film

A hybrid of film festival and music festival, Optronica is a brand new five day event focusing on the convergence of visuals and music. Starting on Wednesday July 20th 2005, Optronica opens with 3 nights of live audiovisual performances at the bfi London IMAX; the World premiere of Plaid & Bob Jaroc's Greedy Baby AV spectacular, the UK premiere of DJ Spooky's solo film remix Rebirth of a Nation and a stunning AV show from ex-Kraftwerk star Karl Bartos. Packed Friday and Saturday schedules follow, with cinema screenings, talks, panel discussions and live performances at the National Film Theatre, where audiovisual acts including Skoltz_Kolgen and People Like Us play at Optronica Lab. On the Friday night, there will be a special live audiovisual performance by Addictive TV on the fly-tower of the National Theatre, with projections visible across the Thames, and a club night Optronica @ The Spitz on the Saturday night with a line-up of DJs and VJs from France, Holland, Poland, the UK and Japan. visit http://www.optronica.org/ for more info

Water, the source of life, today, has been deviously packaged into a commodity, creating a paucity of water and causing severe trauma to various peoples all over the world. The shortage of drinking water both in urban and rural areas has escalated to an acute level in the last five years, specially heightened by drought and war. This will have serious repercussions for the peoples of the world and the environment. One of the objectives of Water Journeys is to screen films on water issues, water struggles, water conservation and related issues in schools, colleges and communities to start a dialogue on the issue of control and use of water. It aims at networking with agencies involved in the protection and preservation of lakes, rivers and other water bodies. Further Water Journeys will soon start an international journal on water issues. It will address the socio-political and cultural implications of water, making it an interesting and enlightening knowledge source for action. In its 27 years of active involvement, Bangalore Film Society has been instrumental in screening films of internationally acclaimed film directors from all over the world, initiating a process of intercultural dialogue and creating avenues for divergent aesthetic experiences. read more for details or contact deepfocus@bgl.vsnl.net (Anupama Jayaraman, Co ordinator, Water Journeys).

RESFEST 2004 Digital Film Festival travels the world showcasing short films, music videos, motion design, live music, guest speakers + more. Australian performances include, 3-7 December, Melbourne and 9-12 December, Sydney. visit http://www.resfest.com for details

Culturejam: Hijacking Commercial Culture delivers a fascinating rap on the 20th Century movement called Culture Jamming. Pranksters and subversive artists are causing a bit of brand damage to corporate mindshare. Jammers, cultural commentators, a billboard advertiser and a constitutional lawyer take us on a wild roller coaster ride through the back streets of our mental environment. Stopping over in San Francisco, New York's Times Square, and Toronto, we catch the jamming in action with Batman-inspired Jack Napier of the Billboard Liberation Front, Disney arch-enemy Reverend Billy from the Church of Stop Shopping and Media Tigress Carly Stasko. Culturejam asks: Is Culture Jamming civil disobedience? Senseless vandalism? The only form of self defense left?
visit http://www.culturejamthefilm.com/ for details

The Dream Sequence is a unique, interactive digital film project, produced and directed by Christopher Kenworthy. Dreams are harvested from around the world, one is chose and then made into a digital film. The completed film will be screened on the dream sequence website in late August 2004, and used to stimulate further dreams through a technique known as 'incubation'. visit http://www.thedreamsequence.com for details