Bastard Film Encounter

Last updated

The Bastard Film Encounter (BFE) is a US-based film festival and conference established in 2013 which encourages the viewing and discussion of films and videos which are "poorly executed, offensive in content, or document the offensive." [1] These films have often been orphaned by their original creators or the institution in which they are held as well as the archivist(s) charged with the film or video's care-taking. [1] A bastard film is sometimes described as the “terribly-behaved cousin of the orphan film”. [2] The participants and attendees are usually archivists, scholars, librarians, academics, social historians, enthusiasts, film researchers and collectors in the world of film and video content. [3] [4] Over the weekend event, attendees will be introduced to films, view them, and a discussion will follow." [4] BFE has been described as "Equal parts endurance test, group therapy session, academic conference, and absurdist jamboree..." [4]

Contents

Purpose

Film festivals are an important form of curation and typically focus on a particular genre, length or specific region. [5] However, there are some films that are not easily categorized and possibly defy conventional tastes and opinions. [6] The Bastard Film Encounter has allowed for a reevaluation of some of these ignored or hidden moving images. BFE's purpose is to question the "why" of these "bastard" films as well as the "what" to do with them in a learned and academic setting, enabling experts in the field to discuss the issues of both past and future historical context, ethics and consent, and distribution of time and attention in regards to these sometimes dismissed and often forgotten films. [3] Archivists and scholars are pushed to question their responsibility as stewards of film, culture, and history by reexamining what items in a collection have benefited from scarce resources in the past, and whether there is room for the "bastard" film to also be preserved, catalogued, digitized, and publicized. [4] BFE stimulates discussion regarding the purpose of media archives, how they should they be organized, whom should they serve, whose story they tell, and how they tell it. [7] [6] [4]

Bastard films also generate discussion about the daily intake of visual media and not just around academic topics. "We consume televisual content that’s hard to watch and rewires our understanding of humanity on a nearly daily basis, whether that be the social media livestreams from members of extremist groups, law enforcement body-cam footage, or news reports from the latest presidential rally. The challenge of how to handle the things we can’t unsee isn’t confined to history, it’s a fundamental component of being a 21st-century digital citizen." [4]

Creation and history

The event name comes from the word ‘bastard’ (something irregular or inferior) and the word ‘encounter’ (unexpectedly come across something). [2]

The inaugural Bastard Film Encounter was held in April 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was co-founded by Skip Elsheimer, founder at A/V Geeks LLC; Marsha Gordon, Professor of Film Studies, North Carolina State University; [8] and Dwight Swanson, independent specialist in amateur film and regional film production. [9] [1] [2] [6] The founders were inspired to examine the "bastards" of orphan films.

After an Orphan Film Symposium which celebrates things that need to be saved, Elsheimer, Gordon, and Swanson asked, "But what about the bastards?" [4]

The Orphan Film Symposium introduced us to films that had been orphaned by their creators or caretakers. We hope to expand on this idea by looking at films that are bastards—ill-conceived or received; embarrassing or beyond the bounds of acceptability; poor in conception or execution; undesirable to those who should be caring for them; proof of something that should have never happened. The aim of the Bastard Film Encounter is to bring these misbegotten moving images out of the closet and begin to address what these films are, how they are kept and ignored (and if they really should be), if and why they might matter, and what role they might play in archives and in studies of the moving image.

— Bastard Film Encounter

Like other more traditional film festivals and academic conferences, there is a call for proposals and a carefully planned schedule of presentations. [10]

The Bastard Film Encounter took place biannually [4] in Raleigh from 2013 through 2017, after which it was relocated to Baltimore, Maryland for the 2019 BFE. Stephanie Sapienza, project manager of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, [11] spearheaded the relocation in an organizational role. [10] The BFE screenings and discussions typically take place in non-traditional meeting spaces, with a particular fondness for bars with performance space. [6] [4] The organizers aim to foster an intimate space where people can discuss the uncomfortable and events become part "endurance test, group therapy session, academic conference, and absurdist jamboree". [4] Attendees are also allowed to discuss difficult topics such as materials in archives that the public will never see. The event provides a space to discuss these loaded subjects. [4]

The goal of the encounter is to encourage discussion over the cultural and historical worth of each film, both now as well as in the future. Participants debate whether there is room in the archival sphere for films which may appear to be of limited (or non-existent) artistic, scholarly, historic, or cultural value. [1]

The Bastard Film Encounter always hosts a keynote speaker. Keynote speakers have included Dino Everett, archivist at USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive; Andrew Lampert, filmmaker and director; and Brian L. Frye, associate professor of law at University of Kentucky College of Law; Snowden Becker, MLIS program director at UCLA Department of Information Studies; and Liz Coffey, ex-film conservator at Harvard Film Archive. [12] [13]

Unusual characteristics

The Bastard Film Encounter eschews the typical culture of professional conferences and has created certain light-hearted traditions to provide balance and relief from the unusual material being viewed and ingested by the audience members and participants. [6]

