Issue #199 - The Spaces in Between
Lowland Channel
I’m in Amsterdam, a tram ride out of the busy centrum, in the Oud-West neighborhood, away from the tourists, there are many. I’m attending IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam where there are hundreds of documentaries in competition, and more importantly around thirty different XR and Immersive films and exhibits to try out. I really am getting through them, although I have to book one hour sessions each time, and it is sort of a bit bewildering and a bit of a strain on the eyes. I get back to my hotel and collapse.
As the astute among you will work out, this is my second film festival in as many weeks, after my visit to Aesthetica in York, UK. IDFA has a very different vibe, it is bigger in scale, more films, more venues, some very far away from the center, sometimes taking as long as an hour to get to; very different from the one or two cinemas and buildings in York, just a few doors down from each other.
Although there are a few meeting places, and some get togethers, you will find yourself talking with someone but won’t bump into them again, and it does seem like there’s a little loss of the excitement and buzz that some festivals thrive on. However, I’ve extended my stay here a few more days due to various circumstances, so what started as four days has become a full week, and I’m determined to see a few things, and attend as much as I can.
Stephan
Spaces to Connect
Other than the Venice Biennale , IDFA really has become a place to showcase cutting edge immersive pieces, there are some truly remarkable XR works, and in saying that, I’m really talking about the way they are able to exploit the affordances of the medium. The follow the documentary tradition of storytelling through form, and connecting audiences to impactful experiences, that either bring you closer to a situation or issue, and in the case of VR actively make you part of the story.
Building on last week, I saw IMPULSE: Playing with Reality by May Abdallah and Barry Gene Murphy which is the follow up to the brilliant Goliath, that I’ve spoken about many times before. Also narrated by Tilda Swinton, this new piece uses the passthrough to great effect, and the same play with scale and sudden environmental changes. It is available on Quest 3 and I recommend you download it now.
Another piece I really enjoyed wasWalking Alone, Text You When I'm Home by Vincent Abert that uses volumetric capture to build a nightscape that is unnerving and dangerous. Again, you’re part of the scene, either as a bystander, witness or sometimes more.
I bumped into the podcaster Kent Bye who I mentioned last week, who is recording a series of interviews with the curators and artists exhibiting at IDFA, you can listen to the preview of the work and in the next few weeks I’m sure he’ll release individual interviews. I will invite Kent to Sona of course, and hope that he’ll be able to attend.
While I’m here, I’m also keen to watch as many short documentaries as possible ahead of the course in Third Cinema: People, Language, and Culture in Documentary Storytelling that I’ll be co-teaching in the Spring. I was lucky to attend a screening that includes short Q&A sessions with the directors. Yesterday I saw three films in a screening titled Drastic Measures where the filmmakers used very different techniques to tell very intimate stories, clips from social media combined with poetry and writing, then wool puppetry to tell the story of a mother leaving home, and finally collage and recreation in an autobiographical story of lost youth.
The last of these by Canadian writer and filmmaker Eisha Marjara; Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen? is an incredible short documentary, created from photos, home video, 80’s adverts, and remarkable screen performances. It is funny, tragic, and as the director remarked, there are audible gasps from the audience. It is a raw, exposed and deeply personal film.
I hope that there might be creators here that I can invite to CMU, and maybe meet and work with our students. There is really is no substitute for viewing films and hearing from their authors, the insight into process provides rich learning for upcoming and new filmmakers learning their art.
Life Lessons
I don’t have too many links for you this week, so just a few comments about being here in Amsterdam. I am enjoying this week, although it is raining and that can be hard on the mood. Luckily this is perfect cinema-going weather, so being at a film festival is perfect.
I’m always amazed as the city itself, the confluence of bikes, trams, buses and cars. There are so many near misses, bikes that come within millimeters of pedestrians, trams that seem to rattle at great speeds through the city. It does all seem to work though, and I know many of my American friends who celebrate this way of living, the closeness to everything, the short walk to the shops, plants outside people’s houses, bikes parked chaotically, coffee shops, and tempting bakeries. It really is very appealing.
Thank you
Okay, so I have a few more days. I’ll be traveling back to the states on friday, so there won’t be an issue at the end of the week, you’re up to date in any case. I’m looking forward to coming home and being reunited with family, I’m missing them and can’t wait to see them.
I am meeting a few friends here, coincidentally I also have family in the Netherlands and will be good to catch up. I’m writing this in a cafe, sitting at a counter that looks out through the window into the street with trams and bikes passing. There are occasional rainbows.
Winter is arriving, the trees are bare and people are wrapped up, I’ve noticed that tote bags are lined here so that books survive spotty showers and splashes from bikes riding through puddles. Occasionally it rains so hard that it’s best to duck into a doorway, or step inside one of the many design shops that are everywhere, to peruse beautiful stationery or imagine fun interiors.
So, I hope that you’re well and to say that I’m looking forward to catching up with you. I hope that you’re safe and well, and managing to stay warm and dry wherever you are.