Vision Du Reel – International Competition

Vision Du Reel

The Festival

Originating in the trend for ciné-clubs, the Festival first came into being in 1969. At the end of the seventies, it reached its first stage of maturity. It was in Nyon that it became possible to discover the films produced in the countries of the Eastern bloc, as well as those from other parts of the world, without forgetting Swiss productions which have always been outstanding for their subject matter and aesthetic qualities. It was also in Nyon that the various struggles for independence found an echo : ranging from the Third World countries to the emancipation of women and even taking in sexual liberation.

Visions du Réel

The evolution of the Festival continued in 1995, when a new management was appointed. Renamed from then on « Visions du Réel », the event very quickly made a name for itself as one of the most important rendez-vous of this speciality cinema, both in Switzerland and on the international scene.

Visions du Réel

Alongside a programme planning which encourages meetings and dialogue between every form of cinema du réel (experimental films, essays, diaries, family films, major reports, historical inquiries, epic or fragmentary stories), events such as Etats des Lieux and their Workshops which welcome the illustrious names of cinema (Johan van der Keuken, Robert Kramer, Alexandre Sokourov, Robert Frank, Raymond Depardon or Frederick Wiseman) have become musts. As for Séances spéciales, or Special Sessions, these shed new enlightenment on a group of coherent films (“Corpus Chisti” and Arte, Les Hommes-livres et Memoriav, Steps for the Future and Atelier 02, etc.).

Doc Outlook – International Market

Finally, it should be noted that although Visions du Réel has as its principal ambition to show the best of films being currently produced to the largest possible public, the Festival also invites professionals to promote the films. These include sales agents, commissioning editors and programme buyers, distributors, independent producers and directors, who are invited to exchange information, points of view and projects during special brunches where they can meet interesting and important people and enjoy informal discussions. In addition, every year, Market Screenings places some two hundred carefully selected films at the disposal of broadcasters.

“Lukas’ Moment” @ Yale Conference

http://www.yale.edu/seas/IndonesiaArts.htm#Doc

YALE INDONESIA FORUM WORKSHOP 2008

The past can be memorialized in any of a wide variety of ways. Monuments, archival records, and political rhetoric all carry forward memories and narratives of what has gone before. In Indonesia, though, history is preserved by very different means, and the popular narrative of events is often found in arts and media.

As important as the arts are for discovering the past, though, the past is also important for the creation of art. Memories and historical events constitute an important topic for literature, music, dance, film, and other art in the archipelago. Often art is inspired by a desire to promote or preserve a narrative of struggle or success.

The Yale Indonesia Forum Workshop 2008 wants to look at the reciprocal relationship of narrative, memory and history with arts and culture in Indonesia. It aims to address, yet hopes not be strictly limited to, some of the following questions: What is the relationship between contemporary art forms and regional or national identity in Indonesia? What are the continuing influences of religion and nationalism on the arts? What are the creative and dynamic interactions between ‘traditional’ art forms and more contemporary? What are the evolving relationships between Indonesian art form and Western modernism? What have been the effects of an increasing commoditization of and international interest in the Indonesian art world? What is the role of art criticism within the Indonesian media on shaping the arts there, and what are the roles of external influences? How do local discourses about the arts differ from global or academic discourse? How has state sponsorship for the arts changed in the reformasi era, and how have artists responded?

Bringing together three pairs of a senior and a junior scholar, the conference organizers hope to achieve a balance between academic research that addresses these questions, by Indonesians and others, as well as bring in people actively and creatively engaged in contemporary Indonesian arts, media and culture.