

    High Culture in Portrait Mode: What Platforms Like Tiktok and Instagram Can Teach us for the Storytelling of the Future.

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    With: Jonas Wuttke · Lara Leipholz · Philipp Stadelmaier ·

    The enormous success of short video platforms and formats like TikTok or Insta-Reels has permanently changed the viewing habits of the younger generation. The type of content that is being consumed has a direct impact on storytelling.

    Due to the brevity of the videos on TikTok, storytelling is often simplified and presented in an abbreviated, pointed manner. Could this also be an opportunity for storytelling in the future? The author of the book "Meme - Muster digitaler Kommunikation" (Memes - Patterns of Digital Communication) will explain the basics of the transformation of digital storytelling patterns - and, building on this, outline the possibilities for learning from them: What do these developments mean for the storytelling of the future? How must stories be told in order to generate and maintain an audience? Which platforms are best suited for distribution? Following the keynote speech, Dirk von Gehlen will discuss these and other related questions with a well-known influencer/youtuber. The audience will then have the opportunity to actively participate in the discussion and contribute their own ideas and questions.

    Speaker

    Jonas Wuttke

    Jonas Wuttke is not only recognized as a Content Creator for his TikToks titled "Social Media is Embarrassing," where he humorously mocks influencers and the world of social media. He is also a producer, actor, and director and has successfully launched one of the most successful influencer series …
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    Lara Leipholz

    Lara Leipholz, founder of the artist management firm OHEY, represents strong-minded personalities and content creators like Alicia Joe, Theo Carow, and Jonas Wuttke, among others. The trained lawyer began her professional career in product and brand development, specifically in the area of food …
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    Philipp Stadelmaier

    Philipp Stadelmaier, born in 1984, studied Romance Languages and Comparative Literature in Frankfurt and has been a film critic for the Süddeutsche Zeitung since 2012. Since then, he has earned doctorates in Frankfurt and Paris on Jean-Luc Godard and the French film critic Serge Daney, written two …
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 01:30 PM – 03:00 PM
    Panel Discussion

    Established and Innovative Financing Models for Film and Moving Image projects: Searching for New Ways - A Discussion on the Future Development of the Industry

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    With: Christoph Brunmayr · Sebastian Brauneis · Aaron Hillis · Christoph Thoke ·

    Crowdfunding and streaming services have considerably expanded the spectrum of financing options for film projects, although traditional sources of funding such as public grants, studios and investors continue to play a significant role. How does this expansion of financing options affect film productions?

    Does this contribute to the process of internationalizing productions or does it even change storytelling formats? The panel discussion brings together experts from Europe and the U.S. to examine current developments in the industry as well as the future of financing film and moving image projects from different perspectives.

    Participants will explore the impact of digitization on traditional financing models and identify potential future opportunities. They will also address the challenges associated with these new models and identify strategies to find suitable financing for each project - for example, through global funding sources and co-productions.

    This panel offers professionals a perfect opportunity to gain valuable insights into current trends and developments in the market and to make informed decisions for their projects.

    Speaker

    Christoph Brunmayr

    As the founder of one of Austria's first DigitalExperience agencies, Christoph Brunmayr looks back on two decades of helping clients from a variety of disciplines identify the disruptive potential of technology-driven business models and develop exceptional customer experiences and fuel …
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    Sebastian Brauneis

    Sebastian Brauneis was born in 1978 in Vienna, Austria. He grew up as the eldest of 6 siblings. He spent his early childhood - due to his father's work as a war correspondent - partly in former Warsaw Pact countries and in the then so-called »Middle East«. After leaving school with a high school …
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    Aaron Hillis

    Aaron Hillis has lived, breathed and bled independent cinema for over 20 years, and was praised by  Brooklyn Magazine as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture" alongside Lena Dunham and Spike Lee. For the past 18 months, he has been the Director of Programming for Cineverse, …
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    Christoph Thoke

    First steps with cinema productions and international license trading for Taunusfilm Group Wiesbaden. Coordination of the Los Angeles branch. Since 2003 independent producer, worldwide on the road with international cinema co-productions. The resulting films have won numerous prizes and awards, …
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 02:00 PM – 03:20 PM
    Film

    Minsk

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    Minsk, August 2020. Pavel and Julia, a young couple go out at night and end up in the middle of protests, faced armed police, violence and tortures. During 1,5 hours, their life changes completely. Based on real events, happened in Minsk, August 2020. Single – take film.


