TRANSVERSAL ENTANGLEMENT
ARTISTIC RESEARCH IN FILM
June 3 to 5 2021
International online conference

Call for Abstracts

In the current transformation of our networked societies, the audiovisual media are going through a profound change. New media forms and technologies, distribution channels and modes of reception are changing the art of film and the professions in the film sector. 

The interaction with the new digital possibilities puts the classic cinema space into perspective. The narratives and the imageries of film shape identity and reality under new conditions. Artistic research in the medium of film has taken on the task to reflect and co-design this change in its relationship to economy and politics, science and technological development.

In a broad European discourse over the past 30 years, the profiles and processes of artistic research as well as its institutional framework have been thoroughly discussed. Artistic research is an original kind of research by means of the arts. It works in its own languages, uses its own tools and procedures, and follows its own criteria. It joins discursive and non-discursive processes and results.

Against the backdrop of this dynamic, the IKF – Institute for Artistic Research at Film University Babelsberg is organizing the GEECT conference „Transversal Entanglement – Artistic Research in Film“ from June 3 to 5, 2021.  Further cooperation partners are the Erich Pommer Institut (EPI) Potsdam and the UNESCO Cities of Film Network.

  • The conference will focus on artistic research in film, its work processes and discourses: 
  • How do questions and researching approaches look like in the medium of film?
  • How do the procedures, contents and methods vary in the various filmic forms and technologies?
  • Which experiments, thought processes and propositions shape the world of possibilities?
  • What is the specific knowledge of the cinematic media forms and how does  it differ from the knowledge of the sciences and technologies but also of the other art forms?
  • How do discourses, narratives and imageries in film and its expanded media forms build on technological innovations? And how do they continue these developments artistically?
  • What does research thought and practice mean for the actors in the various crafts in film?
  • And how is artistic research in film shaping up for analog and digital spaces „after the cinema“ (Godard)?

The conference aims to discuss the many forms of artistic questioning and researching in film and audiovisual media, by means of current examples from practice, and to sketch out new lines into the future. The focus is on „case studies“ in which media artists and film makers present their artistic research work. The presentations are followed by plenary discussions in which working processes and discourses are reflected. The program of the conference offers ample opportunities to share positions and build networks to the speakers and the participants from the 93 European film schools in 34 countries that are currently members of GEECT, as well as filmmakers from Germany. 

We would like to invite proposals for 30 minutes presentations addressing the topics raised above. Each presentation will be followed by 25 minutes of discussion.

Please submit 200 word abstracts plus the current affiliation, contact information and a short biography of 50 words to: 
ArtisticResearchFilm@filmuniversitaet.de by the 1st of February, 2021. 
The conference will be held in English.

The candidates will be notified about the selection outcome in March 2021. For further questions please contact our project management: 
ikf@filmuniversitaet.de

We are looking forward to your proposals!

Gesa Marten, Stefan Winter, Christine Reeh-Peters and Marlis Roth

For participants: Please note the conference date. Information on registration will follow in the new year.

To our colleagues at Film University: please understand that we do not consider you as speakers but as moderators.

IKF Institute for Artistic Research

The IKF is the center for artistic research at the Babelsberg Film University. As an active discourse platform, the IKF takes on an integrating and impulse-giving role. It supports artistic research in audiovisual media and strengthens the development of a transdisciplinary research culture. The IKF actively contributes to the networking of researchers at the film university and, with its external partners, is an interface to international fields of discourse and practice. It captures and promotes the potential of film and media arts for development and innovation. With its activities, the IKF aims at the future viability of the cinematic disciplines in the digital and societal transformation.

Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF

The Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF is a place where film comes alive, a school representing a wealth of different stories and artistic forms, genres and formats, specialization and exchange. Our unique craft-oriented and interdisciplinary education enables creative people to develop their own filmic language. In research and teaching, we focus on both artistic and scientific approaches and thus actively contribute to the development of media, art, science, and society. Film University annually hosts Sehsüchte, the largest student film festival in Europe. Sehsüchte, das größte studentische Filmfestival Europas.

GEECT Groupement Européen des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision

GEECT is the European section of the worldwide umbrella organization of film and television schools CILECT (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision). CILECT members are 180 institutions with more than 10,000 teachers from 65 countries on all continents.

GEECT represents 93 institutions in 34 countries. The association strengthens teaching and research in the field of audiovisual media, film and television. It fosters the cooperation between film schools and the dialogue with the film and media industry.

EPI Erich Pommer Institute

The EPIis one of the leading providers of advanced training in the German and European media landscape and a recognised industry-specific think tank. With its expertise in media law and management and with a variety of formats and publications, the EPI supports the on-going process of digital transformation in the media industry. The Erich Pommer Institute was founded in Potsdam-Babelsberg in 1998 as an independent non-profit limited company and is an institute affiliated with the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF and the University of Potsdam.

VG Bild-Kunst/Stiftung Kulturwerk

The Stiftung Kulturwerk fulfils the cultural mandate of the VG Bild-Kunst, an association for the collective administration of copyrights. It promotes projects in the field of visual arts, awards grants to photographers, illustrators, graphic artists and graphic designers and supports culturally relevant projects in the field of film. The funds of Stiftung Kulturwerk come from the revenues of the VG Bild-Kunst. Due to the Copyright Administration Act (Wahrnehmungsgesetz), the VG Bild-Kunst is bound to make a certain percentage of its revenues from the administration of copyrights available to its members for the promotion of cultural purposes.

UNESCO Creative City of Film Potsdam

The UNESCO Creative City of Film Potsdam is part of the broader UNESCO Cities of Film Network. Potsdam is the first German city to be designated a UNESCO Creative City of Film. Since its founding in 1912, the studios in Potsdam Babelsberg have been the oldest large-scale film studio in the world and the cradle of German cinema. World classics such as METROPOLIS by Fritz Lang and THE BLUE ANGEL with Marlene Dietrich were filmed here. Today, international feature films such as INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL are produced on the studio lot.

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