I-REPRESENT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL HOLDS MARCH 22-25, 2012 AT TERRA KULTURE & FREEDOM PARK LAGOS

 The highly acclaimed I-Represent International Documentary Film Festival which debuted last year holds its second edition from Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th of March, 2012, at Terra-Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, and Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos, Nigeria.

The festival is holding this year in partnership with Goethe Institut and AG  DokumentarFilm (German Association of independent producers), which jointly are facilitating the participation of a host of international Filmmakers who would be presenting films as well as conducting Training Workshops.

iREP 2012 will feature screenings and discussions at Terra Kulture each day from 10am-5pm Thursday-Saturday; and screenings from 7pm-11pm Thursday-Saturday and from 10am-10pm on Sunday at Freedom Park’s outdoor theatre.

KEYNOTE/CONFERENCE

The festival is conceptualized on the framework: AFRICA IN SELF CONVERSATION, and it would explore the theme: DEMOCRACY AND CULTURE - THE DOCUMENTARY FILM INTERVENTION.

As would be deduced from the unprecedented and sporadic people's mass action that attended the January 1, 2012 removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, a new sense of participation in governance is evolving on the African continent. It is thus increasingly becoming important to explore opportunities open to African filmmakers to bring better understanding and approaches to participatory democracy as a part of African political culture through the medium of documentary films.

The scope of the Festival would cover such areas as Democracy and Demonstrations, New media technology and participatory democracy, and the potentials of the Nigerian films to explore and exploit the documentary format in its production values.

A key subtheme in the 2012 iREP Documentary Film Festival is: IS NOLLYWOOD DOCUMENTARY? This will feature a conversation among filmmakers and their publics on the potentials of Nollywood films to embrace the Documentary ethics in its operation and outputs. A key area of discourse would be the need to explore the production and distribution potentials and schemes of Nollywood towards achieving documentary objectives.

We have the pleasure of Professor Jean-Paul Colleyn (a world renowned filmmaker, film scholar and anthropologist) to deliver the Keynote at the Festival opening ceremony on Thursday March 22 at 10am.  Jean Paul-Colleyn is an Anthropologist, Filmmaker and Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Center of African Studies at EHESS (school for high studies in social sciences) in Paris, France. He has conducted extensive fieldwork research in West Africa; and currently engaged in a research project in Mali. He was a producer at Arte TV channel (1988-98); visiting professor at New York University (1998-2001); Commissioned Editor of the series 'The Art of the Myth' (Arte, 2009-2010); Director of over 30 Documentary films and author of over 14 books and many scholarly essays on documentary films, Art and African Studies and Culture.

Also speaking at the Festival are luminaries with vast knowledge and relevant experience in filmmaking and the media. They include famous broadcaster, award-winning journalist and Chairman of CHANNELS Television Mr. John Momoh; Director-General of the National Film and Video Censors Board and a renowned authority on New Media channels for content management and distribution, Mr. Emeka Mba.

TRAINING/WORKSHOP

The Training Workshop of the festival which last year was attended by over 100 young Nigerian Filmmakers will be holding once again at the Freedom Park Venue on Friday and Saturday and it will feature Facilitators such as versatile producer of African films, Barbel Mauch from Germany; veteran documentarist and TV manager, Alhaji Adegboyega Arulogun; TV documentarist, Cyril Okonkwo;  ffilmmaker, diplomat Amb. Yussuf Mamman; film and photo documentarist, Tam Fiofori; and Festival Executive Director Femi Odugbemi.

GUESTS

Notable amongst international professionals participating are Nigerian/German Filmmaker Branwen Okpako who will be screening her acclaimed film “The Re-education of Aowa Obama;" German Director Jens Wenkel, who has worked extensively on Nigerian/African themes; Kathrin Springer (Producer, South Africa); Ulla Wessler (DokFEst Munich) and Bärbel Mauch (producer, Berlin).

The festival will be screening over 20 films at both Terra Kulture during the day and from 7pm-11pm at Freedom Park each night. Notable films on the schedule include “LAGOS: Notes of a City” by Jens Wenkel, “Linking Africa” by Michael Grotenhoff, “RedHot Nigeria” by Sandra Obiago, “Espoir Voyage” by Michel Zongo, “And the Chain was Not” by Femi Odugbemi, “An African Election” by Jarreth Merz, “Duniya Juyi juyi” by Abdullahi Yahaya Sa’ad and “The Guantanamo Trap” by Thomas Wallner.