  • 02:30 PM – 04:00 PM
    Workshop

    Social Media Marketing in 2023 Post AI World

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    With: Birgit Karus ·

    A lot has changed in social media marketing thanks to AI development and changes in Meta algorithms and tools. This workshop will give every filmmaker, artist or creative project manager insight into what works today in social media, what kind of targeting and insights it is possible to get from social media, how Meta and Tiktok influence each other and last but not least how to use AI tools in your marketing tasks.

    Speaker

    Birgit Karus

    Birgit Karus is the founder of the digital marketing agency NOH Production and an expert at building clever technical solutions and strategies to make digital marketing more efficient and measurable.


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  • 03:00 PM – 04:30 PM
    Panel Discussion

    Telling Stories in Immersive Worlds - A Redesigning of Storytelling

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    With: Cameron Kostopoulos (Artist and VR Producer, USA) Dennis Lisk · Chloe Rochereuil · Elise Morin ·

    The world of Storytelling has changed tremendously in the past years since the implementation of XR-technologies, which include Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed reality (MR). With their ability to directly include the user into the narrative and create a connection between the real and virtual world, these technologies present a major turning point in the history of storytelling.

    The mix of analogue and digital elements and the possibility to personally shape the events and stories as they are happening, offers a new, fluid perception of multiple identities. Usability, interactivity and flexibility are essential for a wothwhile XR experience. Another great potential is in the democratisation of access to art, regardless of the user's geographical or financial limits.

    The use of XR-technologies in moving images creates new ethical, legal and societal challenges: where do we draw the line between reality and fiction, and how do we ensure data safety in a world where boundaries between digital and physical spaces become more and more blurred? How should society handle XR-experienced people's changing viewing habits, expectations for interaction and attention spans?

    Among all of these challenges and uncertainties lies a unique opportunity: to actively help shape and create the future of XR storytelling and discover new ways of narration that will transform our understanding of reality and fiction.

    An expert panel of XR producers will give a quick insight into what is already possible with this technology. Their short presentations are then followed by a discussion about the status quo of current developments and address the aforementioned questions.

    Speaker

    Cameron Kostopoulos Artist and VR Producer, USA

    Cameron Kostopoulos is an award-winning director, filmmaker, and XR pioneer. The overlap between his alternative writing & directing and technical VFX skills frees him to create dreamt worlds, fading memories, and deeply intimate experiences. ​In May 2022, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from …
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    Dennis Lisk

    Dennis Lisk, also known as Denyo, is a gold/platinum award-winning musician, DJ, and entrepreneur. He started his career in 1991 as a founder of the German hip-hop band "Beginner" (formerly known as “Absolute Beginner”). Dennis has played a significant role in evolving hip-hop music with German …
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    Chloe Rochereuil

    Chloé Rochereuil is an Emmy-nominated director and the co-founder of TARGO, an award-winning virtual reality studio specializing in documentaries and non-fiction experiences. Rochereuil directed high-profile VR documentaries such as “When We Stayed Home,” “Rebuilding Notre Dame,” “Surviving 9/11,” …
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    Elise Morin

    Elise Morin, born in 1978, lives and works in Paris. Elise Morin develops an interdisciplinary practice rooted in ecological thinking that questions our relationship to the visible and the different types of coexistence. The design and production processes generate col- laborations with scientists, …
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    Agata Di Tommaso

    Diversion Cinema, Frankreich

    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 04:00 PM – 07:00 PM
    Film

    Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

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    After his sister-in-law dies in a freak motorcycle accident in Saigon, Thien is bestowed the task of delivering her body back to their countryside hometown. It is a journey in which he also takes his nephew Dao (5), who miraculously survived the crash.


  • 04:45 PM – 06:15 PM
    Workshop

    Workshop: Creating Sounds for Moving Images

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    With: Stephan Busch (Sound Engineer, Recording Studio Owner and Operator, Germany)

    „Everything you hear on a film is a lie.“ Why? Sound engineer Stephan Busch explains this in this workshop. Apart from the dialogue, natural sounds are often dull and unoriginal, and the recordings of environmental and action sounds on the film set rarely live up to expectations. Fortunately, there are so-called "sound effect artists" such as Jack Donovan Foley. Even Star Wars producer George Lucas once said: "Sound makes up 50% of the entire film". In this workshop, Stephan Busch takes us into the world of real-sounding yet unreal noises and introduces us to one of the most dangerous sounds in the world...

