Film
School #3
Jan - Jun 2023
Online and in person
We are announcing the third edition of our BAL Film School – a six-month course in experimental analog filmmaking this year in collaboration with LaborBerlin in Germany. The school will be open for both international and local participants providing weekly online meetings with filmmakers from all around the world.
During the first edition of the school, the program focused on the production of new experimental films – 15 students made their first works which were showcased at Process festival 2021, and are now being shown in other experimental film festivals around the world.
In this edition, the course will run for six months hosting not only online talks but also three in-person workshops as well as film production for each student. We will provide facilities and equipment for those living in Latvia, as well as help find equipment for those living elsewhere. Each student will be given a film stock of their choice and will be developing their projects.
The final film processing will happen in June at Baltic Analog Lab in Riga and LaborBerlin in Berlin.
The online meetings will happen weekly via Zoom, allowing participants to join from any location and engage with filmmakers as well as fellow students.
Applications are open until December 30, 2022
Participation fee: 540 EUR for national participants
600 EUR for international participants
The course starts on January 2023 and ends at end of June 2023
Supported by the Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation
Guest Speakers
Regulations
Anyone over the age of 20 can apply to the school.
Participation fee for the full course:
540 EUR (or 90 EUR per month) for national participants
600 EUR (or 100 per month) for international participants
Participation fee only for online lectures: 400 EUR (or 70 EUR per month)
The full course fee includes participation in 3 creative workshops, attendance of at least 20 online meetings, film stock and chemistry for their own final work and usage of lab premises and equipment.
Each lecture will be recorded and available to all participants, in case they cannot guarantee their presence at the scheduled meeting.
The meetings will happen once a week in the evenings at 7 PM CET.
NB! There are limited places available for the full course which is up to 20 people.
Programme
The course aims to teach and aspire students to learn about various ways of working with analog film in the field of experimental filmmaking. By meeting various filmmakers across the world, we will get to know their unique approaches to experimental filmmaking. We will meet filmmakers that have established their place in the experimental film scene by working with analog film for over a decade, creating unique films that have been shown across many film festivals, art-house cinemas, contemporary art museums, and galleries as well as underground cinemas and artist-run laboratories.
We will also meet film researchers and curators who will tell us about the history of experimental film, as well as its place in nowadays film industry.
Amongst confirmed speakers and lecturers there are filmmakers such as: Emmanuel Lefrant (FR), Erwin van 't Hart (NL), Mark Toscano (USA), Bryan Konefsky (USA), John Price (CA),Esther Urlus (NL), Guy Sherwin (UK), Nan Wang (CN/NL), Richard Tuohy, Dianna Barrie (AU), Ojoboca (DE), Lindsay McIntyre (CA), Nazlı Dinçel (USA), Alexandre Larose (CA), Zachary Epcar (USA), Atoosa Pour Hossseini (IR/IE) and others.
Apart from the weekly Zoom sessions, there will be three in-person workshops - the first in February at Baltic Analog Lab introducing students to practical skills in shooting with a 16mm film camera and processing film in a darkroom. The second one on April at LaborBerlin teaching skills of working with film machines such as animation stand and contact printer and the third workshop will happen at Baltic Analog Lab in May shortly before the Process festival together with British
filmmaker Guy Sherwin who is an essential figure in experimental film history, especially focusing on expanded cinema practice. In this workshop, the students will learn the creative skills of working with optical soundtrack making on 16mm film, creating many film loops which will be presented in a collective performance at the opening ceremony of Process festival on May 17th, 2023.
Since this year's main focus will be on creation of new films and performative pieces, all students will have to dedicate their time in June for processing their films either at Baltic Analog Lab or LaborBerlin premises.
Each student will be given a film stock and there will be film chemistry available at both labs to process their films, as well as edit them for analog projection.
We will announce the final screening of all works by the end of June in Latvia and Berlin (depending on the number of students and their abilities to travel).
The course will be moderated by BAL founding member Ieva Balode and former Rotterdam IFFR curator and Vertical Cinema project partner Erwin van 't Hart (NL)
The school is supported by Latvian State Culture Capital foundation.
Schedule:
16 - 30 December, 2022 Open call for applications
9 January, 2023. Announcement of the participants
19 January, 2023. Start of the school
January-June, 2023. Weekly meetings and lectures with filmmakers
Last week of every month – Wrap-up meetings with fellow students
25-26 February, 2023. Workshop at BAL in Riga
April, 2023. Workshop at Labor Berlin in Berlin (dates to be confirmed)
13-14 May, 2023. Expanded cinema workshop with Guy Sherwin (UK) at Baltic Analog Lab
17 May, 2023. Performance at Process festival, Riga
June, 2023. Film processing and finishing at Baltic Analog Lab in Riga and LaborBerlin in Berlin
Applications are closed