From 14 to 17 November 2024 FAMU welcomed french documentary and experimental film maker Anna Salzberg. She introduceed her personal, experimental, feministic and political documentary films at a masterclass. In a subsequent lecture dedicated to French activistic and feminist film collectives, of which Salzberg is a member, students had an opportunity to learn about the conditions and tools for her filmmaking. The lecture included the screening of a one-hour series of short films made with the Scotcheuses and La Poudrière film collectives and the L’Etna and L’Abominable artist-run film labs. In the discussions with FAMU students that followed, the masterclass and the lecture offered an opportunity to reflect on the current situation and suggest options for alternative creation and distribution. During the two subsequent days, there was a hands-on workshop with the objective of teaching the students about the means for remediation of archive film material, exploring the Department of Documentary Film’s archive, and creating one’s own reinterpretation of found footage. The workshop included both individual and team manipulation with a 16mm film projector, 16mm films, a 16mm camera, basic photo lab processes, and experimental and performative approach on all levels involved. The workshop ended with the final screening of newly made films.

By experiencing the work of French documentary and experimental film maker Anna Salzberg (masterclass, screening of a full-length film and short films), students gained an overview of the options for alternative filmmaking outside commercial industry settings. They got to witness collective artistic and activistic strategies viewed as both the requirements for and means of creating subjective films that retain a broader impact and political importance. Exposed to the French method of organising creative work (art collectives with which Salzberg works), students could broaden their horizons and obtain the knowledge required to devise their own approach. In addition to theory, great emphasis was placed on a hands-on approach, i.e. the practical part of the mentoring sessions, during which students will work with film stock, projectors, cameras, and dark chamber. Combining various media for their diverse qualities, Salzberg’s approach embodies material thinking and understanding of the individual tools as a specific form of expression that carries meaning. Also, her work with media archives is a highly topical subject for an artistic and more generally humanities- and technology-oriented discussion.

The project AMU, Mentoring programme Anna Salzberg, reg. nr.: 0411000008 is implemented with the financial participation of the European Union through the National Recovery Plan and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.