Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 12, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
“Over the past ten years, the eDIT Filmmaker’s Festival has firmly established itself as an innovative forum for filmmakers within the European festival landscape and has demonstrated international appeal in promoting Hesse as a media location.” Minister of State Silke Lautenschläger emphasized this in her role as patron when presenting the festival’s new concept in Frankfurt.
In its second decade, eDIT is now presenting itself with new partners and a comprehensive approach to filmmaking in the digital age. In future, the festival will cooperate with the editing organization ACE (American Cinema Editors) and IMAGO, the European federation of cinematographers, with the aim of improving both the depth and breadth of its range of topics.
The cooperation with the Visual Effects Society will not continue. However, its founder and long-serving Executive Director Tom Atkin has been appointed co-director of the Filmmaker’s Festival to ensure that outstanding visual-effects presentations from Hollywood blockbusters remain part of the program.
Although ACE includes “American” in its name, the association is in fact international. In Hollywood, ACE is considered one of the most influential and creative organizations. Over the coming years, it will offer feature-film editing presentations and workshops at the Filmmaker’s Festival. IMAGO unites 26 European cinematography associations and will contribute a series of presentations on camera work.
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Alongside cinematography, editing is not only traditionally one of the central creative elements of film production, but also one of the areas of production that was digitized earliest and most consistently. “The fact that the leading organizations are now contributing to eDIT perfectly complements the festival portfolio,” Minister Lautenschläger said.
For the first time in 2008, the professional festival program will therefore feature strong offerings on editing and cinematography, alongside the traditional areas of visual effects, animation, the media industry, documentary film and production.
“eDIT eDucation will also remain an important offering for schools and the region’s higher-education sector, while the recruiting services that have recently seen renewed strong demand will be expanded further,” the minister said. In this context, she thanked Professor Wolfgang Thaenert, Director of the State Authority for Private Broadcasting, as a dependable partner who had supported eDIT’s development from the outset.
Screenings are also a popular element of the Filmmaker’s Festival and will be expanded further to satisfy interest in international films beyond US blockbusters. The “Best of Festivals” program will also be extended. Its focus is on festival films that, despite winning awards, do not make it into German cinemas.
“Through these partnerships and this concept, we aim to further establish the festival as the leading platform for filmmakers from every discipline. We are optimistic that this realignment has created the essential foundations for doing so,” Minister Lautenschläger concluded.
The eDIT Filmmaker’s Festival receives €750,000 in funding from the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, €100,000 from the State Authority for Private Broadcasting (LPR), and €50,000 from the City of Frankfurt. The state and LPR act as eDIT’s supporting bodies, while the City of Frankfurt provides sponsorship from its economic-development funds.
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