Int'l FF Summit Europe - Calling All Festivals

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 08 April 2010 13:49

Written by Laura Blum

What do you get when you convene a roomful of film-festival impresarios and entertainment honchos for two days? As participants at the International Film Festival Summit Europe will tell you, anything but films.

Held April 8 to 9, 2010, in Amsterdam, the fourth annual IFFS conference and symposium offers up workshops, keynotes and panels dissecting the latest trends in festivals and independent film. Beyond educational sessions, the largely European assembly also hosts informal networking events designed to spark partnerships.

The IFFS brochure says it's the place to "recharge your batteries." To be sure, anyone who has ever produced one of the world's 4,000 film festivals knows the energy demands of drawing audience, revenue and programming in today's increasingly competitive festival universe. At the Summit, fest magisters can compare notes, and hear about problems and solutions their counterparts their counterparts may be entertaining.

The opening panel invites a critique of the current festival model, and looks ahead to the next five years. Speakers are Thessaloniki International Film Festival director Despina Mouzaki; Rutger Wolfson, director of International Film Festival Rotterdam; Copenhagen Film Festivals CEO Jørgen Ramskov; and Corona Cork Film Festival director & CEO Mick Hannigan, who is also a keynoter on April 9.

Bookended by keynotes — including about music events — another morning activity introduces conference-goers to their "Living Group." This small breakout session is intended as a turbo kit for building bonds among industry colleagues.

At a "How To" panel about navigating such fraught issues as premieres, release windows, distribution and the media, Dublin International Film Festival director Grainne Humphreys joins Moscow International Film Festival program director Kirill Razlogov and Milano International Film Festival director and founder Andrea Galante.

Economic worries hover over the Amsterdam confab, making a panel called "Festival Funding Sources" especially compelling. Its brain trust includes Arnaud Pasquali, head of media at Promotion MEDIA; William Fenton, director of Sponsorship Consulting Limited; Astrid Hallenstvedt, sponsorship manager of Stockholm International Film Festival and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival director Tina Lokk.

No less topical is a dissection of the production and distribution role festivals are increasingly called on to play. Weighing in on the industry functions of even the most intimate fests is a panel moderated by European Independent Film Festival director Scott Hillier who will lob questions to:

IDFA industry office head Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen
Angeliki Vergou, coordinator of "Crossroads" at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
German Film Export Union managing director Christian Dorsch
Katrine Kiilgaard, head of Nordisk Panorama Industry at Filmkontakt Nord
London Independent Film Festival director Erich Schultz
Seville European Film Festival artistic director Javier Martín-Domínguez.

A presentation that's gold-starred as a "must-attend" is Alex Fischer's "Conceptualizing Festival Operation." The educator, festival organizer and consultant from Queensland, Australia's Bond University will analyze methods for operational competitiveness and share ideas for managing conflicting pressures.

The closing panel, about digital technology and other media issues, includes speakers James Fabricant, who handles business development and strategy at MySpace.com, and Richard Caelius, European general manager of Xomo Mobile, among others.

The full program of curated and free-wheeling chat — and parties — is posted at www.filmfestivalsummit.com

International Film Festival Summit
Apr. 8- 9, 2010
Hotel Novotel Amsterdam City
Europaboulevard 10
1083 AD Amsterdam
Netherlands
+31 20 54 11123
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Intl Experimental Media Congress

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 06 April 2010 22:48

Written by L E Shannon

The International Experimental Media Congress is being held April 7-10, 2010 at the Ontario College of Art and Design and at York University in Toronto, Canada.  The first Congress since the 1989 Toronto Experimental Film Congress, this gathering promotes ongoing international conversations and platforms for creative discussions about the burning issues related to experimental media.  This year’s Congress coincides with the 23rd Images Festival, running through April 10th.

