VALAND ACADEMY

CONFERENCE ON PRACTICE BASED RESEARCH IN FILM

NOVEMBER 23-24 2015 Valand Academy, Storgatan 43 Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Jyoti Mistry, Tanja Sakota-Kokot, Damon Heatlie, Eran Tahor Netherlands Film Academy, Amsterdam School of the Arts Mieke Bernink, Sander Blom Huston School of Film & Digital Media, Ireland Rod Stoneman Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden Klara Björk, Linda Sternö, Kalle Boman, Ruben Östlund, Axel Danielson, Anna Linder, Tommy Spaanheden, Andrea Östlund, Dan Sandkvist, Hanna Sköld, Gustav Annerblom, Cecilia Torquato, Lena Lind Brynstedt

PROGRAMME Monday, November 23 Bio Valand 08:30 – Possibility to check technique. 09:00 – Coffee. 09:30 – Welcome to Valand! Short presentation of Valand Academy and the staff by Klara Björk. 10:00 – Mieke Bernink. Presentation of Netherlands Film Academy. 10:40 – Short break. 10:50 – Rod Stoneman. Presentation of Huston School of Film & Digital Media, Ireland. Presentation: The Epistemology of Art. 11:30 – Presentation of Wits School of Arts, South Africa. Jyoti Mistry, Tanja Sakota-Kokot, Damon Heatlie, Eran Tahor. 12:10-13:20 LUNCH 13:30 – Akademin Valand presentation of projects. Klara Björk & Linda Sternö: VG-model. 14:10 – Kalle Boman & Ruben Östlund: The Square. 14:50 – Break / coffee 15.20 – Axel Danielson: The killing Image. 16.10 – Anna Linder: Queer Moving Images. 17:00 – ENDING 17:30 – Bio Valand: LEGENDS OF THE CASBAH by Damon Heatlie (72 min.) Screening for students and teachers at Akademin Valand Film followed by Q & A. 19:00 – Dinner at restaurant

Tuesday, November 24 Bio Valand 09:30 – Coffee 10:00 – Sander Blom, Netherlands Film Academy. Presentation of project: The Iranian Film / The People’s Polti. 10:40 – Jyoti Mistry, Wits School of Arts Presentation of project: Film as cinematic critique. The presentation will include a screening of the short film: Bullet in Scarf. 11.20 – Eran Tahor, Wits School of Arts. Presentation of project: Approaches to teaching cinematography in digital filmmaking – my experience of practicing and teaching cinematography. 12:00 – 13:15 LUNCH 13:30 – Tanja Sakota-Kokot, Wits School of Arts. Presentation of project: The Politics of Remembering – Creating History, Memory and Culture in the Classroom. 14:10 – Summary and reflections 15:00 – Frank Forum: Damon Heatlie: Legends of the Casbah, part 2. 16:30 – Mingle in the GLASS HOUSE together with our students.

Mieke Bernink Lector and Head of Department at the Netherlands Film Academy

Mieke Bernink studied philosophy and psychology (MA) before bidding farewell to the academic world to pursue a career in film journalism, film policy consultancy and most recently: film education. As head of research, she's the founder and head of the international MA-programme of the Netherlands Film Academy, which focuses on 'artistic research in and through film'. She is also responsible for conceptualizing, developing and implementing research initiatives by teachers, artists in residence and bachelor students within the context of the so-called Innovation Lab. Apart from her work at the Film Academy she's member of different advisory committees within the film world and a regular jury member at festivals.

