2ANNAS FORUM 2025: INFORMATION ABOUT THE UPCOMING EVENTS
From April 6 to 10, the Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS Industry Days 2ANNAS FORUM: The Cinema of In-Betweenness will commence. This year's events will discuss collective filmmaking, the fusion of genres, as well as the importance of collaboration in the modern film market. Admission to events is free of charge and open to all.
The events include discussions, lectures, and workshops. The Emerging Critics' Workshop will continue to form a new generation of critics in the Baltics, and a Sound Post-Processing Creative Workshop will allow you to gain basic skills in the art of foley. A networking event will also provide a platform for new forms of collaboration between industry professionals, promoting new ideas and projects in the field of film.
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, APRIL 8
17:00 Discussion "The Cinema of In-Betweenness: Navigating the Festival Circuit" | Kanepes Kulturas centrs, 1st floor hall
Film festivals play an important role in providing a valuable platform for the distribution of (short) films, as well as an opportunity for filmmakers to gain visibility but how to find the most suitable festival when there are so many options.
Moderator: Simone Bardoni, Concorto Film Festival, Lights On, Italy
Panelists:
- Sarah Adam, Hamburg Cinematheque, Hamburg Short Film Festival, Kassel Documentary and Video Festival, Germany
- Flavia Dima, Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, Romania
- Philip Ilson, London Short Film Festival, United Kingdom
- Andrew Norton, Raina Films distribution, Finland
The discussion will be held in English, and admission is free of charge and open for all.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10
17:00 Discussion “The Cinema of In-Betweenness: Hybrid film, its creative potential and the problem of its definition" | Kanepes Kulturas centrs, 1st floor hall
This discussion will address the question of why and how different genres are fused to form a single, multi-layered artistic vision. It will discuss how the fusion of different genres and styles expands the possibilities of narrative and visual art, as well as how hybrid films affect the audience's perception and experience. We will also try to outline how this cross-genre problematic exists and what the future development of genre blends might look like.
Moderator: Riina Mikkonen, Tampere Film Festival, Finland
Panelists:
- Filipe Caeiro, director, researcher, Portugal / Germany
- Nikita Diakur, director, Germany
- Magdalena Hejzlarová, artist, director and author of various interdisciplinary projects, Czech Republic
- Anna Zača, curator, director, co-founder of RIGA IFF, Latvia
The discussion will be held in English, and admission is free of charge and open for all.
21:00 Short film walk "A WALL IS A SCREEN" | Latvian National Museum of Art
In collaboration with the internationally recognized initiative A Wall is a Screen from Germany that turns building facades into screens, we will go on a cinema tour through the center of Riga. The curators of A Wall is a Screen have selected short films, creating an urban sightseeing tour that represents selected buildings and architecture of Riga. Participants will take part in a walk, during which we will follow from wall to wall and thus from film to film.
As a result, seemingly familiar places literally appear in a new light, and each film interacts with its surroundings, and vice versa. Only the starting point is known in advance, the films and other places remain as a surprise for the participants.
Meeting point: Latvian National Museum of Art
Screenings will be held in original languages with English subtitles.
Admission is free of charge for anyone interested.
THURSDAY, APRIL 10
17:30 Lecture “The Cinema of In-Betweenness: Collective and participatory filmmaking methods” | Kanepes Kulturas centrs, 1st floor hall
With the rise of #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter and other active protest movements, the question of who tells whose story and how, is increasing. Collective and participatory filmmaking methods challenge traditional film hierarchy structures, looking for alternative ways to organize the filming process. In collectively created films, the project is not directed by a single director, but by a collective of authors, such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin, Dziga Vertov’s group, who collaborate in the creation of the film. The participatory method involves the characters in the filming process. The use of both approaches promotes active discussion, creativity and cooperation among those involved, as well as opens up opportunities for experimentation.
The lecture will collectively examine both filming methods, demonstrating historical and contemporary examples from different countries, as well as invite the audience to ask questions, share experiences and experiment on the spot.
The lecture will be led by Astra Zoldnere, director, researcher and curator, Latvia / Germany.
Astra Zoldnere is a Berlin-based Latvian film director, researcher and curator. In her line of work, practical and theoretical aspects interact with each other. In 2024, Zoldnere successfully defended her academic-artistic doctoral project at Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Her research consists of the theoretical analysis about the representation of elderly people in German-language fiction film and an artistic research project “Not My Film”.
The discussion will be held in English, and admission is free of charge and open for all.
2ANNAS Forum is organized with the support of the National Film Centre, Creative Europe MEDIA Desk in Latvia and the Goethe-Institut in Riga.