Between films, talent breaks are implemented to provide relief and there is great pressure to participate. [4] In 2013, as a respite from two days of viewing challenging and difficult material, film collector Greg Pierce spontaneously allowed artist/performer/nurse Joan Vorderbruggen to remove his stitches on stage with a musical "soundtrack" provided by archival producer and researcher Rich Remsberg and his banjo. The event was recorded, thus creating a "bastard film" during the Bastard Film Encounter and a tough to top "talent" entry. [14]

Opening night is Bastards Karaoke Night with participants performing with The Bastards Karaoke Band. [4]

Powerpoint presentations are not allowed during the conference presentations but an overhead projector can be provided for transparencies. [6]

Many of the presentations enforce a social media black-out for reasons of permissions, ethics, consent, and sensitivity. [6]

The old-fashioned hourglass timer's purpose is to keep presenters at the 5 minutes or less mark. [6]

Alcohol and dark humor are commonly indulged tonics during BFE. [4]                                                   

Related Research Articles

The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in the macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS families as well as other Apple software. WWDC is also an event hosted for third-party software developers that work on apps for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices. Attendees can participate in hands-on labs with Apple engineers and attend in-depth sessions covering a wide variety of topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackers on Planet Earth</span> Conference series

The Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference series is a hacker convention sponsored by the security hacker magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly that until 2020 was typically held at Hotel Pennsylvania, in Manhattan, New York City. Occurring biennially in the summer, there have been fourteen conferences to date. HOPE 2020, originally planned to be held at St. John's University, was instead held as a nine-day virtual event from July 25 to August 2, 2020. The fourteenth HOPE, "A New HOPE," was held at St. John's University in Queens from July 22 to 24, 2022. HOPE features talks, workshops, demonstrations, tours, and movie screenings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keynote</span> In public speaking, a talk that establishes a main underlying theme

A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework for the following programme of events or convention agenda; frequently the role of keynote speaker will include that of convention moderator. It will also flag up a larger idea—a literary story, an individual musical piece, or event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Reilly Open Source Convention</span> 1999–2019 American annual free and open-source software convention

The O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) was an American annual convention for the discussion of free and open-source software. It was organized by publisher O'Reilly Media and was held each summer, mostly in Portland, Oregon, from 1999 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academic conference</span> Conference for researchers to present and discuss their work

An academic conference or scientific conference is an event for researchers to present and discuss their scholarly work. Together with academic or scientific journals and Preprint archives such as arXiv, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers. Further benefits of participating in academic conferences include learning effects in terms of presentation skills and “academic habitus”, receiving feedback from peers for one’s own research, the possibility to engage in informal communication with peers about work opportunities and collaborations, and getting an overview of current research in one or more disciplines.

Fantasia Fair is a week-long conference for cross-dressers, transgender and gender questioning people held every October in Provincetown, Massachusetts, a small Portuguese fishing village and largely gay and lesbian tourist village on the very tip of Cape Cod. This annual event is the longest-running transgender conference in the United States and it provides a week for attendees to experiment with gender-role identities and presentations in a safe and affirming community. The goal of the conference is to create a safe space in which crossdressers, transgender and transsexual people, and nonbinary-gendered people are accepted without judgement, can interact with their peers, and can advocate for their rights. In November, 1980 the event was featured in an article by D. Keith Mano in Playboy magazine and has in ensuing years has continued to generate publicity.

An orphan film is a motion picture work that has been abandoned by its owner or copyright holder; also, any film that has suffered neglect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wikimania</span> Official annual conference hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation

Wikimania is the Wikimedia movement's annual conference, organized by volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Topics of presentations and discussions include Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, other wikis, open-source software, free knowledge and free content, and social and technical aspects related to these topics.

The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization established to advance the field of moving image archiving by fostering cooperation among individuals and organizations concerned with the acquisition, description, preservation, exhibition and use of moving image materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAPO Codebits</span> Lisbon computing conference held 2007–2014

SAPO Codebits, also known simply as Codebits, was a (computing) conference held in Lisbon from 2007 to 2014. It was organized by SAPO which, besides a news media brand, was also an internet-focused R&D division of Portugal Telecom at the time.

Pietra Brettkelly is a New Zealand filmmaker, known for her documentaries. She is a documentary filmmaker submitted three times for Oscar consideration, a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and was recently named an Arts Laureate of New Zealand. Her films have premiered in five of the world's top six film festivals – Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals – and have garnered many awards. She is known for her independent, risk-taking style, which has taken her to many different countries. She approaches her subjects' lives with a "quiet" demeanor and "non-judgmental" attitude, allowing her to capture and document real stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hybrid event</span>

A hybrid event is a tradeshow, conference, unconference, seminar, workshop or other meeting that combines a "live" in-person event with a "virtual" online component.

