KEIDL MELAMED HEDIGER SOMAINI PANDEMIC MEDIA MEDIA OF FILM OF FILM CONFIGURATIONS CONFIGURATIONS Pandemic Media Configurations of Film Series Editorial Board Nicholas Baer (University of Groningen) Hongwei Thorn Chen (Tulane University) Miriam de Rosa (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) Anja Dreschke (University of Düsseldorf) Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan (King’s College London) Andrea Gyenge (University of Minnesota) Jihoon Kim (Chung Ang University) Laliv Melamed (Goethe University) Kalani Michell (UCLA) Debashree Mukherjee (Columbia University) Ara Osterweil (McGill University) Petr Szczepanik (Charles University Prague) Pandemic Media: Preliminary Notes Toward an Inventory edited by Philipp Dominik Keidl, Laliv Melamed, Vinzenz Hediger, and Antonio Somaini Bibliographical Information of the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche ­National­bibliografie­(German­National­Bibliography);­detailed­ bibliographic information is available online at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Published­in­2020­by­meson­press,­Lüneburg,­Germany­ with generous support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft www.meson.press Design­concept:­Torsten­Köchlin,­Silke­Krieg Cover design: Mathias Bär Cover­image:­©­Antoine­d’Agata,­reprinted­with­permission­from­the­artist Editorial assistance: Fabian Wessels The­print­edition­of­this­book­is­printed­by­Lightning­Source,­ Milton­Keynes,­United­Kingdom ISBN­(Print):­­978-3-95796-008-5­ ISBN­(PDF):­ 978-3-95796-009-2 DOI:­10.14619/0085 The PDF edition of this publication can be downloaded freely at www. meson.press. This­publication­is­licensed­under­CC­BY-SA­4.0­(Creative­Commons­ Attribution-ShareAlike­4.0­International).­To­view­a­copy­of­this­license,­visit­ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. KURZFILMTAGE OBERHAUSEN ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL TEMPORALITY ASYNCHRONICITY (SELF-)CENSORSHIP [29] Let’s Go to Oberhausen! Some Notes on an Online Film Festival Experience Wanda Strauven ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL This short essay reflects on the different spatio- temporal layers of “going” to an online film festival during the COVID-19 lockdown. Particularly, it looks at the case of the 66th edition of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, which made its competition and other programs accessible in blocks, each for 48 hours. Furthermore, it illustrates the concept of “con- nected asynchronicity” by discussing the censorship of an archival film that had first been made available (and viewable). During­the­COVID-19­lockdown,­the­notion­of­“virtual”­experience­came­to­be­ the new norm of life: from virtual meetings with your best friends to virtual museum­visits,­conferences,­roundtables,­and­film­festivals.­The­“virtual”­did­ (and­still­does)­not­stand­in­opposition­to­the­real,­but­to­the­fact­that­the­only­ real­happened­(and­still­happens)­online.­In­this­essay,­I­will­briefly­reflect­on­ my­first­experience­of­“going”­to­the­online­film­festival.­I­do­not­want­to­make­ predictions­about­the­future­by­assuming­that­this­will­be­the­“new­normal.”­ The­scope­is­merely­to­reflect­on­how­this­specific­experience­affected­me­as­a­ (SELF-)CENSORSHIP scholar­and­as­a­person,­in­a­situation­of­very­strict­confinement,­while­living­ in­Italy,­where­the­first-wave­lockdown­(from­early­March­to­early­June­2020)­ was heavily regulated. 288 Pandemic Media I­attended­the­online­version­of­the­66th edition of the International Short Film­Festival­Oberhausen­(13–18­May­2020)­as­part­of­an­MA­course­on­film­ archiving and festival programming that I was co-teaching with Marc Siegel at Johannes­Gutenberg­University­Mainz.­Originally,­we­had­planned­a­physical­ excursion­or­“field­trip”­to­Oberhausen­for­our­students,­but­we­were­forced­ to­revise­the­course­concept­due­to­the­COVID-19­lockdown.­When­the­festival­ announced­that­they­would­go­online,­showing­not­only­the­competition­pro- grams,­but­also­the­selections­made­by­archives­and­distributors,­we­decided­ to­take­the­students­on­this,­for­us­too,­new­adventure. A­personal­code­in­lieu­of­a­festival­pass­provided­access­to­around­350­short­ films,­talks,­and­presentations,­in­addition­to­live­DJ­sets­every­night.­Among­ the­various­programs,­which­were­uploaded­in­blocks­according­to­a­precise­ schedule­and­remained­accessible­for­48­hours­each,­we­preselected­for­our­ students­a­couple­of­competition­programs,­the­archive­programs­(curated,­ for­this­year’s­edition,­by­the­Russian­CYLAND­video­archive­and­the­Polish­ Fundacja­Arton),­the­Dutch­EYE­presentation­of­Henri­Plaat,­and­the­Austrian­ sixfilmpack­distribution­selection.­Besides­this­compulsory­viewing,­students­ were­free­to­navigate­through­all­the­programs­and­films­on­offer. However,­not­all­the­programs­of­the­66th­edition­of­Kurzfilmtage­Oberhausen­ were­made­available­online.