Representation in Film (Vol. 2) | FILMFEST MÜNCHEN team is expanded

FILMFEST MÜNCHEN is pleased with the success of its conference sequel “Representation in Film (Vol. 2)”, held in cooperation with the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing at the Academy’s facilities. The festival also announced that documentary film directors Mila Zhluktenko and Daniel Asadi Faezi, festival consultant Karen Arikian, and Filmfest colleague Sandra Engler will henceforth be program scouts for FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. With these appointments, Festival Director Christoph Gröner and Artistic Co-Director Julia Weigl have finished putting together their new team.

"Representation in Film (Vol. 2)"

Talking about diversity, listening to the demands of groups thus far marginalized in film, and engaging in dialogue will remain important until lasting changes are made. FILMFEST MÜNCHEN and the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing continued this important process over the past three days (November 28–30, 2023) at their conference "Representation in Film (Vol. 2)", which involved some 35 speakers from various fields and institutions and a total of around 100 participants.

Since the first edition of this conference was held in the spring of 2022, change has come in the form of such initiatives as New Motion, a job entry shadowing program launched by Roshanak Khodabakhsh and Jorgo Narjes (DCM and X Filme), which has by now received significant funding from the German government. As well as the project "Dreh’s um", started by Duc Ngo Ngoc with the support of social institutions, which gives young people with a German-Vietnamese immigrant background the opportunity to tell their personal stories in a short documentary film. And the founding of Schwarze Filmschaffende e.V. this year. Sophya Frohberg and Benita Bailey, who acquainted the audience with this association, which now includes some 700 filmmakers, aim not only to draw attention to the shortcomings of the film industry, but above all to offer solutions.

During a workshop, Hamze Bytyçi, chairman of RomaTrial e.V., addressed the (under)representation of Roma and Sinti, Europe’s largest ethnic minority, in the media. Bytyçi discussed such successful projects as the international Romani film festival AKE DIKHEA? in Berlin and the Avazya Romani Film Professionals Network, which anyone may join.

Such developments can serve as a model for new initiatives and provide encouragement, as did the inspiring keynote address by Stacy L. Smith of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Smith focused in particular on positive examples of an "inclusion list". "The goal is to keep shining a light on who’s getting it right, study their processes, [and] help us understand how they get stories made at all different price points, so that people have a model that they can replicate." (keynote)

Other important areas from which networks and research were discussed included access to film schools and positive inspiration that can result from the use of AI. As gatekeepers and door-openers, film schools determine the future of the domestic and international film scene — and must therefore act in an inclusive, diverse and democratic manner. FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH (Nov. 12–18, 2023) presented an international outlook. (Watch the panel discussion here.) In Tutzing, this topic was further explored by Lucca Veyhl and Aida Begović (diversity and inclusion coordinator at German film schools).

An experimental and interactive lightning event was dedicated to the topic of data diversity. Here, Gisela Carbajal Rodriguez (University of Television and Film Munich), Nigel Guy (producer and AI strategist, London), Habiba Sarhan (political data science, Technical University of Munich), Inga Becker (MOIN Filmförderung), and Jim Sengl (MedienNetzwerk Bayern) reported on various ways that AI can be used to improve representation.

An important forum at the conference came in the form of "Meet the Funders", at which participants met with representatives of all German funding institutions on the initiative of FFF Bayern. It goes without saying that the selection and funding of content has a major influence on how quickly progress on representation can be made.

The importance of mutual respect and sensitivity in moderating the gamut of current discourse was elucidated not least by Dr. Lea Wohl von Haselberg in her virtual keynote address titled "Jewish Perspectives in Film": "We’re currently observing that Jews feel extremely vulnerable in this German conversation. ... We need capable moderators in these very polarized, very complex and very emotionally charged discussions. Capable moderation means knowing how much dissent I have to allow, because we are a democracy and can have differences of opinion, and where I have to draw the line so that people and marginalized groups in particular can feel safe in our society." (keynote)

The forthcoming conference report, which will appear on the organizers’ websites, will provide an overview of the entire conference.

The FILMFEST MÜNCHEN team is expanded

Even the team at FILMFEST MÜNCHEN will be more diverse from now on, as four more voices join the curatorial process as program scouts.

"In a world in which diversity and pluralism are gaining in importance, it’s especially good when young and experienced festival organizers work together to seek out new and meaningful inspiration in international filmmaking. We are delighted that Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi, Sandra Engler, and Karen Arikian will be joining the program curators in forming a very dedicated team that will enable FILMFEST MÜNCHEN to establish new networks and bring a wide range of films to Munich,” say Festival Director Christoph Gröner and Artistic Co-Director Julia Weigl. Read more about the new team members here.