    Speaker

    Stephan Busch Sound Engineer, Recording Studio Owner and Operator, Germany

    Stephan Busch is a sound engineer, recording studio owner and operator. In 1993 he completed his training as a sound engineer at SAE Frankfurt and has been working for film and sound production studios in Frankfurt since 1995. Specializing in voice recordings and dialogue editing, music and film …
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  • 06:00 PM – 08:00 PM
    Film

    This Place is a message

    This place is a message positions children and young people as seers and prophets, blending documentary and fiction to reflect on humanity’s current state and envision possible posthuman futures.


  • 06:30 PM – 07:00 PM
    Film

    Erinnerungen einer vergessenen Kindheit

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    The Director is present

    While father Rudi desperately tries to regain the lost family happiness at the slot machine, Niklas (11) is often alone with his alcoholic mother Anna. Niklas is torn between his sense of duty to help his parents and his desire to escape his childhood home.


  • 07:30 PM – 09:00 PM
    Film

    Departing Seniors

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    With Director Talk



  • 07:30 PM – 09:25 PM
    Film

    Inshallah a Boy

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    Jordan, nowadays. After the sudden death of her husband, Nawal, 30s, has to fight for her part of inheritance in order to save her daughter and home in a society where having a son would be a game changer.


  • 07:30 PM – 08:50 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 3

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    The Directors are present

    Tales of the Browbeaten, Director: Sebastian Ukwa
    Phonetime, Director: Jordan Chandler
    Eina,, Directors: Thomas Vella, Michael Vella
    Tentacle Eye, Director: Yuqing Lin
    Taylor, Director: Isaac Tomiczek
    Adrift, Director: Lucy-Sophie Witthoff
    Siren, Director: Jeanine Lang


  • 08:30 PM – 10:00 PM
    Film

    Aliens Abducted my Parents and Now I feel kinda left out

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    Teenage aspiring journalist Itsy is miserable when her family moves to the small town of Pebble Falls. Among the new challenges — a fixer-upper house and unfriendly high schoolers, to name a few — Itsy meets Calvin, her strange, space-obsessed neighbor and classmate.


  • 09:45 PM – 11:20 PM
    Film

    Frontiers

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    Diane Messier lives with her two sisters and her daughter Sarah on a farm in the Eastern Townships near the American border. In the wake of a tragic accident, Diane starts feeling as though she is under constant threat, going so far as to believe that her house is haunted. Concerned, her mother Angèle returns from Florida to support her daughter and attempt to bring the family together.


  • 10:30 PM – 12:00 AM
    Film

    Green Night

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    In an effort to escape her troubled past, Jin Xia, a Chinese woman, marries a Korean man named Lee Seung-hun in exchange for legal status in South Korea. One night, Xia encounters a green-haired girl enveloped in an enigmatic aura and becomes involved in the dangerous world of drug dealing.

    Attracted to the girl for some inexplicable reason, Xia takes her home and the two end up killing Seung-hun in a not-so-accidental accident. The pair go on the run, but Xia returns to the crime scene to retrieve the drugs the green-haired girl left behind...

Day 4tuesday, 17.10.2023

  • 09:00 AM – 07:00 PM
    Art

    B3 Moving Image Forum

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    The B3 Moving Image Forum gives an insight into the diverse and ever-changing world of international creative artists with their latest works. More information about the selected works.


  • 09:00 AM – 11:00 PM
    Art

    The latest works of Daniel Canogar

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    Visitors will have the unique opportunity to experience Canogar's fascinating artworks and learn from a pioneer of media art at the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil.


  • 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
    Panel Discussion

    Personal Experiences and Stories as the Foundation for Creating Moving Images and as a Catalyst for Change. A Conversation About the Positive and Negative Impacts of Art of All Kinds

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    With: Katarzyna Perlak (Artist, UK) Webb-Ellis · Karen Russo ·

    Filmmakers are not just storytellers; they also mirror their own experiences. In this panel, we illuminate how these experiences find their way into their works and shape social and political developments in our contemporary world. Personal experiences have the potential to infuse films with emotional depth, allowing for the interpretation of universal themes in a personal manner.

