Today it is no longer festivals, the theater, or even television, which provides the basis for film breakthroughs, nor do these media venues have the greatest influence on the realm as a whole. More than any other media form, it is the internet, which shapes and defines the world of film. Forums such as youtube.com enable nearly uncensored public exposure to any and all homemade audiovisual ventures and have had effects that bridge the gaps between the generations in our society. Professional works and films can be found here alongside mobile phone videos of everything from concerts to karaoke. This nearly unfiltered media realm has made an astounding impact on the audiovisual world and has influenced the world views of many people.

During the 1990’s, backup adopted the themes of “digitalization” and democratization of film productions in order to appeal to a larger basis of interest and creativity, as well as to enable more cost-efficient production processes. In addition to new methods of visualization, narrative perspective, production, presentation, distribution, and advertising, it established channels of distribution and presentation throughout the internet. The continuing development of these themes will be a point of discussion during the backup_festival.

Questions concerning the relationship between contemporary phenomena and classic film production are particularly important and imminent for backup:
Can the terms of classic analog film production be applied to digital film production?
Do the creators of these contemporary works consider themselves to be filmmakers?
Do modern visual strategies conflict with classical forms?
Can streaming-video installations be made without the example of Fassbinder or Bergman?
Does the integration of contemporary media into film theater constitute a change in the film-cutting media and method?
backup is looking for media artists who push the boundaries and refuse to limit themselves within a genre or declare a fixed position on an issue, but rather promote reflection, discussion, and the exchange of ideas.

backup encourages the “in between”, not only as a creative exercise but also as a link between the artists and the consumers. It is the realms of television design and motion graphics, in addition to short films and music videos, which are drawn from increasingly more as sources of artistic and conceptual experimentation. backup investigates how such categorizations as animation, documentary film, music videos, 3-D animation, flash movies, stop-motion film, romantic comedy, advertisement clips, slapstick humor, and found-footage films relate to each other and what results can be produced from the relationships between them.

After its 10th anniversary in 2008, the backup_festival faces new challenges. Interaction and exchange between film makers, experts, members of the media scene, and the audience come, more than ever, to the foreground in the principles of the backup_festival, that it is not only the technological innovations that raise interest in the media scene, but also the individuals involved.

Get the.. backup, here.