MEETINGS/NETWORKING

An important feature of this festival is a PRODUCERS’ ROUNDTABLE CONFERENCE featuring conversation on Strategies For International Co-Production to be attended by Documentary filmmakers from Cameroon, Germany, Ghana and Nigeria. Ms. Katarina Hedren, a key promoter of the Documentary Network Africa (DNA) initiative will moderate it. Ms. Hendren is the former chair of the Swedish based film festival, CinemAfrica, and she works as a translator/interpreter, as well as discussion and workshop moderator/facilitator/designer, film programmer, film critic, and writer with South African producers and directors as well as organisations such as Tri-Continental Film Festival, People to People Conference, Encounters International Documentary Festival, The Goethe-Institut and FESPACO. She is the coordinator of the Mokolo project — an initiative that aims to create a virtual platform for web content relating to African audiovisual industries, thus improving the accessibility and visibility of African audiovisual content and professionals.

AWARD

The festival award ceremony will also be staged during which a few well-appointed veteran professionals would be inducted into the iREP/West Africa Documentary Film Forum's Hall of Fame in recognotion of the selfless service they have rendered to the vocation in their individual career journey.

ABOUT iREP FESTIVAL

i-Represent International Documentary Film Festival is an annual festival dedicated to promoting awareness about the power of documentary films to serve as a means of deepening and sharing social and cultural education as well as encouraging participatory democracy in our societies. The maiden edition held in January 2011, in Lagos, brought together a pool of veteran filmmakers, film scholars, critics, Arts enthusiasts, and students from different parts of the world.

We believe strongly that the 2012 Festival would provide completely invaluable opportunities for all participants to discuss cogent issues that are germane to the future of filmmaking in Africa, and indeed, the World. Activities at the conference have been carefully designed to cover a wide spectrum of knowledge areas and interest, and would include Paper presentations, Training and Workshops, Interactive panel discussions, film screenings, and Networking.

We look forward to the pleasure of having your presence at the festival

Thank you.

More details at www.irepfilmfestival.com

Femi Odugbemi

Executive Director

For IREP FILM FORUM

9TH MARCH 2012.

www.irepfilmfestival.com 3 Oguntona Crescent, Gbagada Phase 1, Lagos Nigeria. P.O. Box 36 Surulere. T: +234 803 425 1963, +234 802 201 6495, +234 803 403 0646 E: info@irepfilmfestival.com

Resonance and Silence Synesthetic aspects of film and video

Resonance and Silence
Synesthetic aspects of film and video
Goetz Collection at Haus der Kunst
13.04.2012 - 09.09.2012
Press Viewing Hour on Thursday, April 12, 2012, 11 am

For the third exhibition of the cooperation between The Goetz Collection and Haus der Kunst, film and video works were selected in which acoustic aspects are as important as visual ones. Thereby the relationship between sound and image constitutes a broad range. These two elements are linked most closely in silence, in the still or silent image, which approximates other media such as painting and photography.

Resonance

The fascination with combining image and sound has a long tradition. The term "synesthesia", from the Greek words meaning "together" and "sensation", came into use in the mid-nineteenth century and describes the ability to hear colors and see sounds. This tradition continues in various ways in contemporary film and video art.

In "Sabbath 2008" (2008), Nira Pereg shows preparations for the Jewish Saturday in an orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. The streets are being blocked off with metal barriers, which make a loud screeching sound as they are pulled across the road. This sound is isolated and becomes a kind of commentary in its overexaggeration.

In a manner that is both systematic and humorous, in his work "Telephones" (1995; presented in 1999 at the Venice Biennale), Christian Marclay combines film scenes with famous actors in a way that it looks as if they were calling each other. In combination, the different ringing sounds, the sounds from the cradle and of the rotary dial and the bits and pieces of conversation, become a new composition of film and video art.

In "El Gringo" (2003), Francis Alÿs depicts his confrontation with a group of dogs on a street from the first-person perspective. The dogs bark aggressively at him as he tries to pass them; they finally bite his arm and at the camera. The camera is left on the ground at last. The viewer remains alone with it, like a severed sensory organ, and has to endure the sight of the dogs sniffing and edging at the camera until the image turns black.

Gary Hill's "Blind Spot" (2003) shows a 30-second shot filmed with a hand-held camera in a street in Marseille. The scene is increasingly slowed down until the elongation produces unpleasant sounds, and is segmented with black and silent sequences. Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler also work with interruptions in the image flow in "Gregor's Room II" (1998/99). From a constant height, a camera circles a room in which a man is packing things into boxes. Through the openings - doors and windows - the view expands, only to be blocked by black segments a moment later. Proximity and distance to the event is alternately established and eliminated. The film is shown in a soundless version.