    Concurrently, they serve as a catalyst for significant discussions on current societal issues. Our guests, seasoned filmmakers and artists, share their insights on how incorporating personal narratives not only enriches the artistic quality of their works but also holds the potential for a transformative impact on society, and more importantly, why this is the case.The discussion will provide deeper insights into the creative process and the practice of filmmaking. Gain firsthand knowledge of how personal stories can serve as powerful instruments to initiate, among other things, social and political movements and changes. Filmmaking, thus, is not solely an art form but also a driving force for positive societal transformations.

    Speaker

    Katarzyna Perlak Artist, UK

    Katarzyna Perlak is a Polish-born artist, based in London who employs video, performance, textiles, sculpture, and installation in her works. Perlak studied Philosophy in Poland and Fine Art Media in the UK. She was part of the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2017 and shows in the UK and …
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    Webb-Ellis

    Webb-Ellis are British/Canadian artist filmmakers. Using film, dance, music and installation, they create work which aims to offer ways of imaginatively accessing the political through the lens of the subconscious and the body. They have ongoing collaborations with artists, philosophers, …
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    Karen Russo

    Karen Russo is an artist and filmmaker based in London. Her work is interested in the dividing line between what is accepted as the legitimate expression of culture and civilized existence, and what falls outside of it. She has exhibited widely including Barbican Centre; Hayward Gallery Project …
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    Host

    Julia Finkernagel

    After a successful management career and a sabbatical she was offered her own TV travel show and now works as a host, writer, director, curator and coach. Julia has directed some award-winning films (fiction/non-fiction) and has been on stages since her childhood. She has hosted several film …
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  • 12:00 PM – 01:00 PM
    Lecture

    Respect Your Bot. Less Anxiety, More Confidence

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    With: Tommy Schmidt ·

    It's common to treat bots, etc. like they were slave-like machines: we order them to do this or that and if we*re not satisfied we kill them deleting or uninstalling them.
    What if new species of bots of a higher evolutionary level become self-conscious beings? With the ability to feel joy and pain? What if they claim rights and demand respect? Wouldn't we fear their rebellion one day when they're no longer willing to bear repressions?

    The thesis of this speech is that we should create a new culture of how to approach our bots, etc. We treat them with respect, ask them to do us favors, thank them when they succeed, ask them for advice in order to learn from them and raise their self-esteem. We create challenging problems to give them opportunities to grow, and we praise them for their solutions to show our appreciation.

    In this way, we pursue partnerships and strive for mutually fruitful relationships. And we overcome our fears: Grateful partners won't be the ones we fear.

    The thesis is the result of thoughts based on the novel FEMI UND DIE FISCHE written by the lecturer: A novel about an orphaned girl from Nigeria who is sponsored by a German couple. But later it turns out that the girl is actually a bot.

    Speaker

    Tommy Schmidt

    I grew up in Hannover, Northern Germany and started artistic career with experimental music. Later engaged spoken word performance and performed at the Benno Ohnesorg Theater at the Volksbühne Berlin for example. At the beginning of the 21st century I became a performance-, happening-, and media …
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  • 02:00 PM – 03:20 PM
    Film

    Inland

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    This strange, enigmatic and engrossing thriller finds a troubled young man returning to his hometown in the wake of his mother’s disappearance.

    Guided by a father figure and old friends who care deeply, his journey through the dreamlike spaces of rural England brings him face to face with the loss that haunts him in ways he could never have expected.

  • 03:30 PM – 04:30 PM
    Panel Discussion

    Fantasy, Horror and Suspense Movies in the Context of Today's World and the Role of Female Directors

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    The fantasy, horror, and suspense genre in film and other moving image media have consistently served as a reflection of society, responding to current events, fears, and cultural dynamics. In today's era, where our society confronts complex issues such as digitalization, climate change, and social tensions, genre films or, for instance, games offer a means to metaphorically process these anxieties.

    Despite the deep-rooted presence of the genre in society, it's notable that the development and direction of genre films or games remain predominantly male-dominated. This raises the question: what new narrative perspectives could be introduced with greater diversity?

    Female perspectives could bring new nuances and depth to the fantasy, suspense, and horror genres. Due to societal conditioning, women experience the world differently and can thus contribute alternative narratives and interpretations of fear and terror. This not only enriches the genre but also adds layers of complexity.

