Sound . Image . Culture / SIC

SIC Master class is a polymorfilms initiative, subpowered by Netwerk in Aalst and hosted by Cinema Nova, Brussels.
SIC is formed by a group of anthropologist, and filmmakers, in order to offer trained filmmakers and scientists a professional context to develop their personal projects. SIC offers an intensive workshop of one year, assisting of professional filmmakers, social scientists and artists in their personal project. SIC presents a broad spectrum of theoretical perspectives and practical workshops so as to link formal and ethical questions during the realization of anthropological projects on (wo)man and the complexities of his and her relationships with society, the community and the universe, focused on specific use of sound and image. More concrete, this focus will deal with the interconnection of form and content in anthropological audiovisual creations from an original and personal point of view.

Dialogical method
Ethnography is necessarily doubly-biased. Social or cultural investigation is understood in this program as an interaction between two controlling actors. Although the director in this context is appreciated as the one who actually selects and is responsible for the film, this workshop accentuates the importance of a personal ethical position. No audiovisual morality will be developed but throughout the process the maker will get to define his or her personal ethical responsibility. This method not only deconstructs the illusion of the unchallenged representation of the ‘other’ but it also allows to develop an alternative for the cynical concept of the exotic and orientalist reconstruction.

The audiovisual as an experimental performance
At the core of this program is our aim to challenge stereotypical representations. We develop a specific framework based on two principles to achieve this goal: 1. The encounter with the other is mediated. The audiovisual is not a neutral recording device. It is not a mirror that reflects what is experienced in the real. Rather, it is a system in which another type of identity is constructed. It has its own codes, rules, laws and specifications that alter and transform the subject. Therefore we focus on the intertwining of form and content and their context that is in place. 2. Furthermore, we conceive the audiovisual as a performance in which the encounter will lead the process, not a preconceived product. Inspiration is sought in the work of experimental filmmakers, visual anthropologists, artists, performance artists etc.

Course Units :
Personal work: Acceptance for SIC Master class is based on a project propopsal send to the organsation. Selection will be communicated 14 days after the deadline for submision. The Master class functions as an extended context in which course units will be taught and this personal project will be finalised through personalised supervision and group discussions at each level of advancement (project proposal, rushes, first editing, sound editing). SIC Master class will not provide the technical equipment to create these projects, it is each participant’s responsibility to use and find the appropriate audiovisual tools.

Basic Seminar: Seminar on the ethics of filmmaking and the anthropological relations involved: Projections and analysis of films made in the first person, with/about another person and destined for a specific viewer. Seminar given by Eric Pauwels, filmmaker and anthropologist, student and friend of Jean Rouch.

Text and Context: This seminar is a classic tutorial in which artciles will be discussed by authors such as Appadurai, Deleuze, Fabian. The central theme is the relation between form and content. Subjects vary from multiculturality, exotism, voyeurism, cultural diversity, etc. Course given by An van. Dienderen, PhD, filmmaker and anthropologist, former assistant of Trinh T. Minh-Ha.

Pre-Cinema & Dead media: Techniques and methods of the past are analysed and reinterpreted by contextualizing them in their social, ideological and economical frame. Critical exploration of the standardisation of media. A parametrical view on the mediums Cinema and Digital Video in order to open up a broad array of audiovisual possibilities. Taught by Didier Volckaert, experimental filmmaker.

Sound, Narration, Representation: Analyse of feature and documentary films (Sukurov, Syberberg, Moens,) which proposes new narrative forms or/and original uses of sound. This seminar will encourage the participants to further experiment with narration and sound in their own films. Seminary given by Laurent Van Lancker, filmmaker and anthropologist.

Encounters: International guests will be invited to present their work, and to give feedback on the participants’ work in progress.

Practical workshop: Exercises in which the relation between form and content are explored: autobiography, sensorial filming, interactive fieldwork. A theoretical and practical workshop on editing is part of this course unit. These workshops are given by Reinhart Cosaert, photographer and anthropologist, Didier Volckaert and Laurent Van Lancker (see above).

Papers: Written theoretical "productions" on the relation of the participants with the ‘other’, and the viewer; the audiovisual translation of the relations the participant encountered during the process of filming. These papers will be presented in public at the end of the Master class.

How to apply:
The SIC Master class is open to a maximum of 12 participants each year. The selection is based on an audiovisual project propossal (film, video installation, sound creation,) submitted by the candidate which contains following paragraphs:

- What is the subject of your project and why do you want to create it?
- Relation between the author and his or her subject/"other": what is the type of interaction between author and subject and how can this relation be specified? Is there a viewer involved, prefigured, abstract or concrete?
- Form: what is your formal apprach, what is the realtion between your subject and the form you choose?
- CV.

We welcome applications from persons with a background in film, television, art, humanities, cultural, anthropological studies. This masterclass represents a master after master level although it is independent from any universities.

Deadline submission project: 16th of April 2007

Selection will be communicated by: 24th of April Master class 2007 : from 20th of May to begin December 2007 Master class fee : 250 euros Language: The SIC Master class is given in English, French and Dutch. All the lecturers speak the three languages. Location: The SIC masterclass will be given on two locations:

in Netwerk, an Arts Centre in Aalst (30 min. away from the centre of Brussels)in Cinema Nova, an independent cinema house in the heart of Brussels

We can help foreign students to find a suitable accommodation.

For further information or project submission, contact the SIC team

An van. Dienderen

Laurent Van Lancker


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