Call for entries
extended deadline: 1 September 2015
SFC Shoah Film Collection is looking for new contributions in order to continue the success story which started 5 years ago on 27 January 2010 – the International Holocaust Memorial Day – commemorating the 65th liberation of the Concentration Camp of Auschwitz, when this unique media art and peace initiative was laucnhed in the context of “Draft Title: Shoah” and “A Virtual Memorial Foundation”
Since then each year, on 27 January, Shoah Film Collection is releasing traditionally its new call for the coming year – so also this year, on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 – deadline 1 July 2015.
This media art and peace initiative by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne, media artist and curator from Cologne (artvideoKOELN international, Cologne International videoart Festival) is addressed to the young generations of artists and filmmakers to deal with the topic of Shoah and collective trauma caused by totalitarianism by using new (audio-visual) technologies and contemporary approaches in order to keep vivid the memory of the collective trauma by senstizing people via art. During the past years, a collection of 70 outstanding art film and videos by artists from 15 countries developed, from the experiment to the documentary.
In order to make the videos available to a wider public, Wilfried Agricola de Cologne set up an experimental event structure, named: “AVMCI – A Virtual Memorial Commeorative Interventions” placing Shoah Film Collection into complementary interventions like the screening, projection and installation of the videos, a symposium with an international artists meeting, lectures, exhibitions, artistic performances of different kind, artists talks, discussions ansd much more, in order to activate the artists, as well as the audience.
Until now, there were in total 12 presentations in Russia, Poland, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Cambodia and Israel, whereby 2012 the first pilot project, standing under the Patronage of the European Parliament was realised in Latvia – A Virtual Memorial Riga 2012 – dedicated to the victims of Riga Ghetto, to be followed by the pilot project in Lithuania 2013 – A Virtual Memorial Vilnius 2013 – a tribute to the victims of Vilna Ghetto,
“A Virtual Memorial Warsaw 2013 -a tribute to the victims of Warsaw Ghetto and A Virtual Memorial Milan 2014 – a tribute to the Italian victims of Holocaust – all events were standing under the Patronage of the European Parliament.
In 2015, two symbolical dates are celebrated, the 70th return of the end of World War II and the 70th return of the Liberation of Auschwitz which is synonymous with the end of the Holocaust, and in 2015 the first pilot project in scheduled in Germany – A Virtual Memorial Duesseldorf 2015 – 9 November 2015 – 27 January 2016 – incorporating the start of the Holocaust, which is considered to be the 9 November (1939) – the Night of Broken GLass – and the International Holocaust Memorial day 2016 which is symbolizing the end of the Holocaust.
Shoah Film Collection would like to bring closer to the people what the Holocaust is meaning to mankind and future generations by encouraging artists to face and reflect the aspect of humanity which was lost widely during the era of Nazizm, but not completely. Now more than 70 years after the end of the Holocaust, however, as the idea of totalitarian ideologies and systems to exterminate all those who do not fit in these insane idealogies, the Holocaust never was really finished, because in all parts on the globe, there were genocides and political systems were waging war against the own peolpe, and they still do.
The daily news are overwhelemed by reports from all parts on the globe giving evidence, the Holocaust is going on, always in new kinds of shapes. In this way, again and again such insane ideologies are producing continuously victims – all the millions of refugees from Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America are witnesses these days and give evidence of the same kind of inhumanity which was characterizing Nazism, Fascism, Stalinism, Communism or any other kind of -isms terrorizing people all over the world.
In terms of the initiative of Shoah Film Collection – it is the process of losing one’s humanity through discrimination, persecution and extermination – which is of artistic interest – a universal topic – in this way – it is humanity standing in the center of Shoah Film Collection – and artists are invited to transform their visions how to save humanity in that kind of global terror aimed to exterminate the human race, as such.
The Holocaust must not happen again! Hiroshima must not happen again! The genocide in Cambodia must not happen again! The genocide in Rwanda must not happen again! – the list could be continued endlessly – demonstrating that nothing has changed after end of World War II and insane, inhuman ideologies are again and again attracting masses of people anywhere.
If people can learn anything about the terror recently in Paris, when a wave of solidarity was with the victims -and people were shouting all ove the world – “Je suis Charlie” – then they are encouraged to become active themselves on all field of life und create a human world offering space for all humans, no matter what kind of social, ethnic, religious, econnmical, cultural background they are coming from. Art as the most human expression is that medium to transport the ideas of humanity.
Shoah Film Collection and its manifestations are looking for new audio-visual works using video as a medium in all its variety.
More details and entryform on
http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=6328