In the aesthetics of a documentary, Tacita Dean makes film images of old monuments that have long since lost their function. In her 16mm film installation "Sound Mirrors" (1999), one sees buildings made of poured concrete along the British coast of Kent. These constructions should serve as a military early warning system by amplifying the sound of approaching airplanes. In Dean's work, however, the sounds from the surrounding natural environment, rather than from airplanes, are superimposed with the sounds of the projector. What usually creates the acoustic background now enters the foreground and is charged with meaning.

Silence

The absence of acoustic stimuli can trigger acoustic memories and establish links to other media. In "Ruurlo, Bocurloscheweg, 1910" (1997), David Claerbout makes use of this possibility. In a black and white photograph of the village - whose name is the same as the work's title - he shows a tree gently moving in the wind, while everything else remains static. The absence of sounds initially gives the impression that we are looking at a photograph; the viewer only slowly registers the movement.

Hans Op de Beeck uses the absence of sound to establish a connection between the medium of film with that of painting. In "Colours" (1999), he places people in a rigid stance against various monochromatic backgrounds, in the manner of the Old Masters. The images also reveal Op de Beeck's exploration of the topos of the living image. In "Uomoduomo" (2000), Anri Sala also offers a possibility of a portrait in film through the absence of sound. The rigid shots, made with a hand-held camera, show an old man. Placed in the center of the picture, his face can't be seen and there is virtually no information related to his identity. He is slumped over and asleep in a church pew; his body repeatedly threatens to fall over, but he catches himself each time. This "in-between" state between falling over and maintaining balance is typical of Anri Sala's work.

Music

Six of the selected works focus on music without making the visual elements of the work seem illustrated. In Tim Lee's work "The Goldberg Variations" (2007), one can hear the eponymous work by Johann Sebastian Bach. Lee refers here to Glenn Gould, who recorded the variations and the aria separately in his ideal conception and then combined them in a single track. Lee translates this piece of montage in individual black and white close-ups of his right and left hand playing piano, with the hands shown on two separated displays. Using hard film cuts, the shots of his hands are joined. An irritating sequence accompanies a continuous melodic flow.

Wolfgang Tillmans' first video work "Lights (Body)" (2000-2002), relates to his early photographs of techno clubs. The close-up images of the disco lighting, which moves to the rhythm of a remix of "Don't Be Light" by Air, is reminiscent of a typical club night in the 1980s or 1990s. "Light" can mean both "light" (i.e. the noun) and "light" (i.e. the adjective). With respect to this dual meaning, the rhythmic movements of the lights can be regarded as both physical liberation from gravity through dance, as well as a reference to the volatility of life.

In Rodney Graham's "A Little Thought" (2000), shots of an idyllic summer day are accompanied by a song of the same name which was composed and sung by the artist. The images of a swan on a lake, blooming cherry trees and the harmonic sounds, are in discord with the text of the song, which is about a fatal car crash caused by a driver's failure to pay attention. Only when seen from the perspective of the camera panning above a street is a connection to the lyrics established.

In Guido van der Werve's "Nummer drie.take step fall" (2004) passages accompanied by classical music, and silent sequences alternate with one another, as does rest with movement. Like a sonata, the work is structured in three parts: A dance company and an Asian fast food restaurant in the same building, a street at night and a dancing ballerina in a park. The grimly portrayed everyday scenes are repeatedly interrupted by seemingly random sequences.

In Christoph Brech's video "The Wind that shakes the Barley" (2008), we see nameless tombstones of deceased, unbaptized children surrounded by grass blowing, sometimes more intensely, sometimes less, in the wind. Although the ambient sounds are missing, one has the impression of being able to hear the hissing of the wind. The suddenly introduced Irish folk song transmits a melancholic sentiment and appears irritating as it is simultaneously played forwards, and more softly, backwards.

The exhibited works were selected by León Krempel.

With works by Francis Alÿs, Hans Op de Beeck, Christoph Brech, David Claerbout, Tacita Dean, Rodney Graham, Gary Hill, Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler, Tim Lee, Christian Marclay, Nira Pereg, Anri Sala, Wolfgang Tillmans and Guido van der Werve.

A catalogue will be published by Hatje Cantz; with texts by Patrizia Dander, Okwui Enwezor, Ingvild Goetz, Sarah Haugeneder, Nina Holm, Leon Krempel, Karsten Löckemann, Julienne Lorz, Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, Rainald Schumacher, Susanne Touw, Katharina Vossenkuhl, Eva Wattolik, and Ulrich Wilmes.

