Interview with a Programmer: Jacob Watkinson of Experimental Film East Anglia
Experimental Film East Anglia (EFEA) is a community-led film festival taking place in May 2022 in the heart of the East of England.The festival will showcase the very best experimental moving-image works from the region, as well as internationally. The festival will provide a platform for practitioners to meet, exchange ideas and find community within an area typically ignored by mainstream events. Programmer and festival founder Jacob Watkinson spoke with Analog Cookbook about the inaugural edition of the fest.
Tell us about yourself and your background in filmmaking and film programming.
I have been making films since I was around fourteen, and upon discovering 16mm film in university I became enamored with celluloid as a medium. Through a disillusion with the film industry, my work has slowly shifted from conventional narrative to more abstract and experimental works. Upon graduating, I was able to use my extensive experience of working with, and writing about, celluloid to get a job as Senior Cine Technician for a digitization company. I handle film all day, having an acute awareness for the intimacy of the material and the fragments of lost time they present.
EFEA is my first experience of organizing something of this scale but it is somewhat mirrored by my work as a writer and director. I hope to one day work as a curator and archivist, bringing together disparate films in a sort of meta-montage with each work carving a place within the mind of the audience whilst highlighting the magic of the films around it.
How did EFEA start?
I grew up in the East of England and have always been acutely aware of the fact there is no real moving-image culture here to speak of. One day, I sat at work and the ideas flooded in for creating a platform for local experimental filmmakers to gather and present their work in a setting where they aren’t side-lined by the bigger categories. I have accrued a fantastic team of talented and passionate individuals each with their own relationship to film to help me on this journey. As the charity grows we want to eventually facilitate mentorship and funding for successful filmmakers, especially those who hail from East Anglia.
With EFEA, the focus is on the transcendent, experiential, and alchemical power of film as a medium and about the filmmakers continuing a wonderful lineage carved out by those that came before. We want to break down the barrier between artist and audience and invite practitioners to discuss their methodologies and expose the public to new ways of thinking about and experiencing Cinema.
What kind of works are you looking to showcase?
We are looking for anything subversive, bold, and exciting. We want to give a platform to practitioners typically underrepresented by the film festival circuit whilst simultaneously exposing the public to works they may never see. We are eager for artists that work with celluloid to submit as we have the means to project both 8mm and 16mm prints in an authentic setting. There is something otherworldly about the whirring of the projector and the images dancing on screen that I am excited for the public to experience first-hand.
We want EFEA to bring Experimental Film to the forefront of the public consciousness, challenging passivity and opening up dialogues about society, the future, and the human experience.
What sort of workshops can attendees expect to see at the fest? Will they be virtual or in person?
There will be a series of in-person workshops and talks by experimental filmmakers from both the region and beyond, scheduled workshops so far include Sensory Cinema, camera-less filmmaking, and more. The workshops will be recorded with the goal of them being accessible to the public through our website.
We want EFEA to facilitate the demystification of experimental moving-image for the general public and give them a hands-on and playful experience of it. The camera-less animation workshop will be a very rare opportunity for people to experience the tactility of working with film as a canvas as opposed to a perceiving eye. Attendees will then be able to watch their work projected and brought to life before taking it home or having it digitized. We want EFEA to aid the demystification of experimental moving-image for the public and give them a hands-on, playful, and less intimidating experience of it.
Starting a film festival is a huge undertaking! Any advice for filmmakers looking to do the same?
It is a massive undertaking, one that is at times overwhelming and a little terrifying – however, it is absolutely worth it! If you feel that something is missing from the art culture around you and that you could fill it then go ahead and do so. Start small but dream big, have ambition, and know where you want your endeavors to lead.
Too much of the world of Film is about profit, help make it about something greater than that – redefine it to those around you into what you think it should reflect. I adore watching the submissions that have been coming in. Seeing just how stunningly diverse the works are and how contemporary artists are tackling issues such as hyper-mediation and political strife is inherently rewarding. To then be able to facilitate a platform for their voices to be heard and work to be encountered is a privilege and delight.
How can filmmakers learn more and submit?
Filmmakers can follow us on Instagram - @efea_fest
Submissions are open on FilmFreeway – https://filmfreeway.com/EFEA-ExperimentalFilmEastAnglia
Or visit us at - www.EFEA.co.uk
Any queries can be forwarded to info@efea.co.uk
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