Competition programme №1

Tunisia | 2016 | 31 min
Ismail Bahri

At first, «Foyer» seems to be a projection without film, where the only thing visible is a palpitating white screen. Voices accompany this white emptiness. They are spoken by people who approach the cameraman at work on the film, questioning him about what he is doing. In turn, an amateur photographer, a curious passerby, a policeman and a group of young men all approach the man filming. As the situation develops, the discussions reveal to the spectators the principles of a film experience in progress, of the film they are actually watching. The film experience intrigues people, it interrogates and ultimately transforms the camera into a foyer (in the sense of a hearth), around which people gather, to speak, discuss and listen. At first centered on the camera, these conversations quickly reveal singular points of view, which trace the forms of a particular social and political landscape. They offer a glimpse of the context in which a tentative work experience is unfolding, searching for its way in the agitated world.

Germany | 2017 | 12 min
Miriam Gossing & Lina Zieckmann

«One Hour Real» explores the coulisses and facades of a contemporary free-time phenomenon, real-life escape games. These games originally emerged in Japan, and their popularity among players in Europe has recently snowballed. In its unbiased observation of the automated mechanisms used in escape rooms, the film raises questions about surveillance, the human yearning to play, and the relation between imprisonment and desire.

Latvia | 2016 | 20 min
Ieva Epnere

In a video titled «Potom» (translation from Russian – Later) where, with the assistance of a captivating environment, time and personal conditionality some former military official erring is constructed in this historically charged time and space. The video's first few minutes announce something unknown and unexplainable, story-wise it's the appearance of the film's character in various environments: on the seashore, on a ship, in the specific area of Liepāja, Karosta, former meetinghouse for the Russian Imperial fleet (later tuberculosis hospital and navy hospital), and ritual situations: morning routine, bodily exercises and donning a uniform. Similarly, the symbolic replacement of different powers is tangible in the film, from Soviet occupation to the restoration of state independence, so that past experience is increasingly merged with today's situation, the ending frames yet again return to the sea and conjure up clear indications pre-shadowing threat.

USA | 2016 | 18 min
Laura Kraning

«Meridian Plain» maps an enigmatic distant landscape excavated from hundreds of thousands of archival still images, forecasting visions of a possible future, transmitted from a mechanical eye.