25th Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival
November 11-16, 2008
Deadline: July 21, 2008
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ANNOUNCEMENT
For its 25th anniversary edition the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival invites you from November 11 to 16, 2008 to Kassel to show the diversity and current tendencies of documentary work. On six days the festival presents about 230 international documentary films as well as experimental and artistic works. Together with its further three intermedia sections, the profile of the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival is unique: The exhibition MONITORING transfers the medium film from the cinema to the context of an exhibition in presenting contemporary media installations in addition to the film screenings. It is complemented with an audiovisual live program in the DokfestLounge as well as the interdisciplinary conference interfiction.
Moreover, the 25th anniversary edition of the Kassel Dokfest shall be an occasion for looking on the past and future festival’s development as well as documenting the facets of documentary work that has been presented in Kassel for the past 25 years. "Most Touching" is for instance the title of an anniversary DVD that shall be published with a collection of 25 international films and videos out of 25 years of festival history.
We now invite all artists, filmmakers, distributors, gallery owners, universities or institutions to submit latest works and projects to the different sections of the anniversary festival program. Deadline for entries is July 21, 2008.

DOCUMENTARYFILMVIDEOART
The documentary film traditionally makes up the heart of the festival. Thus, the festival puts its main emphasis on films and videos exploring their subject by documentary means. But not only traditional documentary films, also particularly short works, that break down formal approaches to documentary filmmaking, i.e. in the combination of experimental or animated with documentary elements, are selected. Theses hybrids expand the scale of documentary work and contribute to a diverse screening program. There is no restriction in terms of the running time of submitted works.

MONITORING
The exhibition MONITORING is devoted to contemporary space-oriented media art in enhancing the cinematographic scope of the festival. 15 media installations and sculptures are selected among the entries and displayed during the festival at Kassel KulturBahnhof and Kassel Kunstverein. The exhibition is organized in cooperation with the Kassel Kunstverein and the documenta Archive of the City of Kassel.

AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE
The lounge of the festival presents a program of audio-visual performances and VJ-art. This section is calling for live visuals, audiovisual performance concepts, Live Cinema, sound performances and any kind of experiments produced in analogue or digital media.

INTERFICTION
“RE/CYCLING INVENTION”: This year’s interfiction symposium (with lectures, presentations and workshop-sessions) will ask for the innovative potentials of digital and material strategies and practices of recycling in arts and culture. Artists, video- and filmmakers, researchers, curators, writers, activists and others interested in transdisciplinary exchange on the related issues are invited to join the conference and to discuss their ideas and projects. Call for proposals and further information: www.interfiction.org

AWARDS
A selection of the presented films and videos as well as installations will be nominated for one of the four awards. With the “Golden Key” award the festival seeks to support the best documentary submitted by a young director. It is endowed with Euro 5,000 and sponsored by the City of Kassel. Furthermore, we are pleased about our new prize sponsor for the “Golden Hercules”: The Machbar GmbH, a corporate communications company headquartered in Kassel, awards this prize, worth Euro 2,500, to an outstanding production from the region of Northern Hesse. This year, the software company Micromata GmbH supports the “Golden Cube” for the second time with Euro 2,500 in prize money. It awards the best installation of the exhibition MONITORING. Moreover, the festival and the Werkleitz Gesellschaft together present the production grant “A38”, worth Euro 4,000 for allowance in kind.

Entry form and rules of participation at www.filmladen.de/dokfest
Please use, if possible, the comfortable online entry form. We are looking forward to your entries and to an inspiring 25th anniversary edition of the Dokfest in Kassel!

Best regards,
the Dokfest-team

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25th Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival
November 11 - 16, 2008

Kati Michalk / Gerhard Wissner
phone:  +49.561.707 64 21
fax:    +49.561.707 64 41

www.filmladen.de/dokfest
dokfest@filmladen.de

mail:
c/o Filmladen Kassel e.V.
Goethestrasse 31
34119 Kassel
Germany
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