Film
School #2
Jan - May 2022
Online and BAL
We are announcing the second edition of our BAL Film School – a five - month course in experimental analogue filmmaking. This time the film school will be open for both international and local participants providing weekly online meetings with filmmakers all around the world. During the first edition of 2020, the program focused on the production of new experimental films – 15 students made their first works which were showcased at Process festival 2021, and are now being shown in other experimental film festivals. For this edition, the course will be mainly focused on online meetings with international filmmakers, however, there will also be two practical workshops hosted at BAL. The online meetings will happen weekly via Zoom, allowing participants to join from any location and engage with filmmakers as well as fellow students. There will also be some homework given to the students and links to watch films provided by the guests. In addition to the online program, there will be two practical workshops with skilled international filmmakers teaching more advanced techniques on analogue film practice. Each of the workshops will take place during two weekends at Baltic Analog Lab in Riga.
Applications are open until December 24, 2021
Participation fee for the full course: 350 EUR
Participation fee for online lectures only: 300 EUR (or 75 EUR per month)
The course starts on January 2022
Supported by Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation
Guest Speakers
Regulations
Anyone over the age of 20 can apply to the school.
Participation fee for the full course: 350 EUR
Participation fee only for online lectures: 300 EUR
(or 75 EUR per month)
The full course fee includes participation in two creative workshops, attendance of 16 online meetings, as well as the cost of film materials and chemistry for the creative workshops.
Each lecture will be recorded and available to all participants, in case they cannot guarantee their presence at the scheduled meeting.
“Driven by this artistic freedom, self-skilled film artists like myself take up the challenge to get rid of the mediums nostalgic doom and create new opportunities for the continued use and further development of the machinery and technology of analogue film. It opens up possibilities to dive deeply into what is already possible and combine this with contemporary insights and skills to a whole new domain of expertise.”
- Esther Urlus
Programme
In the course we will touch many aspects of working within experimental film scene that many times is connected with art-house cinemas, experimental film festivals, expanded cinema practice, film preservation, usage of archival and found footage materials, artist-run film labs and their network and underground movements that started in the 90s when most film labs were created. We will also meet some of the pioneering personalities that have been involved in the creation and participation of well-known film labs and cooperatives.
Participants will meet filmmakers that have established their place in the experimental film scene by working with analog film for over a decade, creating unique films that have been shown across many film festivals, art-house cinemas, contemporary art museums, and galleries as well as underground cinemas and artist-run laboratories.
Amongst confirmed speakers and lecturers there are filmmakers such as:
Emmanuel Lefrant (FR), Mark Toscano (USA),
Karel Doing (NL/UK), Esther Urlus (NL), Luis Macias (ES),
Nazlı Dinçel (TR/USA), Zachary Epcar (USA),
Richard Tuohy and Dianna Barrie (AU),
Adriana Vila Guevara (ES), Alexandre Larose (CA),
Charles-André Coderre (CA), Vicky Smith (UK) and others.
These filmmakers will be showing their films and talking about their practice, as well as share some useful tips and tricks of working with experimental film in a handmade way, such as Esther Urlus who has found her ways of creating DIY films making home-brewed film emulsions using iron/silver as well as cyanotype techniques. She will be also one of the teachers of workshops held at Baltic Analog Lab space during the course.
During the course, some of the speakers will also give some homework – both technical as well as theoretical allowing participants to engage with the course more interactively.
We will also be having monthly wrap-up meetings with fellow students to watch and discuss films both of the participants, as well as guest speakers.
The course will be moderated by BAL founding member Ieva Balode and is supported by Latvian State Culture Capital foundation.
Schedule:
2 - 24 December, 2021 Open call for applications
30 December, 2021. Annoncement of the participants
12 January, 2022. Start of the school
January-April, 2022. Weekly meetings and lectures with filmmakers
Last week of every month – Wrap-up meetings with fellow students
23 - 24 April, 2022. Workshop at BAL (teachers to be confirmed)
14 -15 May, 2022. Workshop at BAL (teachers to be confirmed)
Apply
Until further due, all submitted applications by December 24 2021 have been received.