Florida’s only transmedia conference, returns for a third year on Feb. 1 to 8 at various locations through Miami Beach and Greater Miami
At the crossroads of film, technology and interactive storytelling, the third edition of Filmgate Interactive this year features more than ten screenings, five performances, three interactive exhibits and ten workshops.
According to Executive Director Diliana Alexander, Filmgate challenges the boundaries of traditional genres and invokes a more cohesive and rewarding audience experience, while also providing access to experts and state-of-the-art tools to filmmakers, videographers, gamers, writers and technophiles who wish to innovate, create and reimagine.
In its inaugural year, five projects were conceptualized at Filmgate labs, many of which will be premiered as a finished work at the upcoming event.
“South Florida filmmakers and technologists are beginning to tell stories that reflect Miami, but resonate nationally,” said Dennis Scholl, vice president of arts for Knight Foundation, which sponsors the festival through its Knight Arts Challenge, a community-wide contest funding the best ideas for the arts. “Filmgate helps bring them the insights and expertise they need to finish and launch projects.”
South Florida’s unique socio-cultural demographic and proximity to Latin America have positioned this conference as an international destination for arts, development, and increasingly, technology.
“We launched in February 2012 with the intent of showing what the future of storytelling would look like, and immediately had attendees from Australia, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, as well as nationwide from New York to California and Oregon. At Filmgate, you can meet and learn from likeminded creatives, and still indulge in the exuberance of a festival with performances, exhibits and screenings that are accessible and interesting to the general public.”
(Read the miamiartzine.com/artburstmiami.com interview with the creator of Jacqueries)
What To Do, See At Filmgate
A Proper Marriage: Concept / Choreography: Pioneer Winter; Excerpt by Pioneer Winter in collaboration with Santo Martin Cordero Music: Christoph Willibald Glück, “Che farò senza Euridice?”
A Proper Marriage is a speculative
live performance piece that explores the perceived co-dependence of music and
movement, especially live music with dance – who has the power? The performance
overlays a film, which was created in collaboration with Indie Film Club Miami,
exploring the eye movement of jazz musicians. Pioneer Winter is a Miami-native
choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker of Pioneer Winter / Collective. He is
co-director of RIFT Blackbox and the curator of transmedia performances for
FilmGate Interactive Media Conference. Winter also directs Project LEAP (Living
Equality through Arts and Performance), a free dance and creative communication
program for LGBTQ teens that focuses on teaching how to use the arts for
activism and social change. He was recently awarded the 2014-2015 Miami
Choreographer’s Fellowship, and is on faculty of the FIU Honors College. His
project Grass Stains was also recently awarded a Knight Arts Challenge Grant. Melancholalaland (Act I) featuring A Proper Marriage by Pioneer Winter, Tuesday, Feb. 3, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Miami Light Project.
Ace Ventura Pet Detective Miami Beach
Filmgate Interactive and BBQ Films are collaborating to present the first-ever real-time “Ace Ventura Pet Detective Miami Beach” interactive pop-up screening. The audience is invited to be a character in a reimagined play-by-play of this iconic film, which was shot in Miami and has since emerged as a cult classic. Participating cast members will include Miami celebrities (TBA), alongside themed food, drinks, portioned screenings of the film, and reenactments of key scenes. This one-time special event will take place Thursday, Feb. 5 from 7 p.m. to midnight at a secret location in Miami Beach, disclosed only with purchase of a ticket.
MelanchoLaland™
It's the 21st century and time to re-invent opera - but in a way that's more fun, less pretentious, and a little wild. With music by composer and Florida Atlantic University professor Joey Bargsten and by libretto writer Thea Zimmer, elements of opera, theater and dance meld with new and experimental visual media in a dark tragic dramady. Behold the story of three artist-engineers, who design mind-altering experiences enhanced by self-pleasuring technologies as they deal with disgruntled employees, corporate takeovers, dissatisfied girlfriends, swimmer boys, naked bears and cheesy space-aliens. Filmgate will present selections from Act 1 of MelanchoLalaland™ along with a discussion moderated by the composer on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. at Miami Light Project.
Unknown Spring, Interactive Exhibition
Spending nearly four years documenting the effects of the Tohuku earthquake, the tsunami and Daiichi nuclear power-plant meltdown, the line between what was once refined humanity becomes blurred with rubble, remains, and unrestrained nature.
Combined projected video, audio and photography by Price will be on view in Miami Beach throughout Filmgate, drawing important parallels to South Florida’s own turbulent relationship with natural disasters, hurricanes and rising sea levels. Screening February 1 to 8, times and location TBA.
Futurestates
A sci-fi web series and “Official Selection” at the New York Film Festival, Futurestates uses an immersive web experience across multiple online platforms (apps, social media, video) to tell a larger story for its final season. Developing a storyline for the main character and a media-rich website to engage users, production group Murmur was commissioned by Independent Television Service to bring Futurestates' narrative to life. Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 9 pm at O Cinema Wynwood.
Best of N.O.L.A.
“I’m Not Gonna Move to L.A.” (N.O.L.A.) is a monthly event bringing musicians, comedians and film shorts made in Miami under the same roof at independent art house O Cinema. After a Q & A and rapid-fire trivia, the audience will be asked to vote for their favorite film by hurling stuffed animals at the director. In a culmination of N.O.L.A. all-stars, some of the best have been invited to Filmgate for a chance to win the grand prize, the Pink Kraken. Wednesday, Feb, 4 at 6:30 p.m. at O Cinema Wynwood.
Interactive Tech Playground
Interactive Tech Playground is a curated fair with 20-juried exhibitions offering innovative products (cameras, lights, cranes, lenses, gaming software, apps, video equipment, etc.) and services. Spanning more than 10,000 square-feet at the elegant Loews Hotel with a center stage for presentations and interactive sets, Filmgate has deJames L. Knight Foundation, the Miami Beach Visitors & Convention Authority and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs signed this year’s Interactive Tech Playground as a platform to connect trade and consumer audiences. Select past participants include Sony, Canon, Arri CSC, Kessler Cranes, Schneider Optics, PBS POV Digital, Manfrotto, Midtown Video, Moving Picture, Training Labs, Story Code, and National Film Board of Canada.
Click here for a complete events guide. Prices: Student admission with valid I.D. is $60 and includes access to the Interactive Tech Playground, workshops, projects and an invitation to the launch event. The All-Access pass is $120 with perks such as invitations to industry happy hours and the Betsy Hotel Roof Top Party. The Pink Kraken, Filmgate’s ultimate gateway to VIP events, is $225 for aforementioned programs, and includes invitations to all private receptions and a one-year membership to South Florida’s very own Indie Film Club Miami. For more information, visit www.film-gate.org.
