Disorient by Florence Aigner and Laurent Van Lancker received the Main Prize at VIDEOEX, the International Experimental Film & Video Festival in Zürich (21 – 29 May). Because We Are Visual by another helmers' duo, Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes, was given an Honourable Mention by the Jury.
The International Jury, consisting of Maria Palacios Cruz (BE), Seppo Renvall (FIN) en Georges Salameh (GR) decided to share the Main Prize between two ‘brave’ films which ‘experiment with storytelling and with the absence of images. Both films share a sense of internal rhythm and pacing, as well as a strong correspondence between the chosen formal strategies and the subject matter that is being dealt with.’ Because We Are Visual also received praise from the jury for its ‘fragile beauty, ‘highly complex editing’ and ‘the two young filmmakers’ ambition.’
Disorient presents a polyphony of tales by migrants who returned to their homeland after having spent many years abroad. Because We Are Visual immerses the viewer in the world of public video journals. The film focuses on the experience of the body within this virtual space. By means of visual material gathered from online sources, the cineastes create a unique poetic realm in which thoughts, fears, desires and worries, shared via the webcam, merge together.
VIDEOEX not only awarded two Flemish docs. Its International Competition also displayed an impressive selection of Flemish and Belgian artists. Aside from the winning films, the fest selected for official competition Sarah Vanagt’s The Corridor, Stardust and Long Live the New Flesh by Nicolas Provost and Hans Op De Beeck’s Sea of Tranquility.
Finally, this edition of VIDEOEX also featured a special program on Brussels as Guest City containg works from artists such as Johan Grimonprez (Double Take), Els Opsomer, Vincent Meessen (Vita Nova), Annik Leroy, Pieter-Paul Mortier (In the Midst of…), Pieter Geenen, Herman Asselberghs (After Empire, Dear Steve), Manon de Boer (Resonating Surfaces), Sven Augustijnen (Spectres), Henri Storck (Permeke), Eric Pauwels, Marcel Broot and Anouk De Clerq.
VIDEOEX is Switzerland’s only festival dedicated to experimental film and video. Launched in 1998, VIDEOEX provides a forum for filmmakers, video artists, curators and their audience to gather and explore the perception of images, different aesthetic strategies and new ways of using technology in experimental film and video works.