In the year marking the 200th anniversary of photography, the 36th Message to Man International Film Festival decided to explore the connections between cinema and its immediate predecessor and companion: photography.
One of the events dedicated to this subject is a workshop led by renowned documentary filmmaker Denis Klebleev, “From Stillness to Movement: Photofilm Experiments.”
Photofilms are perhaps the most obvious example of a synthesis between two media: photographs become the direct building material of cinema. The genre has been explored by Agnès Varda, Chris Marker, Raúl Ruiz, José Luis Guerín, Thom Andersen, John Smith, and Radu Jude. It continues to evolve in contemporary cinema.
At the “From Stillness to Movement” workshop, you will have the opportunity to create your own photofilm.
Denis Klebleev explains:
“There will be no beautiful discussions about the nature of photography or its relationship with cinema in our workshop. There are plenty of good texts you can read about all that. We, however, will have a lot of work to do. You will need to come up with a story you want to tell, take photographs for it, select the images, and arrange them into an edited sequence with your own rhythm and sound. In the end, everyone will have their own workshop photofilm, which we will immediately put through clinical trials on volunteer viewers.”
Director and participant in the competitive programmes of Message to Man Artem Senkovsky will assist Denis with the sound.
The workshop will be held in a hybrid format: online and offline.
Applications to the workshop will be reviewed by a jury consisting of filmmaker Denis Klebleev and film critics and curators Alisa Nasrtdinova and Mikhail Ratgauz.
Participation in the workshop is limited to five people.
The workshop will take place from 15 to 20 October at the St Petersburg School of New Cinema.
On 21 October, a special public screening of the resulting films will be held at the ROSPHOTO State Museum and Exhibition Centre.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP LEADER
Denis Klebleev is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and photographer. His path into cinema began with documentary street photography. His interest in still images gradually developed into a practice centred on movement, time, and sound. His method is rooted in close observation of everyday life and an intimate connection with his subjects. Working on his films alone, he leaves room for chance, allowing unpredictable events to influence the development of the film. His films have been selected for and received awards at international film festivals including Cinéma du Réel, Hot Docs, Locarno, DOK Leipzig, and Viennale.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
The workshop is open to photographers, cinematographers, and film directors from St Petersburg. Participants must be present in the city for the duration of the project.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for the workshop, please submit an application containing the following materials:
- Creative work:
- two photo series, one of which must be on the theme “My St Petersburg”;
- directors and cinematographers may additionally include one short film of up to 10 minutes in length.
- Biographical statement. You may also include links to other photography and film work.
SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
- Upload your materials to a folder on one of the following cloud storage services (Google Drive or Yandex Disk). Name the folder with your full name.
- Grant access to the folder.
- Send the folder link to info@message2man.com.
- Be sure to include “Denis Klebleev’s Workshop” in the subject line of your email.
DATES
- Applications close on 25 September at 23:59.
- The list of selected participants will be announced on 5 October.
We look forward to receiving your applications!
Message to Man would like to express its gratitude to our partners, the ROSPHOTO State Museum and Exhibition Centre and the St Petersburg School of New Cinema, for their assistance in organising the workshop.