'Freeze-Frame, a Vanitas of Light' investigates in what form film can exist without the physical presence of film. The starting point is the local history of Wetteren, where in the 1960s were four cinemas; Cinema Roxy, Cinema Nova, Cinema Max and Cinema Forum. The socialists, liberals and Catholics, each had their own cinema and one was there for the 'naughty' films. Now that these cinemas have disappeared from the street scene, the question remains whether the cinematic is still present in Wetteren, or can be, and how an idea of film can exist without actually being present as a film.

Introduced by Robert Beavers

I met Renate Sami when the filmmaker Ute Aurand invited me to show films at FilmSamstag in Berlin in the late 1990s, but it was only later that I experienced the calm directness of her own film and video work, and became acquainted with the emotion at its source. When I moved to Berlin, I learned more: how she came to film and what directions her filmmaking took

The program Spring Portraits groups together filmmakers who at times deal loosely with the theme of portraits - either of people, places, atmospheres, and who mostly also have, in some way, a connection to the city of Berlin. Some are long established names, others are making their first film - what is important is that they share some sensibility - and a belief in films power as a medium to transcend mere representation whilst simultaneously capturing something of life's fleeting moments.

*all films will be shown on film