    There is no inherent gender to fantasy, horror, and suspense. While some might argue that the genre has been traditionally male-dominated, representing a kind of "status quo", it shouldn't be viewed as a fixed standard or ideal. More and more women are engaging in this sector of the moving image industries, for instance in content development and direction. The reasons why they do this and why they feel comfortable in this genre will be discussed, alongside other topics, by the panelists present.

    Speaker


    Clare Cooney

    director, actress, and screenwriter, USA

    Rhianna Pratchett

    dialogue and video game scriptwriter, UK

    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
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  • 04:30 PM – 06:15 PM
    Film

    Who I am not

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    What makes a male, and what makes a female? Where do we draw the line, and does it really matter? Sharon-Rose Khumalo, a South African beauty queen, plunges into an identity crisis after finding out she is intersex.

    She needs the guidance of somebody just like her. The only person who will help is Dimakatso Sebidi, a male-presenting intersex activist who turns out to be her complete opposite. The two parallel but divergent stories are an intimate look at the struggle of living in a male-female world, when you are both, or neither. "Who I Am Not" gives a voice to the long ignored and mostly silent two percent of the world’s population: the intersex community.

  • 05:00 PM – 07:00 PM
    Presentation

    Art, Morality and Film: Towards an Ethics of Film, Art, and Media. Can and Should Everything be Shown, and at Any Cost?

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    With: Jasmin Hagendorfer · Aaron Hillis · Jörg Buttgereit ·

    At the beginning of the event Jörg Buttgereit will give a book presentation

    Ethics of film and the moving image: Can and should everything be shown?Since the beginnings of cinema, movies have possessed a special ability to reflect, manipulate, and reinvent reality. The moving images projected onto the screen are more than just entertainment. They are powerful tools that can be used to generate empathy, highlight social injustices, or convey a political message. But along with this power comes great responsibility. The question of what can be shown and what should be shown will always be of key importance to the entire film and moving image industry.

    The technological possibilities make it possible to visualize almost anything, from explicit scenes of violence to depictions of the deepest human emotions. But just because you can show something doesn't mean that you should. In an increasingly globalized world where moving images can reach a wide international audience, it is crucial that filmmakers and artists be aware of the cultural contexts in which their works are seen: Do they bear a specific ethical responsibility for what social or political messages they convey through what means and media? Should film and the moving image be used even more to highlight social injustice and to encourage people to make changes? Or should they focus on pure entertainment and avoid political or moral issues? A panel of filmmakers, moving image artists and ethics experts will address these questions on stage.

    Speaker

    Jasmin Hagendorfer

    Based in Vienna, Jasmin Hagendorfer is an acclaimed contemporary artist, filmmaker, and curator. Through diverse mediums, she delves into socio-political themes and gender identity, showcasing her works internationally. As co-founder and director of the Porn Film Festival Vienna, she intertwines …
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    Aaron Hillis

    Aaron Hillis has lived, breathed and bled independent cinema for over 20 years, and was praised by  Brooklyn Magazine as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture" alongside Lena Dunham and Spike Lee. For the past 18 months, he has been the Director of Programming for Cineverse, …
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    Jörg Buttgereit

    Jörg Buttgereit, born in 1963 in Berlin, has been hailed as a Living Legend and Underground Icon by the international media. Celebrated by critics as a trash poet and punk surrealist, Jörg Buttgereit is the director and writer of numerous feature films and documentaries. From unforgettable early …
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    Host

    Johannes Grenzfurthner

    Johannes Grenzfurthner is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, author, and performer. With his art he manipulates people to positively respond to his lies and made-up realities. He is the founder and artistic director of monochrom, an internationally acting art-technology-philosophy group. His …
    Read more…
  • 05:30 PM – 07:00 PM
    Film

    Sister & Sister (Las Hijas)

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    Summer vacation. Two sisters, Marina (17) and Luna (14), travel from Costa Rica to Panama to look for their absent father. While dealing with frictions that arise between them, they find space to explore their desires, new friendships, lovers, and skateboarding, on a journey toward emancipation where they discover the joy of the simple act of hanging out. An intimate and tender tale of sisterhood in the urban tropics, with a deep portrayal of colorful teenage life.


