Impressions and critique from DL 2008

The 4th edition of Directors Lounge is now over.
Sabrina Small and Jacob Birken were writing about Directors Lounge 08, on a daily base.
Read here.
Posts on China program can be read too : Jump they say, China is Tired, China is Naked.

Directors Lounge 2008!

The program is online!

Directors Lounge 2008 7.-17. February 2008 Berlin

The fourth Directors Lounge Berlin will take place from 7. - 17. february, at the time of the 58th Berlin International Festival. Expect video art and experimental film from all flavors and parts of the world.
More than 250 international artists, specials, accompanied by DJs and VJs ensure ten cosmopolitan days and nights..

Special on China : Impressions of China.

This fresh selection of Chinese works gives another look on the independent production from Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing today, showing various styles and impressions. It consists of 3 programs. Program 1, "Memory and Urban Development" focuses on the effects of the rapid change on all levels in contemporary China and mixes documentary, experimental, video art, fiction. Program 2, "Short Stories : Attitudes and Expressions", deals with the relationships between the individual and the group, between individuals, between men and women. They display a certain attitude and way of thinking that city youngsters adopt.
In addition to these programs, a performance video and a video installation will be screened.

Directors Lounge 2008

• The fourth Directors Lounge Berlin will take place from 7. - 17. february, at the time of the 58th Berlin International Festival. Expect video art and experimental film from all flavors and parts of the world. Several curated programs, specials, accompanied by DJs and VJs ensure ten cosmopolitan days and nights..
Once again we will offer a hideaway, a relaxed space for filmmakers, videoartists and everybody interested in experimental forms of cinema and videoart.

• The screenings are followed by nights of music and specials. The Lounge as a club, the spot to dance the night away.

• As the name suggests – Directors Lounge will always be a meetingpoint, a place to have a drink and to lounge around with other friendly lizards

7 - 17th february 2008 Berlin Mitte, Friedrich Str. 112A

daily from 6 pm - open end

Directors Lounge 2008

A special on China will be presented.

Chinese Videos in Nantes

Le Lieu Unique in Nantes welcomes Fragments for a special screening on Friday, November the 23rd at 8:30 pm in collaboration with Directors Lounge.
Le Lieu Unique. Salon Musique. No admission fee.

The evening is divided into two parts: a selection of international works compiled by Directors Lounge and a selection of Chinese videos proposed by Fragments.

This double program offers a different vision and illustrates a questioning on the theme of memory, the changing of the organization of society (social architecture, construction of the natural or transformed environment, the place of the individual), of the interdependence between individual and collective histories. The particular interest in all these art works also lies in the preoccupation of the notion of public space and its applications for creative and reflective purposes.

Program

Directors Lounge contemporary art and media (Berlin) – (around 45 minutes)

Memory et history (ies) : Construction/Destruction/Reconstruction

Untitled # (Masha Godovannaya, Russia, 2005) 3’52 min
Da qui sopra il mare (Mauro Santini, Italia, 2003) 10’37 min.
Crazy love (Yoel Díaz Vásquez, Cuba, 2007) 3'19 min.
Construct (2 moments in Beauty)(Maja Borg,UK/Sweden,2006) 6min
Solo fur Ramallah (Andreas Rost, Germany, 2005) 4’50 min
Under Twilight (Jean Gabriel Périot, France, 2006) 5’10 min.
Shanghai Shanghai (Zhenchen Liu, France/China, 2006) 11’37 min.

Fragments
中国录影带 : Chinese videos (around 65 min)
Memory and society/personal memories and the individual in society
记忆和社会/个人记忆和社会中的个体

Rice and Coins (MaiZi, 2007, 1 min)
Floating Memory (Liu Wei, 2001, 10 min.)
New Road (Xiaopeng, 2007, 9 min)
The Bridge (Xu Xin, 2007, 16 min.)
Terrace (Song Di, 2006, 12 min.)
Perform (MaiZi, 2007, 1 min)
Dian Dian (Liang Yue, 2002, 9 min)
Memories (Zhang Xuezhou, 2007, 5 min)

The complete program can be downloaded here

Fragments • www.fragments-media.com • info@fragments-media.com

Directors Lounge contemporary art and media • www.directorslounge.net • dl@directorslounge.net

Updates

Directors Lounge
Memory in Motion
art in the public space, Munich, end of July 07

Directors Lounge website

. Memory In Motion – new ways of commemoration

Memory In Motion will present media art that seeks for new ways of remembrance by using the public space as a stage to challenge the neglecting of history with artistic means. The urban space, that makes history visible as architecture, offers the opportunity to connect artistic questioning with concrete history.
Memory In Motion is an intervention into the public space that question the handling of the past, the construction of historiography, the attribution of identity, social and ethnic codes and their reflection in society right there where such a basic discussion should start: in the public.

