After an homage to Peter Tscherkassky and Eve Heller, curated by Atelier Impopulaire for the last edition, Fuori Formato, the short film section of Filmmaker Festival (Milan), continues its exploration of Austrian Avant-garde under the guide of young experimental film talent Johann Lurf, who will be in Milan as artist in focus and guest curator. A selection of his films dedicated to the analysis of spaces and architectures will be presented in a personal programme and then discussed with the artist in a masterclass.

A to A: Perspectives on Austrian Avant-garde is a three-part programme focusing mainly (with few significant exceptions) on the last two decades and on younger generations: not a comprehensive mapping, but a personal voyage through essential works and minor episodes in the ever-lively scene of Austrian experimental cinema. Included there is a special micro-programme of experimental film trailers, with two foreign special guests (Ken Jacobs and James Benning’s trailers for the Viennale) and the world premiere of Norbert Pfaffenbichler’s Short Film, consisting of only four frames.

As part of the Kontraste Festival 2013

‘You hear it everywhere: Cinema is tipping over – its epic and dramatic forms are spilling over into television, avant-garde and experimental films have fled to the galleries, and all the images that once belonged to it are now available everywhere, anytime. At the Austrian Film Museum, we tend to refrain from such sweeping and simple-minded swan songs. For this very reason, we are honoured to participate in Vertical Cinema – a project committed to taking one step at a time. Instead of trying to tip cinema in its entirety into the digital netherworld, this project is content with just tipping the screen – observing how an artform changes if you respectfully chafe at its edges.’ – Alexander Horwath, Director of the Austrian Film Museum

What we usually identify as the indisputable ‘temple of film’, the Cinema, is not really a given, especially not in the realm of experimental cinematic arts. Yet this is somehow sidelined in the process of re-thinking the possibilities of cinematic experience, mostly because the architectural frame is already there, if only as a convention established a long time ago within the theatrical arts. Actually, the history of experimental cinema and the art of the moving image suggests that the space might very well be the crucial aspect of the total audiovisual experience – something one should always question and take into consideration when producing a work for audiovisual, sensory cinema.