ARTISTIC RESEARCH IN AND THROUGH FILM Mieke Bernink Since March 2009 the Netherlands Film Academy offers not just a four year bachelor programme but also a two year international Master’s programme for a limited group of filmmakers and artists from other fields, all with a few years of professional experience under their belt. From the start the programme was conceived around the notion of research, and more specifically ‘artistic research in and through film’. In the presentation the focus will be on this notion of artistic research, its ‘translation’ into a two year program and the projects that have resulted from it. In its particular take on artistic research, the Film Academy takes full advantage of the fact that Dutch art schools are not part of academia and therefore not obliged to fit in with the demands, and restraints, that universities put on research. Similarly, when broadening out the practice of and focus on research to both the bachelor programme and the Film Academy in general, the Academy seeks to develop its own strategy, from within the everyday practice of the school. Thus the recently initiated ‘innovation Lab’ functions as a playground or experimental space for short term practical research projects by teachers, leading to new ideas for the school’s curriculum, for investigations done by artists in residence, working together with students or for more extensive technologically driven research, executed together with partners from the film and media industry and other research institutes. A few examples will be discussed.

Rod Stoneman Professor and Director of the Huston School of Film & Digital Media at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Rod Stoneman was Chief Executive of Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board until September 2003 and previously a Deputy Commissioning Editor in the Independent Film and Video Department at Channel 4 Television in the United Kingdom. He has made a number of documentaries, including Ireland: The Silent Voices, Italy: the Image Business, 12,000 Years of Blindness and The Spindle, and has written extensively on film and television. He is the author of Chávez: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: A Case Study of Politics and the Media and Seeing is Believing: The Politics of the Visual. Educating Film-Makers, written with Duncan Petrie, was published in 2014.

The Epistemology of Art Rod Stoneman An examination of the range and diversity of practice-based research in film. At this time there is a dynamic movement between the critical / analytical and the creative / productive; practice-based work is expanding in the various levels and the different disciplines of institutional study. Artistic work in film and digital media has an active capacity which can intersect with that form of enquiry we call academic research. It involves mobilising a signifying practice for a defined usage, arrangements which have the potential to engage with and transform a field of understanding. It may sometimes disrupt or dislocate prematurely fixed patterns of traditional writing. Art offers a form of knowledge which is, in Julia Kristeva’s words: “[That which] disturbs identity, system, order. [That which] does not respect borders, positions, rules. The in-between, the ambiguous, the composite.”

Klara Björk Head of Film Unit and Subject Teacher at Valand Academy

Active as a producer and partner in the production company Filmkreatörerna, established 1996 with producer Daniella Elmqvist Prah. The filmography as producer consists of titles such as ”3xTonino – a film with, about and in collaboration with Tonino Guerra” director Andreas Kassel (2015), ”The Quiet Game” director Görel Crona (2011), ”It usually ends well” director Beate Grimsrud (2010), ”Untold” director Staffan Lamm (2006),”Made in Yugoslavia” director Miko Lazic (2005). Klara Björk has also experience in directing documentaries and shorts. She was a member of the board at the director’s association 2003-2004 and in the first board of Swedish WIFT (Women i Film and Television) when it started up in Sweden 2004. She is educated at EAVE (European Audio Visuell Entrepreneur) and at Filmhögskolan at Göteborg University. Since 2012 Klara is working as a teacher and head of the film department at Akademin Valand. Klara’s interest lies within the field of cultivation and politics and how the camera as a tool can be the used as a way of ”consciousness raising” in the literacy facing our time – image literacy. Linda Sternö Senior Lecturer at Valand Academy

Linda Sternö is a senior lecturer at Valand Academy. Today she focuses mainly on questions connected to education with the camera as a tool in compulsory school. Linda started as a filmmaker and has dissected and produced several films.

THE VG-MODEL Klara Björk, Linda Sternö The VG model explores the practical application of the educational project ”the camera as a tool”, with a smaller, rural community as a model. Based on the idea of the cinema as a room for social interaction and development, various institutions such as schools, libraries, health care, businesses and organizations act and interact around the visibility of our existence. These activities, and the reflections around the activities, broadens the notion of film, the role of film today, as well as the role of the cinema as a meeting point around important social questions in a small rural community today. The project explores what happens to a society's development if citizens take over the tools of visual communication; the camera and the cinema, and thus actively exercise their democratic rights in today's digital society.