Public space is not a fixed space, it is everywhere, constantly in change, consequently we will be a project in motion, using different spaces for different works and different questions.

. Memory In Motion – call for proposals

We welcome any proposal for Memory In Motion, be it a site specific work or an existing film, installation, whatever that could fit into the concept. Get in touch and we´ll send you the link to the project pages.

. Memory In Motion – accompanying program

Memory In Motion will be accompanied by related screenings, we hope to realize a catalogue and/or a DVD to document the whole project.
link

some updates

- A review on Directors Lounge 2007 written by Klaus W. Eisenlohr can be read on Rich Film site (with pics too).

- A review on the special programme of Chinese documentaries proposed by Fragments at The Festival of Asian Cinema of Tours can be found on the blog (in French, written by Delphine).

- "Fragments" presents Outside a documentary by Wang Wo in Nantes (France) on Tuesday 17th. The film was presented at Directors Lounge 2007 (Focus on China Doc) and at The Festival of Asian Cinema of Tours.
More here.
The film shows scenes of daily life in the streets of Beijing that were taken between 2001 and 2005. Thanks to their combination, these trivial scenes constitute an accute observation on the urban Chinese society today, the city, its organization and its development, its implications and the consequences of the social-economic mutations of China, but also the everyday life of ordinary people, the left-side, the migratory workers, the passer-bys, the individuals...

A review on the film will be soon online.

[DL] - The Fish and the Ring

Here is another video that was screened at Directors Lounge 2007 in Berlin and can now be watched online via DL Television.

The Fish and the Ring by Flotser !

The Fish and the Ring by Belgian artist Flotser tells a story of love, hate and broken dreams. A fairy tale with all the ingredients that makes cinema a dream factory. Note that the Fish and the Ring is interwoven with several short animations by Flotser. Enjoy a glimpse of Flotser´s Repertory Theater.

Watch now here !

[DL] - some works online

Some of the video works screened at Directors Lounge in Berlin, this year are online at DL TV.

• download program, poster and flyer here
• videos (more to come) :
Erik Urlings, NL Exit Exit 16 min 5s, DV, 2006
Devis Venturelli, Italy, Io Sono Il Vento 14 min, DV, 2006
• installations

[DL] The Program & everything else

Directors Lounge Directors Lounge tv DL 2007 magazine DL 2007 program



Program, timetable and everything...

Focus on China Doc - Berlin

During the Berlinale, and the craziness of the big festival, there is a place where we can chill out, see some rare, unknown works, watch some different films by video-artists, independent filmmakers, talk with anybody until the morning, or stay silent in the corner if the mood is such, just simply have some good time and watch some good works from different parts of the world.

This year, there is a special on Chinese films. All the specials at Directors Lounge see here.
This special line-up comprises of several long features and short videos and illustrates the singularity and the richness of the independent Chinese documentary in a concise manner.





Presentation to download (in pdf file) in English , in French, in German.

Dream Walking (meng you) – Huang Wenhai (2005, 86 mn)
Beyond Sound (da yin) – Li Wake (2005, 30 mn)
People of the Yangtze River (chang jiang shang de ren ) – Wei Tie (2005, 28 mn)
Outside (wai mian) – Wang Wo (2005, 86 mn)
Paigu (paigu) – Liu Gaoming (2006, 106 mn)
Carriage (che xiang) – Xu Xin (2004, 18 mn)

info here

[DL] Where ?

Directors Lounge 2007 • february 8-18 • Berlin F´hain, Karl Marx Allee 133
No Admission Fee. Daily from 6 pm open end....

Our venue, the formerly Cafe Kosmos. In the back on the left the red enlighted Kosmos, once known as the famous Filmtheater Kosmos. Build in 1961, it was the state-of-the-art Cinema of the GDR with 1001 seats. A cinematic flagship near the landmarks of the monumental socialist boulevard Karl Marx Allee the two domed towers on Frankfurter Tor It isn´t without a subtle irony that the old lounge of the cinema Kosmos, now turned into a multipurpose hall and discotheque, becomes the place to serve the finest cinematic tidbits.

[DL] - More Specials

Some updates. More specials have been announced :

Directors Lounge Specials

• In Focus A I C Sao Paulo, Brazil
AIC Films is a co-production of Academia Internacional de Cinema and Rattapallax, Inc. to showcase some of the best films produced at this fresh school. Academia Internacional de Cinema (International Academy of Film) is an innovative educational institution that uses key elements from the best film schools around the world to create a highly specialized and creative program.
Curated by Ram Deveneni from Rattapallax.