RootsTech is a family history and technology conference and trade show held annually in the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2017 it claimed to be the world's largest family-history technology conference. It is the successor to three former conferences: the Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy, the Family History Technology Workshop and the FamilySearch Developers Conference. Over the years, RootsTech has welcomed a number of celebrities, television personalities, and actors as keynote speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Conference on Hollywoodism</span>

The International Conference on Hollywoodism, sometimes known as the Conference on Hollywoodism and Cinema, is a conference held on several occasions in the early 2010s and organized by the government of Iran. By its own description, it "host[s] filmmakers, scholars and activists from around the world to discuss different aspects of world cinema as they relate to human ideals on one hand and the realities of Hollywood on the other." In particular, the conference served to criticize the United States film industry's portrayals of Islam and Iran. It took place in Tehran in February each year, coincident to and within the framework of the Fajr International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCO Forum</span> Unix conference

SCO Forum was a technical computer conference sponsored by the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), briefly by Caldera International, and later The SCO Group that took place during the 1980s through 2000s. It was held annually, most often in August of each year, and typically lasted for much of a week. From 1987 through 2001 it was held in Santa Cruz, California, on the campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz. The scenic location, amongst redwood trees and overlooking Monterey Bay, was considered one of the major features of the conference. From 2002 through 2008 it was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, at one of several hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. Despite the name and location changes, the conference was considered to be the same entity, with both the company and attendees including all instances in their counts of how many ones they had been to.

NetHui is a New Zealand conference about internet governance and policy issues. First held in 2011, it is organised by InternetNZ and brings together the country's internet community to discuss the issues shaping web use in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria</span>

The Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria is the "largest transgender archive in the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Europe Market</span> Annual marketing conference

New Europe Market (NEM) is an annual marketing conference, market and screenings event held in Dubrovnik, and run by the Croatian company Mediavision Ltd. The focal idea behind the event is the creation of a platform where media, telecommunications and marketing professionals can share their knowledge and experience during the conference and networking events. The conference is addressed to FTAs, Pay-TV channels, cable operators, satellite operators, IPTV, production and distribution companies, media and marketing agencies and specialists. NEM focuses on the CEE region, but the event attendees come from all over the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media History Digital Library</span> Open access digital archive

The Media History Digital Library (MHDL) is a non-profit, open access digital archive founded by David Pierce and directed by Eric Hoyt that compiles books, magazines, and other print materials related to the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound and makes these materials accessible online for free. The MHDL both digitizes physical materials and acquires digital copies from outside libraries, archives, collectors, and other collaborators. Most of the material in its more than 2.5 million pages is in the public domain and therefore free for all to use with no restrictions. Projects of the Media History Digital Library include its search engine Lantern and its data visualization platform Arclight, and it is currently led by the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in Madison, Wisconsin. Film and media studies librarian James Steffen has called the MHDL one of "the two most important digital collections today for studying media industries."

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Blyde, Christina; Stasio, Frank (April 25, 2013). "The State of Things with Frank Stasio: What Is A Bastard Film?". www.wunc.org. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bastard Film Encounter". Bastard Film Encounter. 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  3. 1 2 Lee, Laura; Frank Stasio (April 22, 2015). "The State of Things with Frank Stasio: Bastard Film Encounter". www.wunc.org. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 McCabe, Bret (April 26, 2019). "Come Unsee: The Bastard Film Encounter Wrestles with the Upsetting, Uncomfortable, and Uncouth". BmoreArt. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  5. ↑ Yaniz Jr., Robert (July 24, 2018). "What's the Point of Film Festivals?". Rewire. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Uhrich, Andy (2015). "Review of Bastard Film Encounter 2015". The Moving Image: The Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists. 15 (2): 105–109. doi:10.5749/movingimage.15.2.0105. ISSN   1532-3978. JSTOR   10.5749/movingimage.15.2.0105.
  7. ↑ Ohmer, Susan; Crafton, Donald (2015). "Editors' Foreword". The Moving Image: The Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists. 15 (2): vii–x. doi:10.5749/movingimage.15.2.0vii. ISSN   1532-3978. JSTOR   10.5749/movingimage.15.2.0vii.
  8. ↑ "Marsha Gordon Profile". The Conversation. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  9. ↑ "The Center for Home Movies - About Dwight Swanson". www.centerforhomemovies.org. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  10. 1 2 "Bastard Film Encounter 2019: Call for Proposals". Bastard Film Encounter. September 20, 2018. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  11. ↑ "Stephanie Sapienza". Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  12. ↑ Facebook - Bastard Film Encounter (November 15, 2018). "Bastard Film Encounter Keynote Speakers". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-04-25.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ "Previous Bastards – Bastard Film Encounter". Bastard Film Encounter. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  14. ↑ "Stitch removal talent from the Bastard Film Encounter". A/V Geeks. April 29, 2013. Retrieved 2019-04-25.

Programs by year

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.