The Festival du nouveau cinéma’s Future of Cinema exhibit examines how technological inventions are influencing traditional filmmaking
In the early 1950s, 3-D movies were heralded as the cinema of the future. But the last 3-D film I saw in theatres featured zombies, made my eyes hurt, and had about 10 people in the audience. Clearly, it’s difficult to predict the evolution of cinema with any degree of accuracy. But that’s not stopping the Festival de nouveau cinéma from asking questions about the continuing evolution of film in an exhibit titled The Future of Cinema, which is free and runs today through Oct. 21 at the Société des arts technologiques.
3-D projection is just one of many topics addressed at the exhibit, which features art installations, special screenings and panel discussions revolving around how technology is changing the face of filmmaking.
“Above all, it’s for those who love cinema,” says Nicolas Rousseau, the New Media programmer for the festival. “Our goal this year is for fans of traditional cinema to take an interest in, and to avoid being afraid of, new technologies.”
One of these new technologies is SANDEE, part of the National Film Board’s Stereo Lab section, which allows the artist to use hand-drawn lines to create 3-D imagery.
“That’s what new media is,” says Munro Ferguson, a Montreal-based NFB filmmaker who was involved in SANDEE’s development, “when there’s a technological change that (causes) a paradigm shift, and you’re creating a new type of content as a result.”
And audiences will likely appreciate this new content. “The stereoscopic image is something that’s a lot more intimate than a 2D image … there’s more of an emotional range that you can get,” says Ferguson, who has two films screening at the exhibit.
Montreal seems to be the perfect place for this marriage of traditional film and cutting-edge technological innovation. Different industries, such as video games and special effects, create “an active force,” says Rousseau, adding, “Montreal is known internationally for the synergy between all the different spheres of activity.”
To featured artist Grégory Chatonsky, there is no better place to examine these ideas. “I think that Montreal is the best place to be an artist working in new media,” says the Parisian-born artist, who divides his time between Montreal and France.
A primary interest of Chatonsky’s installation, titled Cinema@home, is shared cinematic history. “Cinema is truly the religion of the 20th century,” he says. “We don’t know each other, but we share so many films.”
He began Cinema@home in 2002 in Montreal with visits to independent video store La Boîte Noire, and it features 13 mini-installations, each based around an existing film.
Chatonsky alters each movie in different ways, taking inspiration from the image to create new ideas from the film’s raw materials. For example, inspired by the multicultural characters in Casablanca, he created subtitles for the film, and a computer program then uses the subtitles to find related images on popular photo site Flickr.
Installations from Nicolas Reeves, Masaki Fujihata and Hendrick Dusollier further explore the exhibit’s themes of immersion and interactivity, as does Late Fragment, which will be screened on Oct. 18. That film relies on the audience to guide its plot.
“There are many stories (in Late Fragments),” explains Rousseau, “and the spectator is able to change, question, and remodel the story.”
Debates, conferences and lectures will accompany the installations, as will free screenings. Panoramic cameras, a 3-D exhibition, and the effect technology has on DIY filmmaking will be examined, as will the relationship between film and video games, a concept that excites Rousseau.
“Who’s going to replace who,” he asks, “and why, how? We want people to share and question these issues.”
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Screenings will include the new 3-D IMAX film Sea Monsters, and Four Eyed Monsters, a film with an innovative self-distribution method that will be discussed by the filmmakers.
Interestingly, the exhibit does not actually try to answer the question of the future of cinema - that’s because Rousseau doesn’t have a definitive answer. It simply attempts to stimulate debate, and above all, discourage the passive absorption of film.
“We just ask the questions,” he says. “I don’t have the authority to say, ‘I have a vision of art, or a vision of cinema.’ ”
To Rousseau and the artists at the Future of Cinema exhibit, the answer to the question of “whither cinema?” is not important. It’s the response, any response, that matters.
The Future of Cinema exhibit runs daily from noon to midnight, today through Oct. 21, at the SAT, 1195 St. Laurent Blvd., and the adjacent SAT[osphere] Fido tent. For more information, call 514-282-0004 or visit www.nouveaucinema.ca.
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