Kalle Boman Senior Advisor at Valand Academy

Kalle Boman, born 1943 Stockholm, Sweden. Film Producer and Senior Professor. Worked in the film industry since 1964, among others with directors such as Bo Widerberg, Roy Andersson AND Ruben Östlund. Has been linked to teaching at the Valand Academy / Film (former Filmhögskolan) since 1999. Ruben Östlund Professor at Valand Academy

Graduated from Filmhögskolan at the University of Gothenburg in 2001. His feature debut THE GUITAR MONGOLOID won the FIPRESCI Award at Moscow in 2005. Since then he has made three feature films, INVOLUNTARY (2008), PLAY (2011) and FORCE MAJEURE (2014) who all premiered in Cannes and received several prizes worldwide. His short film INCIDENT BY A BANK won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2010. He is now professor at Valand Acadmy and working with his fifth feature THE SQUARE. “I am driven by the desire to provoke current values in society that I don’t agree with.”

THE SQUARE Kalle Boman, Ruben Östlund The Square, a white marked square placed in the public domain, is a place where common rights and obligations prevails. To the Square, we can go if we need help. When someone is in it, it is our responsibility to seek contact and try to help. In the Square, we can relinquish our possessions, in it we do not steal. Ruben Östlund: "During the work on the feature film Play, where children mug other children, I came repeatedly into contact with the man's inability to help and ask for help in public space. The robberies took place in malls, on trams and on the square. Despite the fact that many adults saw what happened, it was very rare that someone intervened. When my dad was six years old his parents placed an address tag around his neck and let him run out of Östermalm in central Stockholm to play. In the 1950s, we saw other adults as an asset, as someone who could help our children if they got into trouble. Today, we are experiencing other adults as a threat. The box include an attempt to influence the change of attitudes. " Kalle Boman: "The idea is to investigate and take the opportunity to create a free zone square, where only good values prevail. The basic values of the square is based on the document that the UN General Assembly adopted and proclaimed December 10, 1948 as a general declaration of human rights. The Square is a reminder and a celebration of our common origin, the genus Homo that is at least 2.8 million years old."

Axel Danielson Subject teacher at Valand Academy

I started out as a firefighter in Kristianstad but changed my direction towards moving images after a few years. I earned his degree as a Film Director in 2005, at former Filmhögskolan (today Akademin Valand). I have since 2005 been involved in the Gothenburg based production company Plattform Produktion, both as director and producer. In 2011 my first feature documentary was released, ”Pangpangbröder”with 53 scenes filmed over a 10 year period in witch follow two twin brothers growing up from 9 to 19 years old.

I started and developed the master programme of Cinematic Processes at Valand Academy in 2012 and work there since then part time as a teacher.

I have great interest in how society and the camera technology are working together. I believe we need a critical education and cultivation on these issues, facing the coming future.

THE KILLING IMAGE - image based decisions regarding Drone Strikes. Axel Danielson A newly started research project focusing on the decision making processes around military dronestrikes in Waziristan and Afghanistan region. The project’s framing will be how the procedure and the interpretation of the image looks like, the moment before the strikes. Another part of the project focus on what image culture that dominates the military decision makers.

Anna Linder Associate Researcher, Valand Academy

Anna Linder was born and raised in Storuman, southern Lapland. She is an active feminist, artist, curator and works primarily in the field of moving images. In 2012 she completed a Master of Fine Arts, in Film, University of Gothen- burg. Between 2004 and 2012 she worked as a curator and producer at Filmform, The Art Film and Video Archive in Stockholm. Currently, Anna Linder is researching the subject of Queer Moving Images at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gothenburg together with Ingrid Ryberg.

QUEER MOVING IMAGES Anna Linder The aim of this study is to investigate queer and feminist moving images, a film culture that is often rendered invisible in, and written out of, contexts such as film history, archives and exhibitions. The project aims to contribute to increasing the availability of the films by means of curatorial and artistic practice including screenings and the production of two films.