• Australian Gothic
will be a survey show of current emerging and established Australian video artists.
Evidenced work will reflect a 'Gothic' mode, as further discussed by Gerry Turcotte in his essay 'Australian Gothic' (Turcotte, 1995), including Brendan Lee's Two Birds with One Stone, Brie Trenerry's fly infested Sleep Paralysis and Tammy Honey's pop-desire
Curated by Dr Shaun Wilson

• In Focus LiveBox Chicago
LiveBox, a non-for profit space, utilizes Chicago's neighborhoods and skyline as galleries.LiveBox focus on filmic art that can be effectively experienced on a single monitor. Single channel video is the primary medium, however, web based, real time, interactive work; fundamentally any compelling new media idea fitting an appropriation with the screen will be considered.
Curated by Catherine Forster

• Places & Traces (working title)
Themed program with it´s main focus on new animated shorts
Again we present animated shorts from stop-motion to pure CG. Highlights and emerging artists from all parts of the world will give an overview of the actual state of this specific genre. Curated by Kim Collmer of "Forming Motion" fame.

previous announcements :
here
here
here

[DL] - Submit - Call for Entry

Directors Lounge Berlin (February 08-18)-
• You would like to show your work at the Directors Lounge ?
Submit now!

---------------------------------------------

Call for New Works on Urban Research
Urban Research on Film is an ongoing film and video screening project selected by Klaus W. Eisenlohr for Directors Lounge in Berlin . Urban Research presents artists and filmmakers who address the progress of urbanity and who are concerned with urban space and public space in their work.

The increased dynamic of urban development - either as Shrinking Cities or exploding Megacities - urges for new concepts and a rethinking of urban space. Contemporary architectural and social impacts on urban developments and public space have become a theme for many artists. The collection of short films comprises documentary, experimental and intermediate forms.

This is a call for unique, refreshing, challenging and entertaining work addressing the contemporary live and the development of the urban landscape. Urban Research 2007 will be first shown at Directors Lounge 08 - 18 February 07 in Berlin. Further screenings and an online presentation are planned.

This year, the Urban Research selection has been presented at Directors Lounge 2006, at Inner Spaces Gallery Poznan, PL, at CogCollective London, UK and at the summer screening series of DL in Berlin.

Please get in contact before 15 Dec. 2006.
Deadline for submissions 31 Dec. 2006!
Please contact for submissions:

klaus(at)richfilm.de

[DL] - Annoucements

Directors Lounge quite regularly updates its news and its announcements for the next edition in February 2007 in Berlin.

The third Directors Lounge will take place from 8. - 18. february, at the time of the Berlin International Festival. Expect video art and experimental film from all flavors and parts of the world. Beside the works from the open call are several curated programs, cooperations with fellow projects and institutions ensure ten cosmopolitan days.

Specials include (just to name a few) :

- Asia Europe Mediations is going to be an exceptional artistic event, which will begin in February 2007 in Poznan. Several art institutions from Poznan, among them Poznan National Museum, will carry out this project. Almost 120 artists from two continents, will have an animated dialogue by all available, contemporary artistic means. Asia - Europe Mediations will take place in Berlin as a special part of Directors Lounge 2007.

- Independent cinema from China in coperation with Fanhall Studios, Beijing
Curated by Marina Foxley and Zhu Rikun, founder of Fanhall Studios.
Directors talk part 01 "Fanhall Studio spreading the spirit of independence in Chinese cinema" offers an introduction into the role of Fanhall for a new critical cinema in China.

- Urban Research Themed Programme on Urban Development and Public Space
Curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr
Urban space is under rapid change. The city has long played a predominant role in the work of artists, the city as image, as ideal, as Moloch, as source of joy and social destruction, and not least as icon of Modernity. With the increased dynamic of city development however - either as Shrinking Cities or exploding Megacities - more and more artists take up the issue of urban development and adopt urban space and public space as their theme.

- In Focus Wolf Kahlen
Curated by Gallery KMZA.
A closer look into the work of one of the earliest video art pioneers.

Directors Lounge 2007

see the first announcement here

[DL] - Annoucement Directors Lounge 2007

Directors Lounge (based in Berlin) has just announced its annual event, Directors Lounge 2007, which will take place on February 8-18. 2007 in Berlin.
Directors Lounge shows video installations, live-events, collections of short, independent, rare or experimental works from many different genres and from different countries of the world and invites artists, curators, critics to specific discussions and lectures.
This edition, a special presentation of Asia Europe mediations as part of Directors Lounge 2007 has already been announced.

[DL] - Chinese Shorts

Two short Chinese documentaries will be screened at Die Rote Loge in Berlin, an "avant goût" of Directors Lounge's forth-coming special on independent Chinese films.

In association with Zhu Rikun (Fanhall Studio), two Chinese shorts will be screened during the first part of the night. These works are independent documentaries, shot in DV. They are portraits of the common people in mainland China, each differ in circumstances, but both are set in a railway environment.

