Symposium Day Three - Resounding Archives: The Politics of Listening to The Moving Image

Friday, September 20, 2024

10:00–11:30
Panel 5
Does this Sound Right? The Ethics of Curating Sound

It seems that in archiving and curating historical film elements, the aspect of sound is treated with less constraint – or more freedom – than images. Creating contemporary music for historical films is considered a curatorial practice, in many countries dubbing is the norm. To the contrary, the visual quality of a restoration is closely measured against the original. What is the source of this inequality? Should it be balanced and, if so, how?
Matěj Strnad (Prague) will discuss questions of access to film history through language, sound, and music.
Sonia Campanini (Frankfurt am Main) will talk about new ways of experiencing film through sound-based curation.
Eunice Martins (Berlin) will talk about experimental live music in the cinema.
Moderation: Heleen Gerritsen (Wiesbaden)

12:00–13:30
Panel 6
Tell Me What I See: The Art of Live Narration-as-Translation

Live commentary of films was a celebrated artform in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, outlasting the advent of sound by almost a decade. It has since re-emerged in many parts of Africa and Asia. A form of translation-as-entertainment, live commentary adds new layers to a film and challenges established notions of work and authorship, with far-reaching consequences for archival and curatorial practices.
Matthias Krings (Mainz) and Solomon Waliaula (Nairobi) will talk about live commentary superstars in Kenya.
Chalida Uabumrungjit (Bangkok) will discuss the practice of live dubbing in Thailand.
Abigail Mann (Jos) will address Indian films dubbed in Hausa.
Moderation: Stefanie Schulte Strathaus (Berlin)

Matěj Strnad is Head Curator at Národní filmový archiv, Prague, where he coordinates his department as well as special acquisitions, restoration, and curatorial projects. He is also currently drafting the institution’s collection policy. Strnad graduated from the Center for Audiovisual Studies at FAMU, where he now lectures on audiovisual archiving. He serves as the Head of Programming and Access to Collections Commission (PACC) of the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF). 

Sonia Campanini is a film and media scholar with a research focus on archiving, restoration, curating, and circulation of global film cultures. From 2015 to 2022, she was Assistant Professor for Film Culture at the Institute for Theatre, Film, and Media Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, and then visiting professor of the Fonte Foundation at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. She is currently researching the production and circulation of Nigerian and South Korean film cultures as part of the joint project Cultural Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation in Africa and Asia at Goethe University.

Eunice Martins is a composer and pianist. She studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin and the Musikakademie Wiesbaden. Her work incorporates experimental and traditional materials, playing techniques, and electronics and she has written compositions for ensembles, films, VR pieces, and sound design. Since 2000, she has been the pianist at Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art. She has performed her music for film and silent film as well as live compositions at numerous international festivals, theaters, and cinematheques, including the 79th Venice Film Biennale, ctm Festival Berlin, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (Pordenone), Hong Kong International Film Festival, Il Cinema Ritrovato (Bologna), Jornada do Cinema Silencioso (São Paulo), Berlin International Film Festival, Auditorium du Louvre (Paris), and the Cinematek Royale (Brussels).

Heleen Gerritsen studied Slavic languages, Eastern European history, and economics in Amsterdam and St. Petersburg. She moved to Germany in 2003 where she completed a course in film production and started freelancing as a film producer, archival researcher, and film festival manager. Since October 2017, Heleen has been at the helm of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, organized by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. Each year goEast organizes a symposium focusing on historical and political film topics from the region.

Matthias Krings is Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. He specializes in the study of African popular culture, media and visual anthropology, and the anthropology of the body. His current research focuses on East African live film narrators, the global mainstreaming of African popular music (recently labelled ‘Afrobeats’), and practices of human differentiation based on skin color. His publications include African Appropriations: Cultural Difference, Mimesis, and Media and the edited volumes Global Nollywood and Bongo Media Worlds. He has done extensive fieldwork in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Solomon Waliaula holds a PhD in literary and cultural studies from Moi University, Kenya. He is an Associate Professor at Maasai Mara University in Kenya and Research Associate in the Department of African Literature at the University of Watersrand, South Africa. He is a DAAD Scholar and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and his research is in cultural studies, focusing on electronic media audiences. He was the Principal Investigator on a Fritz Thyssen funded 3-year research project on cinema narration in East Africa (2021-2024) at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.

Chalida Uabumrungjit graduated in film from Thammasat University and film archiving from the University of East Anglia, UK. She is one of the founding members of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival and has served as Festival Director since 1997. She has been involved in making a number of experimental films and documentaries. She was also on the selection committee of AND (Asian Network of Documentary) from 2006-2018. From 2013-2022, she was on the Executive Committee of FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives). She has served as as the Director of the Film Archive, Thailand since 2019.

Abigail Mann is a media professional with a passion for storytelling and community development. Born in Kaduna, Nigeria, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Film Production from Bayero University, Kano, affiliated with the University of Jos. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Film Culture and Archival Studies at the University of Jos in collaboration with Film Institute.