Damon Heatlie Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in the Wits School of Arts

Damon Heatlie has taught at UCT, UWC, the University of Transkei, and guest lectured at Arcada University in Helsinki. He has an MA in Literary Studies (cum laude) from UCT, an MBA from Wits Business School, and is currently working on a PhD through the Wits School of Arts. Prior to lecturing at Wits, Damon worked in the local film industry as a producer, director, editor and screenwriter. Having produced over 60 music videos (from Brenda Fassie to Mandoza), he also directed videos for such musical heavyweights as Hugh Masekela and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens). He has been nominated for South African Music Awards for these. Damon has produced several long-form documentaries for broadcast - these include Waiting for Justice (etv, 52 min, 1999), which won the Sithengi 1999 Best New Documentary Award, Phuzekhemisi (SABC, 52min, 2004) and Legends of the Casbah (72 min, 2012), which premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in 2012. He has worked and continues to be involved as a scriptwriter/script editor in feature film development and television dramas. He has also directed short films, including Ziyawa (26 min, 2003) and Jackpot (20 min, 2009). Damon currently lectures in the fields of scriptwriting and directing, but also teaches in music video and film studies courses. His research interests include the profitability and sustainability of the South African feature film industry, scriptwriting and narrative theory, cinematic representations of history, auteur filmmaking, postmodernism and postcolonial theory. He is currently working on a creative PhD, involving fieldwork around postwar South African Indian identities, and writing an Indian ‘gangster’ film set in Durban in the 1950s.

LEGENDS OF THE CASBAH Damon Heatlie Screening at 17:30 in Bio Valand on Monday November 23 (72 min) Legends of the Casbah is a feature length documentary exploring the experiences of some extraordinary South Africans of ‘Indian’ origin, who lived in Durban during the 1950s. The film, directed by Riason Naidoo (arts curator) and Damon Heatlie (filmmaker/lecturer) was screened at the Durban International Film Festival in 2012, at various universities, and exhibited at the Bioscope (Johannesburg) and Labia (Cape Town) cinemas. It tells the intertwined stories of a number of unusual characters, ‘rebels’ who escape the constraints imposed by apartheid and ethnicity to forge their own cosmopolitan identities. In uncovering an ensemble cast of gangsters, sports stars, musicians, stunt riders and activists, among others, the film weaves an alternative history of Durban’s ‘Indian’ community in the upbeat era of the Defiance Campaign. Engagements/Presentations:

1. Given the time I would like to show the whole film and address the challenges of making a ‘heritage’ film in a Q and A session with staff and students. Colleagues Eran and Jyoti were also involved in the film’s production, and might able to contribute to this discussion.

2. I would also like to present a more focused session with staff and students that uses clips from the film to illustrate my subsequent and current research interest in postwar Indian South African ‘gangster’ identities. This session would look at the questions arising from the intersections and conflicts arising in a ‘critical-creative’ research endeavor such as my own, where I am writing quite a traditional social history alongside a fictional screenplay.

Sander Blom Subject teacher, Netherlands Film Academy

Sander Blom graduated at the Netherlands Film Academy (documentary) in 1993. Initially collaborating with visual artist Mels van Zutphen, a number of experimental documentary and fictional shorts was produced. A shared fascination for science continues to be an important ingredient in their - often humorous - individual works since this partnership became dormant. These films are shown at film festivals as well as museums and art galleries internationally. �In the past decade Sander, apart from being a director, became involved in various educational projects. Among his employers were the School der Poëzie (School of Poetry), the NTR (Dutch Public Service Broadcaster for Information, Education and Culture) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Currently he also teaches film at the VEC (secondary vocational training), Arnhem. In March 2012, Sander completed his first feature ATARAX!A.

THE IRANIAN FILM / THE PEOPLE’S POLTI Sander Blom In my presentation I will speak about the project by Moroccan alumnus of the Master of Film Yassine El Idrissi ,’The Iranian Film’. During his studies he researched how it is a given that cinema from Iran, an islamic totalitarian state, is succesful worldwide, while cinema from the islamic totalitarian state of Morocco is almost non-existent nationally and internationally. His inquiry took the form of a film in which he tries to produce an ‘Iranian’ film in Morocco.

