Every breaking away from the conventional, dead, official cinema is a healthy sign. We need less perfect but more free films. If only our younger film makers – I have no hopes for the old generation – would really break loose, completely loose, out of themselves, wildly, anarchically! There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.

– Jonas Mekas

 

Syracuse Experimental Film & Media Workshop is a newly formed cooperative of artists, programmers, and educators working to promote and encourage the creation (through experimentation) of film and media as an art form.

Rather than defining “Experimental Film & Media” as a particular genre, a catalog of styles, a linear historical trajectory, or a succession of avant-garde master works, we station “experimental” at the fluid intersection of formal innovation / creation (new vision) and social / political engagement (responding to the world), which are shaped and clarified through the development of personal voice (authenticity).  We advocate film and video production as an instrument of individual expression, a spirit of approach that embraces improvisation and chance over carefully drawn or pre-set plans, “difference over uniformity, flows over unities, mobile arrangements over systems” (Michel Foucault).

The primary objectives of the Workshop are to present Central New York’s filmmaking community with various approaches to alternative media production, to activate, amplify and support members’ creative capacities, and to stir passion for time-based media that transcends mainstream conventions and status quos.

These objectives will be achieved through a variety of activities, including monthly film salons, production workshops, a visiting filmmaker series, screenings, lectures, and the publication of a film and video journal.

The Workshop recognizes that generosity, free exchange of ideas, sharing of resources and knowledge, and camaraderie are keys to the sustainability and growth of the larger underground film and video community. Therefore, each member is expected to contribute significantly to the overall esprit de corps, through technical instruction, assisting on colleagues’ productions, and organizing screenings and exhibitions.
      

INCITE Journal of Experimental Media
Manifest