  • 07:00 PM – 08:15 PM
    Film

    Kokomo City

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    In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary KOKOMO CITY, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver – who unapologetically break down the walls of their profession.


  • 07:15 PM – 08:30 PM
    Film

    Starring Jerry as himself

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    This is a story about our producer’s father Jerry. Jerry is a retired, divorced Taiwanese immigrant living in Orlando. One day, he gets an urgent call from the Chinese police.


  • 07:30 PM – 08:50 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 4

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    The Directors are present

    Cats of Tyre - Like a Cat with Seven Souls, Directors: Shamila Lengsfeld, Lina Zaraket
    Worry-Fear-Unease. The Triptych, Director: Agrippina Meshcheryakova
    X or Y or Z, Director: Mirelle Borra
    Ectoriders, Directors: Milena Bühring, Klara Kirsch, Lisa Kaschubat
    At Home in La Güinera, Director: Elena Buscaino
    The Pomegranate Black, Director: Ali Zare Ghanatnowi


  • 07:30 PM – 11:00 PM
    Film

    Youth

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    Zhili, 150 km from Shanghai. In this city dedicated to textile manufacturing, young workers come from all the rural regions crossed by the Yangtze River.

    They are in their early twenties, share dormitories and snack in the corridors. They work tirelessly to be able one day to raise a child, buy a house or set up their own workshop. Between them, friendships and love affairs are made and unmade according to the seasons, bankruptcies and family pressures.

  • 08:45 PM – 10:45 PM
    Film

    Tommy guns

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    In 1974, after years of civil war, the Portuguese and their descendants fled the colony of Angola where independentist groups gradually claimed their territory back.

    "Tommy Guns" gives a dual perspective on this struggle: a tribal girl who discovers love and death when her path crosses that of a young Portuguese soldier; and a group of Portuguese soldiers who are barracked inside an infinite wall from which they will have to escape once the past comes out of the grave to claim its long awaited justice.

  • 09:00 PM – 10:20 PM
    Film

    Leere Netze

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    Twenty somethings Amir and Narges have found what feels like true love in their hometown by the coast of the Caspian sea.

    But in today’s Iran that’s far from enough to build a life together, and they are forced to keep the relationship secret. To win over Narges’ upper class family and pay an appropriate dowry, Amir needs money, and he needs it fast. With his back against the wall, Amir finds work at a local fishery, where he is drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of black market caviar smuggling. As Amir’s values are compromised by the illegal underworld, Narges stalls for time and tries to delay the arranged marriage her parents are planning for her. Can their love, hopes and dreams survive the tightly knit web of tradition, corruption, and social hierarchy that continues to rule over the lives of a new generation in Iran?

Day 5wednesday, 18.10.2023

  • 09:00 AM – 07:00 PM
    Art

    B3 Moving Image Forum

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    The B3 Moving Image Forum gives an insight into the diverse and ever-changing world of international creative artists with their latest works. More information about the selected works.


  • 09:00 AM – 11:00 PM
    Art

    The latest works of Daniel Canogar

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    Visitors will have the unique opportunity to experience Canogar's fascinating artworks and learn from a pioneer of media art at the ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil.


  • 02:00 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 1

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    The Directors are present

    The Mechanics of Fluids, Director: Gala Hernández López (Warning! This film may contain disturbing content)
    La Bee de Beeley, Director: Sacha Beeley
    Haven, Director: Maureen O'Connell
    Three Trees Don't Make a Forest, Director: Leonhard Hofmann
    Lily at Home, Director: Daisy Smith
    Enlightened, Director: Nina Bouchaud Cheval


  • 02:30 PM – 04:00 PM
    Film

    Drawing Lots

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    Love and crime, secrets and dreams intertwine in this ensemble tale that wends its seductive way through a tight-knit community in a Georgian town. Nothing is as it seems in the modulating rhythms of fate, the shifting loyalties and the ultimate reality that “neighborhood” sometimes means "family".

    The title refers to the central image of the neighbours playing a bingo-style game, their cacophonous and good-natured bickering exemplifying the community’s dynamics, and the game itself exemplifying the randomness of life, the fickleness of fate. Zaza Khalvashi's unexpected death was a great loss for Georgian and international world of cinema. But his family members, colleagues and admirers decided to continue his legacy and take care of making his final film "Drawing Lots" yet another successful artworks in his biography.