In part two of my talk I will present the project I myself did in the newly established ‘Lab’ at the NFA, ‘The People’s Polti’. Is it possible to reverse-engineer a database consisting of the bare minimum of elements that make up a non-genre specific film? In visualizing the verbal re-telling of a cinematic story, the contours of such a database emerge.

Jyoti Mistry Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in the Wits School of Arts

Her artistic practice moves seamlessly between filmmaking and installation art practices. Mistry's installation work draws from cinematic traditions but is often re-contextualized for galleries and museums that are outside of the linear cinematic experience. Her feature film IMPUNITY (2014) had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and showed at Stockholm Film Festival, and Durban International Film Festival. Her solo exhibition (2013) “Narrative, Memory, Site” included works: XENOS, Building the Invisible City; Commuting; Le Boeuf Sur Le Toit at the Barengasse Museum in Zurich. Le Boeuf Sur Le Toit featured at Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris, France (2014).09:21:25 was part of the Group show, International Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale, Incheon, South Korea (November 2011) and included in Weltraum (Space: about a Dream) Exhibition, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (April- August 2011). Her co-edited books include: “we remember differently: Race, memory, imagination” (2012) published by UNISA Press. “Gaze Regimes: Films and Feminisms in Africa” (2015) published by Wits University Press.

FILM AS CINEMATIC CRITIQUE Including a screening of the short film Bullet in Scarf Jyoti Mistry This presentation will address the form and aesthetics of documentary filmmaking with special focus on the use of staging, re-enactment and the reinterpretation of archival materials. John Grierson, who is considered the “father of documentary”, defined it as the “creative treatment of truth.” Historically debates have focused on the notion of “truth” from an ideological position to determine the parameters of what constitutes the “truth claims” presented in this genre. In my presentation I will use student work examples to address the relation and shift from documentary strategies to its appropriation to fiction filmmaking. Central to this approach is to address the “role of the filmmaker’s subjectivity and their interpretation in the presentation of “facts and its role in fictional narratives.” Students in the course were encouraged to consider shifting circumstances and contexts which reveal varied perspectives on situations and are to provide a detailed way in which they can reflect on characters. The course invited students to look at the postcolonial experience of female characters from a series of different perspectives. In this context the location of the characters offers a revealing and in-depth study of how issues of history and race have been experienced from each side of the “colonizer-colonized relationship.” Further to this students were encouraged to consider archival material or traces of historical artifacts serve as the inspiration for creating films. Either this material is woven into the tapestry of the film in a representative form or comes to be interpreted with a definite point of view of a character or from the director’s point of view.

Eran Tahor Cinematography lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in the Wits School of Arts

For over fifteen years, since graduating from Wits University, Eran has been filming features, documentaries, commercials, corporate, music videos and drama series. Eran's portfolio includes acclaimed South African TV drama series The Lab, A Place Called Home and the comedy series Sorted. On these and other projects Eran has collaborated with international directors Philip Noyce (Catch a Fire documentary, 2007), Mika Kaurismäki (Mama Afrika showed at Tribeca Film Festival in 2011) as well as some of our prominent writers and directors such as Barry Berk, Aryan Kaganof, Rollie Nikiwe, Akin Omotoso, Vincent Moloi, Riad Desai and many others. Eran received the South African Film and TV Award for his cinematography on the TV series Sorted and was nominated for his cinematography on the popular South African series A Place Called Home. More recently Eran was the cinematographer for the feature film Impunity (Jyoti Mistry, 2014) which was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival and Lamentation (Christo Doherty, 2015) which was selected for IDFA 2015. In 2013 Eran joined the division of Film & TV Studies at Wits School of Arts as an associate lecturer on cinematography.

