Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/265009
29 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2014 AMAZING AMSTERDAM PG 38 COMPUTER CRUSH PG 34 OSTENTATIOUS ORANGES PGS 36, 37 'Don't feed the tiger' If you have ever y cinema in Rotterdam at walking distance, how many movies can you fit in a day? This question becomes some- what nostalgic at the Dutch cit y's international film festival. Without the blazing lights of a red carpet or much of a glamor- ous entrance, the screen takes over as a piazza – staged for an audience and each director alike. This is the driving force of the 'IFFR' (The International Film Festival Rotterdam), a moment which cannot be replaced, the radical meeting point bet ween the screen and a live event. This year also marks the next extension to their select thea- tres, the virtual audience, by the launching of 'IFFR! LIVE'. Em- bracing the digital, Artistic Di- rector Rutger Wolfson initiates a program set to select five to nine movies out of the final 20 0 (or initial 4,0 0 0) to be streamed across Europe as part of the fes- tival itself. The hope is that with a long distance Q&A to boot, the event generates what he called a " buzz" for cinema and an attempt to bypass… or rather, mark a definite shif t in the tra- ditional stages of release. This means that with the accessibilit y of the digital, a small cinema can cross paths with the large festi- val through the exclusivit y of a premiere. At each inter val, a digital pro- jection allows the big screen to display ever y hashtag (#IFFR), be it a personal picture, a video or a t weet, and have his or her say published alongside each curator. This interactive aspect bridges the vulnerabilit y of a staged per- formance to that of a fixed film, an approach that seems to be the next step in building a home for its public. Long threatened by the success of online platforms, the Dutch cineastes and exhibi- tors of Rotterdam prefer to feed off this t wo-way street called the internet and return it to their own screen. Capturing the live aspect of a festival, the IFFR is no secre- tive tigers' den either. It is more of a place to return to, a festival where established and debut di- rectors, along with an audience ready to take the risk and discov- er, figures out how a movie works and of ten open up to a conversa- tion from the same seat. Filmmaker and archivist Rick Prelinger, presenting 'No More Road Trips?', seized this oppor- tunit y from the get-go and took on an informal invitation to narrate his silent documentar y while it was still playing. Being the work of a patient collector, it delivers a montage of about 80 or 90 home movies to as yet anoth- er family, an audience chaired by himself. The enchanting Super 8, its hazy image, long stretches of road with sudden jolts from east to west in bet ween one state af ter another; of ten hark back to those moments of sheer won- derment that the window of any great trip can inspire, along with an audience that is encouraged to be a bit louder than usual. In Prelinger's words, "Right now, this happens through ques- tions, answers and conversations in the dark. Indeed, it could hap- pen by many means – t weeting, remixing, call and response." At times, the risk is that of falling into a narcissistic laby- rinth – a picture of a picture of a video of the same t weet from the handheld to the screen. Much like Jim Jarmusch 's Only Lovers Lef t Alive, studded with in-jokes and self-indulgent references to cinema from Detroit to Tangier, nothing can lif t the spirit from ennui like an undead-tinged Til- da Swinton playing a vampire. Ironically, it is a ref lection that his leading figure (Tom Hiddles- ton) misses out on the most and instead, transpires this gap into an eternit y of artistic prowess from a fang-toothed Marlowe to Buster Keaton. For anyone in a cinema who spends enough time with a cam- era, the risk of a t ypical selfie is always there. However, it is a sense of realit y, of the small stor y, of the same self but docu- mented that leads the festival 's political direction, that of pre- senting the 2014 IFFR with a special 'Signals' categor y about the European and its attempt to gather the attention and support of European film through the likes of Hubert Bals Fund. CONTINUES ON PAGE 40 Only Lovers Left Alive: "Nothing can lift the spirit from ennui like an undead-tinged Tilda Swinton playing a vampire" Our resident film festival correspondent AIDAN CELESTE visits the The Rotterdam International Film Festival and, amidst its exploration of European identity asks: why is Malta not making an effort to make its unique European hotchpotch felt?