For images please visit our download area www.hausderkunst.de/presse/info.htm.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Elena Heitsch and Jacqueline Falk



Haus der Kunst
Prinzregentenstraße 1
80538 München
+49 89 211 27-115
+49 89 211 27-157 Fax
presse@hausderkunst.de
www.hausderkunst.de

Handelsregister München
HRB 100018
USt-IdNr. DE 811612530

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www.irepfilmfestival.com 3 Oguntona Crescent, Gbagada Phase 1, Lagos Nigeria. P.O. Box 36 Surulere. T: +234 803 425 1963, +234 802 201 6495, +234 803 403 0646 E: info@irepfilmfestival.com

2ND iREP DOC U FILM FESTIVAL; MARCH 22-25; LAGOS

Dear Friend  in film,

We formally extend invitation to you to participate in the 2012 iREP Documentary Film Festival, slated for March 22-25, 2012.  We invite you to propose any of your films that you deem related to the theme of the festival, Democracy and Culture: The Documentary Intervention for screening during the festival (see attached poster).

 Conversation during the festival will also be focussed on this broad theme; and we request that you participate as a speaker/discussant.

Prof. Jean-Paul Colleyn, director of Institute of African studies, Paris, has agreed to give the KEYNOTE as well as conduct a MASTER WORKSHOP during the Festival.

The Workshop session and a segment of the Conference will, however, consider the potentials of the Nigerian films as presently constituted to -- in their production scheme -- explore and exploit the documentary format in its production virtues; hence the workshop is schematised under the generic theme, IS NOLLYWOOD DOCUMENTARY? The idea is also to explore the potentials and possibilities of theNollywood movies to spur the vocation of documentary film making in Nigeria.

The unfortunate situation in the Nigeria polity has grossly undermined the economic prospects of the country and consequentially frustrated our ability to raise fund for the purpose of the festival, but we are resolved to proceed with our plans even as we continue to strive to get the support of potential supporters for the project.

Kindly let us know if you would be available to participate at the festival on the mentioned dates.

Sgnd: FEMI ODUGBEMI

Executive Director, IREP

THEMATIC FRAMEWORK

DEMOCRACY AND CULTURE – THE DOCUMENTARY FILM INTERVENTION

Emerging realities on the African continent indicate a shift in the information order and definition of governance. The conversation is fast becoming a dialogue on the experiences that had brought us here and how the future can be shaped. A new sense of involvement and pro active participation, on the part of the people, are becoming the indices of our democracy. How documentary filmmaking can effectively contribute to this new development is a critical point of discourse.

It is undeniable that this new sensibility is in large part, made possible by a new generation of Africans who are finding new voices in the possibilities that technology provides. Equipped with a new media device, new voices are springing up with fresh perspectives to known issues, and impulsively curating a reference for the future in ways that are completely participatory.

If participatory democracy must become a part of our culture, it must be deliberately cultivated, and film as a popular art provides a veritable medium with which this new energy can be given a clear direction. How well is the African filmmaker conscientious to his/her role in creating a wholesome understanding of these sporadic emerging realities? Can documentary films help us find a pattern that can become a reference for the future?

Africa is taking a flight into new horizon. A never-before charted path into a future that is characterized by good governance, accountability, rule of law, justice, equity, true democracy, and responsible leadership. Documentary filmmaking can help to midwife this process.

By Olanrewaju Olupona

Festival Project Director

3 Oguntona Crescent, Gbagada Phase 1, Lagos Nigeria. P.O. Box 36 Surulere. T: +234 803 425 1963, +234 802 201 6495, +234 803 403 0646 E: info@irepfilmfestival.com; www.irepfilmfestival.com

'Unhinged: Surviving Jo'burg' for February edition of iREP-GOETHE Monthly Screening

The Film will be screened fro 2pm on Saturday February 25 at the Nigerian Film Corporation Lagos Liaison Office, Obalende, Ikoyi Lagos (by Radio Nigeria). Gate: FREE

Unhinged: Surviving Jo’burg is an honest, quirky and sometimes frenzied documentary about Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city

and the world’s gateway to Southern Africa. With rapid narrative, dry humour, trivial factoids, insightful observations and a highly enjoyable soundtrack, the film tells a slice-of-city-life story. It’s a personal video snapshot of today’s city, providing a unique

opportunity for viewers to get a glimpse inside a place that the worldhas a very fuzzy sense of.

