Keeping the film flame alive

When London-based Soho Film Laboratory decided to stop printing 16mm film in March 2011, it seemed the days of celluloid were numbered in the UK. However, the idea that film is no longer economically viable in the age of instant digital filmmaking is hotly contested by artists and curators alike. 

 

Tacita Dean for example wrote an article lamenting the shortsightedness of this decision, pointing out that use of film by artists is actually increasing. Reflecting the health of demand for celluloid film labs is "Filmlabs Meeting Zagreb 2011”,  an international meeting of over 30 artisan film laboratories, taking place from 21- 24 September, which brings together groups to share technical and conceptual knowledge around filmmaking.

Film labs in London, Berlin and Athens
 

One of the attendees is London-based , no.w.here an artist-run organisation that operates a lab and regular courses in practical film-making alongside a programme of screenings and events. Although their prices reflect the high cost of London living, they are still very much lower than commercial film labs and as their website points out, their lab “allows artists and filmmakers to experiment with production and chemical processes (not allowed in the commercial labs)”.

 

Meanwhile Berlin is home to LaborBerlin, a non-hierarchical collective of filmmakers who run a lab in Wedding, funded through low membership fees and accessible to all. After a brief introduction into hand made filmmaking, members are free to pursue their film projects alongside sharing skills with newcomers, creating an economically viable model that is not reliant on state funding or high fees. LabourBerlin also attend international workshops and screenings, one of which was organised by LabA, Athens in the first week of September.
 

LabA was founded by Iannis Yaxas and cineaste/ film programmer Vassilis Bourikas, and is a self- funded lab that welcomes amateur and professional filmmakers alike. One of their core beliefs is that contrary to received opinion, celluloid filmmaking is not prohibitively expensive, time-consuming or requiring of extensive specialist knowledge. Eloquently illustrating this ethos, LabA have experimented with filming, developing and screening work on a train and in other outdoor locations, and have been invited to run workshops all over Europe in hands-on, ‘guerilla’ style filmmaking.
 

HAND OVER CINEMA workshop
 

      

Sharing this passion for film and demonstrating that even complete beginners can pick up the basic processes, LabA in collaboration with the Athens Goethe Centre ran a week-long hand made film workshop, HAND OVER CINEMA. Artists from the US, UK, Egypt, Serbia and Greece, representing a range of film-making experience, set out to film, develop and edit Super 8 and 16mm film, expertly supported by members of LaborBerlin, LabA and Paris-based experimental film workshop ETNA.
 

 

After a busy week at LabA’s space, the works created were screened in a culminating event at the Goethe Centre on Tuesday night. The theme, Athens, was interpreted in many different ways, from Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau’s experimental triple-exposed film of Athens street life to Ioulia Mermigka’s Amor Fati, which combined old family footage and filmed sequences in a meditation on memory and materiality.

Greek filmmaker Katerina Evangellakou closed the evening with a brilliant expanded cinema piece incorporating two projectors, a soprano singer and piano player. Her work, like many others in the programme, addressed the difficult economic situation in Greece and the effect it is having on the lives of ordinary citizens.

Despite these challenges, the packed out auditorium and diversity of films on show indicates the level of interest in experimental film in Athens from viewers and makers alike. It also showed the excellent work that can be produced when different European organisations collaborate and share knowledge.