Vertical Cinema

Vertical Cinema is a series of ten newly commissioned large-scale, site-specific works by internationally renowned experimental filmmakers and audiovisual artists, which are presented on 35 mm celluloid and projected vertically with a custom-built projector in vertical cinemascope. The 90-minute programme premiered at Kontraste Dark As Light Festival 2013 and had its international premiere on 24 January 2014 at International Film Festival Rotterdam. www.verticalcinema.org The ten experimental films made by Tina Frank (AT), Björn Kämmerer (DE/AT), Manuel Knapp (AT), Johann Lurf (AT), Joost Rekveld (NL), Rosa Menkman (NL), Billy Roisz (AT) & Dieter Kovačič (AT), Makino Takashi (JP) & Telcosystems (NL), Esther Urlus (NL), Martijn van Boven (NL) & Gert-Jan Prins (NL) are screened live on a vertical monument. They are a unique blend of abstract cinema, structural experiments, found footage remixes, chemical film explorations and live laser action. The artists offer their view of ‘vertical axis art’, and the results of this challenging commission are fascinating. What we usually identify as the indisputable ‘temple of film’, the Cinema, is not really a given, especially not in the realm of experimental cinematic arts. Yet this is somehow sidelined in the process of re-thinking the possibilities of cinematic experience, mostly because the architectural frame is already there, if only as a convention established a long time ago within the theatrical arts. Actually, the history of experimental cinema and the art of the moving image suggests that the space might very well be the crucial aspect of the total audiovisual experience – something one should always question and take into consideration when producing a work for audiovisual, sensory cinema. For the Vertical Cinema project we ‘abandoned’ traditional cinema formats, opting instead for cinematic experiments that are designed for projection in a tall, narrow space. It is not an invitation to leave cinemas – which have been radically transformed over the past decade according to the diktat of the commercial film market – but a provocation to expand the image onto a new axis. This project re-thinks the actual projection space and returns it to the filmmakers. It proposes a future for filmmaking rather than a pessimistic debate over the alleged death of film.

Credits

Partners Vertical Cinema is a Sonic Acts production in collaboration with Kontraste Festival, The Austrian Film Museum, Filmtechniek BV, Paradiso Amsterdam, European Space Agency, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and International Film Festival Rotterdam. Funders Vertical Cinema is generously funded by the Mondriaan Fund’s programme for commissioned projects. Additional funding is provided by VSBfonds, the Netherlands Film Fund, the City of Amsterdam and the City of Rotterdam. The project is supported by NÖ Festival und Kino GmbH, Paradiso Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Curators Arie Altena, Nicky Assmann, Martijn van Boven, Gideon Kiers, Lucas van der Velden & Annette Wolfsberger Producers Gideon Kiers Lucas van der Velden Annette Wolfsberger Technical Producers Erwin van ’t Hart Johann Lurf Additional Production The Austrian Film Museum – Alejandro Bachmann Editor Cahier & Interviews Mirna Belina Design Bitcaves Web Development Henrik van Leeuwen Communication Julia Nuesslein English Editing Mark Poysden Interviews Transcription Lubos Bisto Projection Development & Equipment Filmtechniek BV – Dick Moesker, Nico Komen Colour Grading & Film Recording The Austrian Film Museum – Matteo Lepore, Adriana Noviello Film Printing & Processing Listo Film:Video:Effect – Gerhard Frank, Sabrina Appel, Herbert Fischer Additional Film Printing & Processing DeJonghe Film Postproduction – Aaike DeJonghe Sound Mastering Tremens-Film Tonstudio – Bernard Maisch Thank you Vanja Andrijevic, Henk Bakker, Pierre Ballings, Ramon Bauer, Michael Bielicky, Raymond van den Boogaard, Timothy Druckrey, Bernard Foing, Hendrik Folkerts, Liselotte Grand, Jan Groos, Albrecht Grossberger, Peter van Hoof, Alexander Horwath, Franz Kaser-Kayer, Nils Kirchhoff, Liesbeth Koot, Thomas Lehner, Margit Moisl, Balazs Pandi, Martin Putz, Bart Rutten, Wolfgang Schrom, Martin Siewert, Britte Sloothaak, Hado Steen, Joris Strijbos, Steven van Teeseling, Laura Wagner, Lorenzo Wasner, Gerald Weber, Rutger Wolfson, Christian Zagler, Wouter van Zanten.

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