Public Sessions include:

Keynote Discussion with Yvonne Rainer, In conversation with filmmaker John Greyson
Performance and Book Launch with Barbara Hammer

Panels and Roundtables include:

• The Place of the Medium 
• 3D for Experimental Media Artists
• The Uncertainty Principle: Political Engagement and the Documentary in an Expanded Field 
• The Cinematic Enters the Gallery
• Permanence in Flux: Archival Practises

Speakers include:

Ann Balsamo, Professor of Interactive Media in the School of Cinematic Arts, and of Communications in the Annenberg School of Communications

Peggy Gale, freelance writer, editor and curator

Cheryl L’ Hirondelle (aka Waynohtêw, Cheryl Koprek), multi and interdisciplinary artist, singer/songwriter and musician

Ross Lipman, Senior Film Preservationist, UCLA Film & Television Archive

Steven Loft, curator, writer, media artist, and Executive Director of the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival (Toronto)

Ming-Yuen S. Ma, Associate Professor in Media Studies, Pitzer College in California

Andréa Picard, writer and curator, programmer at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Cinematheque

Donghyun Park, filmmaker, festival director of EXiS (Experimental Film and Video  Festival in Seoul), and Professor of Film at Myongji University, Korea

Daïchi Saïto, independent filmmaker

Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, film and video curator

Michael Snow, artist

David The, Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore

Screenings are held with presentations and panels, as well as film screenings in association with the 23rd Images Festival.  Sessions include:

"Revenge of the Theory Persons, or Don’t Just Sit There, Gentle Presence"
curated by Oliver Husain and Kathleen Smith, a program of short films with dance or movement

"One Take Super 8", the first ever Toronto edition of the Super 8 filmmaking extravaganza — No Cuts! No Splices!

"Chamber of Public Secrets"
curated by Khaled Ramadan, this survey of video from Northern Africa and the Middle East is drawn from the Chamber of Public Secrets Archive

"Tom Chomont: Recent Restorations"
A screening of seven films recently restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archives, presented by archivist Ross Lipman

"Open Screening" - two nights when Congress registrants are invited to bring a short work to show.

For more information, visit www.experimentalcongress.org.  

The International Experimental Media Congress
April 7-10, 2010

Ontario College of Art and Design
100 McCaul Street, Toronto

York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto

Drink Up at Vinitaly

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 06 April 2010 19:22

Written by Lynne Shannon

Vinitaly, the International Wine and Spirits Exhibition, runs April 8-12, 2010 at Veronafiere, in Verona, Italy. The 44th edition of this major global wine exhibition presents to businesses and wine lovers alike everything wine and all that goes with it, including technical tastings, food & wine pairings, high cuisine and more. 

Events include:

"Taste Italy," promoting talian wine-growing production for the international market, and offers an overview of the great Italian wines resulting from the different morphological and climatic conditions characterizing the country.

"Italy in One Hundred Labels," presenting red, white, rosé and sparkling wines of various regional origins, all for the tasting, in association with Enomatic. 

"Grappa & C. Tasting," joining Vinitaly for the 22nd year of spirit tasting. The data collected at Grappa & C. Tasting every year provides “the sensory trends of the market of spirits.” 

"Trendy today, Big Tomorrow / Trendy Oggi, Big Domani," set up as an observatory/incubator for the best performing national producers making their debut on the market. Since the event's debut five years ago, many companies selected for this showcase have grown from newcomers to successful wine producers. 

"Vinitaly For You," an evening event that entertains wine lovers with international guests providing live music, poetry and readings on wine tasting, as well as a bracelet with the slogan “don't drink and drive”.

Several wine-tasting sessions are held daily, and include:

"Sicilian Wines Challenging Time: Vintage 2000"
“What Makes a Trophy Wine"
"The other Pinot Noir: New Zealand, North and South Islands Compared"
"Women in Wine"
"Organic Wine Tasting – Arsia Toscana"
"Wines of Austria – Grüner Veltliner"
"Champagne: Magic in a Sparkling Goblet"
"Shiraz Styles of Australia"
"The Very Oldest Marsalas"
"Debuts: New Wines in Sight"

The section "Haute Cuisine" features prominent Italian and international chefs, demonstrating exquisite meals to accompany some of the finest wines featured at Vinitaly.

But all is not eating and drinking, etc. Many informative conferences are scheduled, covering such topics as:

• Wine professions: technology, tradition, territory and health safeguards
• Industrial copyright in the agro-food sector to compete on the market with innovations and safeguards
• Better a farmer with a degree than an unemployed lawyer
• Reducing greenhouse gases: new marketing leverage for wine
• Slow Food presents its New Wine Guide

as well as presentations by various Italian regional wineries.

If ever an event was worth the airport hassles to fly over and enjoy, this one is it.

For more information, visit www.vinitaly.com.

Vinitaly
April 8-12, 2010
Veronafiere
Viale del Lavoro, 8
Verona
Italy