At the B3 Festival of the Moving Image, many German premieres of international filmmakers* and artists* can be discovered from October 14 to 22 in Frankfurt am Main and digitally. The festival takes a cross-genre look at storytelling with moving images and thus at current developments in technology, society, culture and art. The first program highlights reflect this diversity. Under this year's theme "Horizons," visitors* are invited to look together beyond the boundary between the known and the unknown, between the possible and the potentially possible. Exclusive film premieres and innovative artworks will be shown at various locations throughout Frankfurt, and artists and speakers will provide insights into their work in exciting lectures and master classes.
Prof. Bernd Kracke, President of the Offenbach University of Art and Design and Artistic Director of the B3 Festival of the Moving Image: "We see storytelling with moving images as a window to horizons that need to be explored and understood. In addition to the classic presentation of short and feature-length films in the B3 Film Festival, the international B3 artists* are for the first time exclusively playing in the cinemas of the Astor Film Lounge with various experimental and innovative formats. This year, the B3 Festival once again places a special focus on the presentation and promotion of young talent with the B3 TalentForum, in which students from Hesse, Germany and the world present their works."
A highlight of the B3 Festival is the awarding of the B3 BEN Award to the exceptional British director Stephen Frears for his lifetime achievement. The festival will screen his new film THE LOST KING. A Master Class with Stephen Frears in conversation with Adrian Wootton (OBE), CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Renowned media artist Daniel Canogar will receive the B3 BEN Award for Best Artist and present his latest work exclusively at B3. In a masterclass on Sunday, October 15 at 11 a.m., he will speak with the director of Frankfurt's Kunsthalle Schirn, Dr. Sebastian Baden.
B3 Film Festival & Conference: Horizons in Motion
The B3 Film Festival showcases recent feature-length and short films with social relevance, narrative brilliance and particular topicality from around the world. The films in this year's selection broaden horizons and offer insights into different cultures, genres and worlds.
After premieres at the renowned international film festivals Tribeca and Toronto, the Canadian mockumentary comedy HEY VIKTOR! by director Cody Lightning celebrates its German premiere at the B3 Festival. The film tells the story of former child star Cody Lightning, who rose to fame in 1998 as Little Viktor in the cult film "Smoke Signals". Twenty years later, he decides to create his own masterpiece: "Smoke Signals 2: Still Smoking". A team of documentary filmmakers follows him as he puts his vision into action. only to discover just then that it was complete nonsense.
From Vietnam comes a film that had its world premiere at Cannes: In INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL, director An Pham Thien tells the story of Thien, who is tasked with transferring the body of his sister-in-law, who died in a serious motorcycle accident in Saigon, to her hometown in the countryside. On this journey, he also takes his little nephew Dao, who miraculously survived the accident. It becomes a journey that fundamentally questions his faith.
With his visually stunning debut feature, EMPTY NETS, director Behrooz Karamizade unfolds a poetic love story while drawing a haunting portrait of the young generation in Iran. Amir loves Narges and Narges loves Amir, but class differences present insurmountable obstacles to their future together. Karamizade will be awarded the Hessian Film Prize 2023 as Best Newcomer on October 20, and EMPTY NETS is additionally nominated there as Best Feature Film.
In the B3 Conference, personalities from media, art, politics and science will discuss topics and trends within the creative and media industries in keynotes, master classes, panel discussions and workshops. Among others, film critic and author Wolfgang W. Schmitt talks about AI-generated influencer*s <x>ampersand</x> avatars and their impact on film, the moving image, storytelling and society. Performance artist Marcus Henry Brown and Daniel Chávez Heras of King's College London will explore whether creative professionals should welcome, be indifferent to, or fear these new technologies in a keynote lecture followed by a panel discussion.
For all the highlights, visit the B3 Festival website: b3festival.en