APPROACHES TO TEACHING CINEMATOGRAPHY IN DIGITAL FILMMAKING – MY EXPERIENCE OF PRACTICING AND TEACHING CINEMATOGRAPHY Eran Tahor I would like to start my presentation with the screening of a 17minute film Lamentation (2015). The film was co-directed by Christo Doherty and Aryan Kaganof, and I was the cinematographer. I will open the discussion by describing some of the processes and thinking in the development of the film. As time permits, this will lead to a discussion on the role of the cinematographer in digital filmmaking and the subject of cinematography in contemporary film education. I will draw on and offer examples from my professional experience as cinematographer, outside the academic framework, and discuss how the two domains – the professional and the academic, impact each other. Referring to examples from the workshops I do with the students at Wits, I will discuss some of the challenges, and opportunities, in working with students that already began filming at a very early age. I will contextualise the presentation in the South African filmmaking economy and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities facing our graduate students.

Tanja Sakota-Kokot Head of Division and Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in the Wits School of Arts

Tanja Sakota-Kokot has lectured at Wits University since 1999. During this time she has also guest lectured at ARCADA Film School in Finland and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Tanja has all her Degrees from Wits: BA in Dramatic Art, MA by Dissertation and PhD. After graduating with a BA and winning the Edgar Bold prize for the top Television student, Tanja Sakota-Kokot started working as a Scriptwriter and later as a Troubleshooter for Caplan Wilkie, a production house focusing on promos and on-air imagery for both Mnet and the SABC. Thereafter, Tanja moved towards directing inserts for The Television Production Company. This launched her interest in the ideological impact of documenting actual events. In 1995 Tanja flew to Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia to begin research for her MA Dissertation, which focused on the merging of factual and fictional boundaries in war reporting, particularly with reference to Documentary Film. In 1999 Tanja started working for Wits and has since taught in both Documentary and Fiction within both the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The critical questions which arose through interaction within her courses encouraged her to make 180 degree turn for her PhD where she examined how we understand conflict through fiction film focusing on how the global environment views Africa and the Middle East. Tanja is now continuing her research through publishing in Academic Journals. Her article “When the Past Talks to the Present: Fiction Narrative and the ‘Other’ in Hotel Rwanda”, published in Critical Arts, Vol 27 (2): 211-234 examines some of the ideas explored in her PhD. Motto: You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.

THE POLITICS OF REMEMBERING – CREATING HISTORY, MEMORY AND CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM Tanja Sakota-Kokot Memory forms the fabric of human life, affecting everything from the ability to perform simple, everyday tasks to the recognition of the self. Memory establishes life’s continuity; it gives meaning to the present, as each moment is constituted by the past. As the means by which we remember who we are, memory provides the very core of identity1 Marita Sturken

In the last 5 years, South Africa embraced two remarkable discoveries: Astralopithecus Sediba (unveiled in 2010) and Homo Naledi (unveiled in 2015). These two findings provide us with a window into our ancestral past as well as inform us about a time we cannot remember. The bones and fossils each tell us something about the past and provide a passage to an unknown time. History on the other hand, provides another way of accessing the past. In order to create history, one has to rely on the memory of events and more importantly how they have been incorporated into society, whether this is through testimonials, articles, memorials, interviews or film. South Africa’s turbulent past has resulted in its history being re-written a number of times. The events of the last 450 years in particular has had a huge impact on the social, political and historical context, resulting in the current social tropes and inequalities that frequently emerge as topics for discussion within the classroom. In April 2015, students from the University of Cape Town embarked on the “Rhodes must fall campaign”. The spirit of the campaign spread quickly across the country as students and citizens embarked on a heated debate around the significance and memory that such Memorials initiated. Within the classroom, the discussion that emerged with students, focused on the politics of remembering. The theoretical framework rested on Marita Sturken’s premise that history, culture and memory are immersed in cultural artefacts but play a significant role in how we understand the past and its relationship with the present and the future. In my presentation, I shall discuss the key theoretical areas that emerged through interactions with students with reference to the “Rhodes must fall campaign. I shall present 2 short exercises made by students as a result of the debate.

1 Sturken, M. 1997. Tangled Memories: The Vietnam War, the AIDS Epidemic, and the Politics of Remembering. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.