  • 02:30 PM – 04:30 PM
    Film

    Sira

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    Sira, a young Fulani nomad, can hardly wait. She and her family are travelling to meet her groom. Sira is a strong and self-confident woman, her Muslim father trusts his daughter and has therefore agreed to a marriage between her and her childhood sweetheart Jean Sidi, a Christian.


  • 04:00 PM – 06:45 PM
    Film

    100 seasons

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    Inspired by real video diaries of his first love, which he filmed around 30 years ago, director Giovanni Bucchieri unfolds an emotional love story starring two artists and soulmates.

    Their relationship is challenged by bipolar disorder, ambition in life and longing for acceptance. "100 Seasons" offers a colourful mix of passion, tenderness, and romance. An inspiring and heartfelt film about dreams, failure and love that can never die.

  • 04:00 PM – 05:20 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 2

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    The Directors are present

    Grogan's Lodge, Director: Isaya Evans
    Telos, Director: Atsuhiko Watanabe
    Caretaker, Director: James Hood
    No More Room in Hell, Director: Rebecca Shapass
    Disconnected, Director: Daniel Schulte
    Au Revoir, Olivia, Director: Angela Regius


  • 04:30 PM – 05:45 PM
    Film

    Amar Colony

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    Meera (20), a lonely pregnant woman is caught in a maze of desires and disappointments. Devki (45), a widow confined to a wheelchair demands respect for her pigeon.


  • 05:00 PM – 06:30 PM
    Film

    Fancy Dance

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    Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma.

    Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s father, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.

  • 06:00 PM – 07:25 PM
    Film

    Àma Gloria

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    Six year old Cléo loves her nanny Gloria more than anything. When Gloria must suddenly return to Cape Verde to care for her own children, Cléo makes her promise that they will see each other very soon. Gloria invites Cléo to her island and the two must make the most of their last summer together.


  • 06:00 PM – 07:20 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 3

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    The Directors are present

    Tales of the Browbeaten, Director: Sebastian Ukwa
    Phonetime, Director: Jordan Chandler
    Eina,, Directors: Thomas Vella, Michael Vella
    Tentacle Eye, Director: Yuqing Lin
    Taylor, Director: Isaac Tomiczek
    Adrift, Director: Lucy-Sophie Witthoff
    Siren, Director: Jeanine Lang


  • 06:30 PM – 07:05 PM
    Film

    Dreams Gate

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    Iranian filmmaker Negin Ahmadi travels to the war zone of Northern Syria to follow the lives of the women in the YPJ – an all-female Kurdish militia.


  • 07:00 PM – 08:30 PM
    Film

    Lakota Nation

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    "Lakota Nation vs. United States" chronicles the Lakota Indians’ quest to reclaim the Black Hills, sacred land that was stolen in violation of treaty agreements.


  • 08:00 PM – 09:20 PM
    Film

    Another Body

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    "Another Body" follows a college student after she discovers deepfakes of herself circulating online. Through candid video diaries, synthetic media, and 2D and 3D animation, the film takes you into Taylor's online and offline worlds, humanizing a vast social issue in a compelling personal story.


  • 08:00 PM – 09:20 PM
    Film

    Short Film Competition 4

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    Die Regisseur:innen sind anwesend

    Cats of Tyre - Like a Cat with Seven Souls, Directors: Shamila Lengsfeld, Lina Zaraket
    Worry-Fear-Unease. The Triptych, Director: Agrippina Meshcheryakova
    X or Y or Z, Director: Mirelle Borra
    Ectoriders, Directors: Milena Bühring, Klara Kirsch, Lisa Kaschubat
    At Home in La Güinera, Director: Elena Buscaino
    The Pomegranate Black, Director: Ali Zare Ghanatnowi


  • 08:15 PM – 09:45 PM
    Film

    A Place of Our Own (Ek Jagah Apni)

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    Laila and Roshni, two transwomen, are looking for a house after they are evicted from the place they rented. It soon becomes evident that their search for a home is also their ongoing search for a place in this society that wants to keep them away in a section that cannot be the center. As the search for a home continues, we realize it transcends physical spaces and biological bonds. New friendships blossom and help comes from unexpected quarters.


Day 6thursday, 19.10.2023

Day 7friday, 20.10.2023

Day 8saturday, 21.10.2023

Day 9sunday, 22.10.2023