­The­concepts­of­the­“Conditional­Cinema”­and­ “Labs”­sections,­for­instance,­were­not­compatible­with­the­new­COVID-19­ lockdown­format,­due­to­their­emphasis­on­and­celebration­of­“live”­perform- ance­and­projection.­The­“Labs”­section,­curated­by­Vassily­Bourikas,­is­all­ about­the­experience­of­watching­handmade­photochemical­films­as­material­ artifacts,­as­film­strips­running­through­a­projector.­This­reminds­us­of­the­ fact­that­analog­cinema­has­a­different­kind­of­temporality,­depending­on­ the­sequentiality­of­the­film­frames,­once­defined­by­Garrett­Stewart­as­the­ “mechanical­frame­time­of­the­track”­(2007,­127).­Freed­from­the­linear­trans- portation­of­the­celluloid­strip,­digital­cinema­is­in­this­sense­more­apt­for,­ or­more­akin­to,­online­viewing­practices.­The­absence­of­“Labs”­at­the­66th edition­of­Kurzfilmtage­Oberhausen­is,­for­sure,­to­be­read­as­a­statement,­as­a­ rejection­of­converting­16mm­films­into­digital­files,­in­order­to­stay­true­to­the­ section’s­original­aim,­which­is,­however,­not­to­fetishize­celluloid,­but­rather­ “to­maintain­the­availability­of­different­forms­of­cinema,­not­to­privilege­one­ over­another”­(Rapfogel­2018). The­variety­of­different­forms­of­cinema­was­indeed­annulled,­at­least­ in­material­terms,­by­the­online­platform­that­presented­each­film­as­an­ individually­clickable­item,­albeit­with­a­predetermined­position­in­a­pro- gram.­Viewers­were­not­“forced”­to­sit­through­an­entire­program,­but­could­ easily­jump­from­(within)­one­horizontal­program­strip­to­the­next,­as­long­as­ they­were­simultaneously­available­on­the­platform.­Deceptively,­the­typical­ anxiety about missing out on the gems of the festival ebbed away thanks Let’s Go to Oberhausen! 289 to­the­“flexibility­of­internet­time”­(Otto­2015),­which­underlies­the­different­ temporality of digitally streamed cinema. Viewers experienced a great sense of­freedom,­since­they­could­not­only­interrupt­and­restart­their­viewing­ whenever­they­wanted,­but­also­go­back­and­forth­in­a­specific­program,­ watch­certain­scenes­or­entire­short­films­again,­freeze­the­image,­etcetera.­ This­flexibility­also­led­to­impatience­among­some­of­our­students,­who­found­ themselves­skipping­the­more­“boring”­parts­of­the­program. Not­exactly­24/7­but­rather­48/2­(that­is,­48-hour­program­availability­spread­ over­two­full­days­including­night­time),­the­festival­became­a­form­of­“non- stop­work­site,”­which­was­to­some­extent­(at­least­within­the­context­of­the­ strictly regulated Italian lockdown) comparable to an “always open shopping mall­of­infinite­choices,­tasks,­selections,­and­digressions”­(Crary­2014,­17).­This­ 24/7­logic­of­sleeplessness­had­to­be­combined­with­some­form­of­“normal”­ family­life,­which­for­me­made­it­personally­quite­challenging­and­exhausting,­ very­different­from­previous­film­festival­visits,­during­which­I­usually­put­all­ other (daily) activities on hold. Yet the simultaneous running of private and professional­“timetables”­also­had­its­charms.­I­especially­enjoyed­sharing­the­ highlights­of­the­Children’s­Film­Competition­programs,­which­I­followed­out­of­ interest­for­my­ongoing­research­on­children­and­media,­with­my­12-year-old­ daughter­whose­genuine­reactions­to­the­touching­short­films­I­could­more­ easily­observe­(and­anticipate),­as­it­was­a­repeated­viewing­for­myself.1 I made an­exception­for­the­Children’s­Film­Competition­3+,­which­we­watched­directly­ together and both loved. It was a nice surprise to discover afterwards that our favorite,­The Shoe of a Little Girl­by­Kedar­Shrestha,­was­awarded.2 Halfway­through­the­festival,­we­met­with­the­students­in­a­virtual­room­ in order to exchange ideas and experiences. This is how we found out that our­asynchronous­viewings­actually­led,­at­least­in­one­specific­case,­to­the­ reception/consumption of altered content. For the CYLAND video archive had­taken­the­drastic­decision­to­remove­one­of­their­films­on­the­grounds­ of­recent­homophobic­accusations­against­the­filmmaker.­While­I­was­able­to­ watch­the­video­art­performance­film­in­question—New Icarus­(1991)­by­Edward­ Shelganov—before the act of curatorial self-censorship took place and as such­experienced­the­program­as­a­1990s­framing­of­more­recent­work­(fig.­1),­ 1­ This­discrepancy­between­our­viewing­experiences­was­the­most­“effective”­in­respect­to­ the Dutch short En route­by­Marit­Weerheijm,­which­follows­two­children­and­their­father­ on­an­early­morning­trip­to­the­city.­Only­at­the­very­end­does­the­viewer,­together­with­ the­young­female­protagonist,­realize­that­they­are­a­poor­family­relying­on­aid­from­the­ food­bank,­which­is­the­destination­of­their­trip. 2­ This­Nepalese­short­is­about­a­5-year-old­girl­who­always­wears­her­shoes­the­wrong­