   

The film aims to give the audience a small taste of Johannesburg,using the city itself as the principle character. Adrian Loveland, an entrepreneur who was born and raised in Jo’burg, is the slightly

eccentric tour guide. Insights are provided through a selection of conversations with an engaging group of Jo’burgers, including Robbie Brozin (CEO of Nandos), Ferial Haffajee (editor of the City Press),

Justice Malala (political analyst) and Victor Kgomoeswana (MoneyBiz founder).

Johannesburg has often been portrayed in the world’s media as a death

trap, or marketed as the ultimate place of gold and opportunity. In

reality the city lies somewhere in between and, although Unhinged

doesn’t dish up all the answers, it gives a representation that

enables viewers to get closer to the truth of what Johannesburg really

is.                                                                   

In some parts the film feels like a documentary and in others a

travelogue. There are also segments, such as when Loveland delivers

his impressions of wild animal calls, which are pure comic relief.

Johannesburg itself is somewhat unhinged and so is this movie.

Unhinged acknowledges the scary aspects of Johannesburg, yet it leaves

the viewer feeling extremely positive and excited by the obvious

energy and potential of a city that has a lot of work ahead. In the

words of Robbie Brozin, one of the most charismatic of the interview

subjects: “You feel like, you’re here, so let’s, like, fix this place.

You can’t fix Paris, you can’t fix London, you can’t fix Sydney, but

you can fix Jo’burg”.

Writer/Director: Adrian Loveland

Producers: Adrian Loveland and Pascal Schmitz

--

FEMI ODUGBEMI, rpa.

Managing Director/CEO,

DVWorx Studios & Zuri24 Media,

www.dvworxstudios.com

+234.8034251963

@femiodugbemi

www.irepfilmfestival.com 3 Oguntona Crescent, Gbagada Phase 1, Lagos Nigeria. P.O. Box 36 Surulere. T: +234 803 425 1963, +234 802 201 6495, +234 803 403 0646 E: info@irepfilmfestival.com

POSTPONEMENT OF JANUARY CONFERENCE-WORKSHOP OF THE iREP

Dear Friends

Fraternal Greetings from the iREP Collective,

Like most Nigerians and indeed peoples of the world, we woke up on January 1 to the shock of about 150 per cent increment in the cost of gasoline, which has since thrown the entire country into a tailspin of instability marked by wild street protests, pockets of violence all around the country; and the threat of an indefinite National Strike that is scheduled to start January 11 – five days to the commencement of our pre-iREP DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL Conference and Workshop slated for January 17-20, 2012.

From past experiences of similar scenario, once Labour declared a National strike, the country’s social and economic activities become totally paralysed, and it could take nearly two to three weeks before order and stability are restored; even if Labour were to call off the strike few days after its declaration.

As it is, the entire national mood is gripped by tension and most businesses are closing shops. In fact, managers of our choice venue and partner on the project, the Terra Kulture Art Centre in the elite Victoria Island part of Lagos, have indicated that from this weekend, they would close shop as their workers would be joining the national strike. They also want to avoid falling victims of the vandalism and violence that usually trailed such National Strike/Protests.

Also many of the would-be participants in the Conference and the Master-class have started returning regrets. Especially students of the various Films, TV and Broadcasting schools whom we expect to be the beneficiaries of the Master-class and Workshop (slated as part of the Conference) would be proceeding on break due to the call for national strike.

From our study of the situation, there are serious and complicate issues of not just inauspiciousness of the time and logistics but also Safety and Security involved.

It is on account of these various factors that we REGRET to inform you of the POSTPONEMENT of the said CONFERENCE to March as part of the 2nd  iREP International Documentary Film Festival.

We are aware of the sacrifice that you have made -- out of your busy schedule and calendar – in reserving the earlier date – January 17-20 -- to honour our invitation but in the extant circumstance that we find ourselves in Nigeria, we have no other options than to shift the Conference ahead.

Our proposal however, is to still request your esteemed person to consider being part of the main festival in March. Details will be sent to you in due course.

Again, while we appreciate your enthusiastic response to our earlier invitation, we regret the inconvenience that this change of date would cause your personal programmes. We however request that you kindly consider our new proposal.

Regards

Femi Odugbemi

Executive Director

iREP INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL,

femi@irepfilmfestival.com

www.irepfilmfestival.com

www.irepfilmfestival.com 3 Oguntona Crescent, Gbagada Phase 1, Lagos Nigeria. P.O. Box 36 Surulere. T: +234 803 425 1963, +234 802 201 6495, +234 803 403 0646 E: info@irepfilmfestival.com