Tommy Spaanheden Subject teacher at Valand Academy

Tommy Spaanheden is a teacher and Program Supervisor of the bachelor programme in independent filmmaking at Valand Academy. He has his background as a song writer and music producer. In the mid 90,s he expanded his field into film work with a speciality in sound design. During this time he was also a part of initiating filmhögskolan which now is the film unit of Akademin Valand. He is a certified trainer in editing tools and has a lot of post production experience in film making. He has done animations and visuals for stage screening as well as color grading for film. Tommy has during the last years done research in rhythm and how to identify and use rhythmic components to communicate within art, especially in film. ”Rhythm is patterns of movement. These patterns tell you things about people and the world . It´s not science, you do this de-coding everyday, even when you´re not aware of it. I strongly believe that the understanding of rhythm opens up a new perspective on communication within a work of art.” Andrea Östlund Subject Teacher at Valand Academy

I have a backgrund from theatre where I had my own theatregroup for a couple of years and worked both as a director and as a producer. Graduated as a filmdirector at 2001 and have worked with directing drama for Swedish television and as a commissioning editor on feature and shortfilms, working very focused with gender.

Dan Sandkvist Senior Lecturer at Valand Academy

Educated at School of Film Directing in 1995-98 in cinematography. Been working in film since then as a cinematographer, gaffer and independent filmmaker. Teacher in cinematography at Valand Academy since 2006. Examples of topics and issues that interest and engage Dan are: Forms of production and production processes, To communicate the vision and The images impact of the narrative. Hanna Sköld Teaching Assistant at Valand Academy

I am a filmmaker and Teaching Assistant at Valand Academy / Film, working mainly at the bachelor programme, parallel with studies in critical pedagogy. I recently finished my second feature film “Granny’s Dancing on the Table” which premiered at Toronto international film festival.

I am interested in new ways to create, finance and distribute films through interaction with the audience, using transmedia, crowdfunding and crowdsoucing. I started my work with audience participation during the online distribution of my first feature film, “Nasty Old People” at The Pirate Bay.

Gustav Annerblom Subject Teacher at Valand Academy

Gustav Annerblom is a filmmaker and teacher at Valand Academy film’s bachelor program in independent filmmaking. As a teacher he has developed the pedagogical model ”Reflective logbook”, a monthly recurring seminar with the aim to encourage the students to take active part in a dialogue concerning each others practices. ”I believe it’s of vital importance to engage the students in a dialogue concerning each others work. The more they invite each other to take part in their processes, the more insight they can gain from each other. It’s about creating a strong collective in which the students are deeply involved in one another’s development as filmmakers.” Gustav is now finishing his first feature length documentary Previously he has studied bachelor and master in independent filmmaking. He made the schools first horror film as his graduation film. In his master’s thesis he studied slasher films.

Cecilia Torquato Subject Teacher at Valand Academy

Film director, photographer and producer. Started Kvarteret Filmproduktion in november 2011. Born in Sweden, grew up in Brazil. Education: bachelor and master of arts in Independent filmmaking at Filmhögskolan, University of Gothenburg, studied animation at Konstfack. With short films like Frog, The Miracle of Mrs. Rita (director) and Simpler Life (producer) have been part of film festival scene all over the world. With Inbox also made entrance to the art scene (Liljevalchs konstmuseum and Oslo Open). She is also a Subject Teacher in Processes of Filmmaking (master degree) at Valand Academy/FILM. Lena Lind Brynstedt Subject Teacher at Valand Academy

Lena Lind Brynstedt works with the one-year MA programme curator for film and video and the BA programme in independent filmmaking. She coaches the students in budget, planning, financing and communication. Former journalist/researcher/editor in several of Swedish Television’s film programmes and project coordinator at the Gothenburg Film Festival. ”I am interested in many issues about film and the influence it has on human behaviour, and in the changing of screening windows and the possiblities to reach out to a broader audience with a seemingly small, quality film with an intellectual message.”

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