This discussion series was established in 2006 and quickly gained renown as a place of  reflection about cinema. Scientists, curators, artists and authors are invited to discuss current aesthetic, technological, political and economic issues relevant to the short form. The growing audience are invited to participate. In Oberhausen so far, among others: Catherine David, Chris Dercon, Diedrich Diederichsen, Adrienne Goehler, Alexander Horwath, Oskar Negt, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Martha Rosler und Akram Zaatari. 

The following topics will be discussed in 2012:

27 April - 1 May, daily 10-12 h, Festival Space, Oberhausen:

The Fourth Television, 27 April 2012

A talk on television without ratings pressure — courageous, elitist and anarchical; on the future of the medium beyond the destruction of publicness by the public television "idiot machines"; on utopian television and alternatives on the Internet, in art projects, in short film. 

with Constanze Kurz, Chaos Computer Club (Hamburg); Dana Linssen, de filmkrant (Amsterdam); Claudius Seidl, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (Berlin). 

Moderated by: Rüdiger Suchsland, author and film critic (Berlin) 

Whatever Happened to Bildungsauftrag? — Teaching Cinema On TV and the Web, 28 April 2012

In the 1970s, public TV channels in Germany initiated an astonishing number of ambitious instructional programmes about cinema. What happened to this rich legacy? Can traces of it be found in the blossoming genre of the analytic video essay on vimeo or YouTube? 

with Kevin B. Lee, dGenerate Films (Chicago) and Volker Pantenburg, film scholar (Berlin/Weimar). 

Mavericks, Mouvements, Manifestos, 29 April 2012 

A discussion on temporary affiliations between filmmakers, artists and intellectuals who make themselves heard through manifestos, rallying cries and declarations of intent — and whether they’re fit to face present-day challenges. 

with Nicole Brenez, Cinémathèque française (Paris); Sebestyén Kodolányi, Balázs Béla Archive (Budapest); Jed Rapfogel, Anthology Film Archives (New York) and others. 

Moderated by: Ralph Eue, curator of "Mavericks, Mouvements, Manifestos" (Berlin) 

Found Footage — Lost In the Web? 30 April 2012 

Where does the found-footage film stand in the age of remix culture? How does this artistic practice distinguish itself from the flood of online images and user-generated content? Are orphan films suddenly becoming pop stars? 

with Abigail Child, media artist and author (New York); Johann Lurf, filmmaker and artist (Vienna); Andréa Picard, curator and author (Toronto); Michele Pierson, film scholar and author (London). 

Moderated by: Wilbirg Brainin-Donnenberg, curator and author (Vienna) 

Curator — Vocation or Occupation? 1 May 2012

Curators are omnipresent today. But how does one become a film curator? Are they the new DJs, or are academic studies required? 

with Ben Gibson, London Film School; Dorothee Richter, Zurich University of the Arts; Dietmar Schwärzler, curator (Vienna); Bettina Steinbrügge, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Vienna). 

Moderated by: Sirkka Möller, curator (Berlin)

Previous topics of discussion:

2011: The Popular Unrest — telenovelas as artistic practicle and film education; The Moving Image and Two Separate Economies; Cheap and Cheerful — Creative Industry or Cultural exploitation?; How Alternative Are Alternative Spaces?; Shooting Animals. A Brief history of animal film

2010: The Idea of the Self; Children and the Creative Moving Image

2009: Whatever became of...the European Capital of Culture?; Copyright and the Moving Image, online; The Spectre of the Avant-Garde; Unreal Asia; Who will join us? Cultural participation as a mission?

2008: Who cares about? Film festivals as a new contemporary film museum?; The great understanding: Which education, whose education?;Whose History?; Bordercrossers and Troublemakers; Is critcism still pertinent?

2007: Film education in teachers' training and classroom; Does the music video have a future?; Privatisation of film experience; Does the museum fail?; What kind of promotion does shortfilm need?

2006: Cultural climate 2006; Early bird exercices; Artists as agents of vision; Moving Images for Sale; Internet-TV: A future for short formats?