Carriage (Xu Xin, 2004, 18 minutes)
Spring Festival is coming. In China, it is the time for family reunion and people keep up the tradition of returning home for the New Year celebration, especially the migratory workers who have been away from their hometown all year long struggling for a living in big cities. A cheap train ticket is their first choice. So begins the annual overcrowding of railroad transportation...

SARS in Beijing (Wang Shiqing, 2003, 15 minutes)
In the spring of 2003, Beijing was hit by an outbreak of atypical pneumonia called SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). The epidemic sparked off a public panic and soon, people were fleeing the city in droves. On May 8, 2003 I decided to go to Beijing’s West Railway Station to film and interview some of the travelers. This film is a record of the events I witnessed that day in the station.

Rote Loge Simon-Dachstrasse 22, (next to Revalerstrasse)
S- and U Warschauer Brücke
Berlin.

[DL] - Directors Lounge news

A few dates and screenings with Directors Lounge :

During the summer, Directors Lounge (Berlin) presents: a summer evening with ...
a series of special screenings every Thursday
in cooperation with zapplive and Z Bar
more

June 15th 9pm THE PSYCHOACOUSTIC GEOGRAPHERS at Z Bar
Emotional exiles from the Land of Opportunity,
experimental filmmakers Ben Russell and Jonathan Schwartz come to Europe
more

[DL] - Directors Lounge 2006

Impressions of Directors Lounge 2006 - Berlin

The impressions of the DL event, held in February 9-19. 06, in Berlin is now online on the website :

"Over the next ten days we screened more than 200 films and about 25 installations/video-loops.
The fact that many of our visitors became regular guests was especially encouraging as was the attendance of several directors and artists. The move into a bigger space proved to be wise.
The subtle red illuminated venue served as a perfect setting to share not only fine movies but thoughts and ideas.
Victims of the annual Berlinale frenzy welcomed it as relaxed hideaway while film buffs feeded their addiction."

...

"These eleven days proved our concept of an open realm, where the movies are not caged into a black box, but connected to an area of discourse, as a promising way that we will continue and expand through our forthcoming screenings."

"Even so we welcomed about 100 - 200 guests each night it never became anonymous.
Again Directors Lounge was characterised by a friendly and familiar atmoshere."

More on the page.... + many pics!

http://kultur-in-berlin.de/DL2006impressions.html

Directors Lounge 2006

Directors Lounge - February, 9 - 19. 2006 - Berlin

Directors Lounge shows collections of short, experimental works from many different genres. Special screenings feature highlights of experimental cinema, explore new trends in video-art and emphasize the role of independent filmmaking in culturspecific enviroments.

http://kultur-in-berlin.de/index.html

2nd edition : Directors Lounge 2006 at a glance facts and highlights

location
Karl-Marx-Allee 137, 10243 Berlin
next to the north-tower of Frankfurter Tor
Metro Frankfurter Tor U5 Tram M10
opening hours from 6pm open end screenings start 6.30 pm, 8.30 pm, 10 pm and 12 pm

No admission fee

specials, features, highlights

opening night : Thursday 9th february
- Worldpremiere Not This War by Dan Hubp, US
- Worldpremiere Mannaka No Ie (The House In The Middle) by André Werner, D
- German premiere The Holocaust Tourist by Jeremy "Jes" Benstock,GB
Mr. Benstock comes from London to join us this night.
- Lounge-tunes by Djane Ilka

NoMasala friday 10th february 8.30 pm, 10 pm
Experimental short films from India. Presented by NoMasala in cooperation with mocha-filmclub, Mumbai

Forming Motion: Animated Artistic Experiments curated by Kim Collmer, with assistance by Microcinema sunday 12th and monday 13th february, 10 pm

Intimate Journey curated by Lynn Loo monday 13th february, 8.30 pmFilms inspired by travels. Independent filmmakers share visual expressions of their individual journeys.

Words about moving movies monday 13th february, 9.30 pma lecture by Cosima Reif, pure chance-artist from Vienna

Electronic painting – videos and installations curated by Daniela Butsch tuesday 14th february 8.30 pm, 10 pm

View05 Weather Report Finnish Videoart compiled by AV-arkki wednesday 15th february 8.30 pm, 10 pm, 12 pm

Yunnan Arts University, class Xiang Weixing curated by Daniela Butsch thursday 16th february 6.30 pm

CANDELA ! Cuban side-tracks curated by Kristin Bergaust friday 17th february 8.30 pm

An evening with aE3 friday 17th february 10 pmMultimedia-artist aE3 from Nantes, France will personaly introduce his work

Urban research curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr an indeep compilation of videos and films dealing with aspects of urban living. 7 screenings read more

Farewell Party – liveacts, highlights and surprises our lips are sealed. sunday 19th february all night long

Installations and video loops
The complete program : http://kultur-in-berlin.de/program.html
Watch videos and shorts screened now at Directors Lounge online : http://monitoranimation.de/dltv/