By Joon Soh
Staff Reporter
It's still not quite mainstream, but Seoul Net & Film Festival (SeNef) is certainly trying. An annual event celebrating the experimental in film and video, this year's festival will make digital media accessible and fun for the general public. At the same time, it will present more works by recognizable names in the art film world than in previous years.
"Part of the festival's goal is to introduce various cinematic styles and innovations to a mainstream audience", Kim Ji-hoon, one of the festival's programmers, said during a news conference Wednesday. "It's important to find a balance between the mainstream and the minority".
SeNef is unique in that it takes place in both cyberspace and in the real world _ hence the festival's name. Over 100 short films, videos and animations have been screening on the festival's Web site (www.senef.net) from May 1 and will continue through Sept. 22. In addition, 45 feature-length films and 220 short films will show during a one-week period in two venues, Hollywood Theater and Seoul Arts Cinema, starting Sept. 15.
Some of the resumes of films featured in the offline part of the event are quite impressive. Many films have screened at such renowned festivals as Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam and Edinburgh, and will be making their Asian premiers. They include new works by British filmmaker Peter Greenaway, Iran's Abbas Kiarostami and Canada's Guy Maddin, all to be shown in Over the Cinema, a non-competition section.
In case of Greenaway and Kiarostomi, however, Kim insists their choice had less to do with their name value and more that "their experimental spirit reflect exactly what SeNef stands for".
And experimental would be the right word to describe Greenaway's "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea", which will open the Seoul event. The film is the second part of a three film series exploring 20th century history through one man's collection of 92 suitcases, which is in turn part of Greenaway's larger ambitious multimedia project.
Kiarostomi, one of the leaders in the much-heralded contemporary Iranian cinema movement, will be presented by two films shot on digital camera: "Five", an imagistic documentary comprising five long takes of seafronts, and "10 on Ten", a documentary that also serves as a lesson in filmmaking.
Other films in Over the Cinema include "Greendale", rocker Neil Young's venture into experimental filmmaking; "Los Angeles Plays Itself" Thom Andersen's inventive documentary and ode to the City of Angels, and two documentaries _ one on the American prison system and the other on the dehumanization of war _ by renowned German filmmaker Harun Farocki.
Those who feel more adventurous about their cinematic experience will be well rewarded by selecting works from Digital Express, the festival's competition section. Hard-hitting social dramas make up the majority of the section, such as "Seven Days, Seven Nights" by Cuban director Joel Cano; "The Friend", a look at the aftermath of Sept. 11 by Elmar Fischer of Germany, and "Fade into You", a compilation of three short films about identity by local director Chegy.
SeNef will also include other sections, including Back to the Origin, which will present experimental silent films from the 1920s; When Lego Meets Cinema, a series of short animated works made up of Lego blocks and figurines; Jukebox Midnight, a late night screening of 100 music videos; and "Cinetraffic: Expansion of British Cinema", a look at contemporary British feature and short independent films.
A selection of multimedia installations will be presented at Ilmin Art Museum from Sept. 8 through 22 as part of the festival.
Seoul Net & Film Festival
When: From Sept. 15 through 22
Where: Hollywood Theater and Seoul Arts Cinema
How much: 5,000 won for films, 10,000 won for all-night screenings
Info: www.senef.net
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