We are looking for video works that tackle the topic of (Large) cities after COVID-19 in a critical, humorous, experimental, and creative way. This is a call for videos for media and video artists living in Germany or Canada.
The city during or after Covid-19 – this evokes the longings of urban utopians for green, car-free inner cities, wide sidewalks if not entire streets just for strolling, sweeping bicycle lanes, and parking lots turned into plazas. Meanwhile, the most densely populated inner cities have once again been hit the hardest during this crisis. We remember the dystopian scenarios of deserted downtowns, empty streets, rows of boarded-up stores, and a cultural life that was virtually frozen in place. In the midst of all this, mobile testing centres on public parking lots, and parking garages and parks converted into makeshift hospitals.
How can the city look afterwards, how do we envision it in either direction: Will nature reconquer the inner cities? What’s the purpose of tall office buildings if no one works there any longer?
How do social rules and medical hygiene rules affect our bodies? How will we move in the urban space? How will we interact with one another? How do we communicate in the era of social distancing?
We are looking for video works that tackle this topic in a critical, humorous, experimental, and creative way.
The videos will be projected after dark onto screens placed in the storefront windows of the Goethe-Institut Montreal on Boulevard St. Laurent.
This is a call for videos for media and video artists living in Germany or Canada.
There are no restrictions regarding the style/genre of the videos.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Length
3 to 15 mins. but we are also open for other formats; depending on their length, the videos are shown in a loop from dusk until midnight.
Format
Video must be digitized.
Sound
The video submissions shall not include any relevant dialogue or sound, as the screening will not offer satisfactory sound rendering.
Lighting
As the videos will be projected after dark onto screens placed in our storefront windows, there is no possibility to adapt the room lighting to the video.
Video specifications
BrightSign player supports the following video file encodings/compressions
• MPEG-2 (can be saved as an .mpg, .ts, or .vob container)
• MPEG-1 (can be saved as an .mpg container)
• H.264 (MPEG-4, Part 10) (can be saved as a .mp4, .mov, or .ts container)
SUBMISSIONS
The deadline for submissions is September 13, 2020, 0:00 EDT. Please submit via this form only.
Submissions must include:
- Link(s) to the work and password, if applicable
- Link to the artist’s website, if applicable
- A short description of the work (max. 250 words), in English
- A short artist bio in English (max. 250 words)
Please send any queries by email to: goetheinstitutmontreal@gmail.com
Selection process:
The jury will select six to eight video works. Starting on October 5, 2020, each selected work will be shown over a period of two weeks on screens placed in our storefront windows. Each artist whose work has been selected will receive a stipend of CAD $750/500 euros.
Jury:
- Miryam Charles, Montreal-based Canadian filmmaker
- Anyse Ducharme, Artistic Programmer of Knot Project Space – SAW Video Media Arts Centre Ottawa
- Peter Haueis, Filmmaker and member of the Hamburg artist group A Wall is a Screen
- Annette Hegel, Director of SAW Video Media Arts Centre Ottawa
- Anna Lena Seiser, Director Video-Forum Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
Duration of the projections:
Starting October 5th 2020, until December 2020 / January 2021.
The videos are repeated on our screens in an endless loop from dusk until midnight.
