Being Aware - A Fashion Film Retrospective

Being Aware - A Fashion Film Retrospective 
By Niccolò Montanari - Fashion Film and Video Consultant

 “Agreeing on a vision does not mean compromising on quality in order to please everyone.”"

Over the past ten years we have seen a rapid growth of platforms catering for the fashion film genre. This term seems to have brought together all that video content with a strong emphasis on style that goes beyond being a moving lookbook or a behind-the-scenes.
Though people may differ in defining fashion film, what makes this genre is different creative industries working together, such as fashion, film and adver- tising, to deliver emotionally compelling and engaging video content.

 
Act! Cut! Play! was a project conceived as a way to develop and explore the relationship between several creative disciplines. “Fashion, film and theatre have come together on equal terms to deliver examples of how we can raise the quality and creativity of the fashion film genre”, explained Branko Popovic, FASHIONCLASH co-director and Act! Cut! Play! partner. Three teams formed by a fashion designer, a film director and theatre maker produced three unique pieces of video content that challenge the traditional approach to fashion film. Here’s what I have learnt after speaking to them.
Each film handled the portrayal of fashion in a completely different way. Both Your Approval Is Not Essential as well as The Parallel Pyramid Platform have fashion play an almost supporting role. The former places narrative at the centre, with fashion there to impact visually on the storyline. The latter on the other hand looks at fashion not as clothing, but rather as a tool to define, divide and group people together. The third film - iii - fits more within the traditional view of fashion film. Strong aesthetics play the leading role here, with narrative helping shape the message behind the film. Although the result is three very different fashion films, there are some shared key takeaways from the teams involved.
Though the definition of fashion film is yet to be agreed on, the overall vision of what is being produced should be aligned from the very beginning. The focus should be on deciding how the different disciplines interact with one another, whether any of them take the lead or are there to support and provide visual impact to the narrative. The aim isn’t to stand out as the main discipline, but rather to determine the correct formula to bring the vision to life.

Niccolò Montanari

Agreeing on a vision does not mean compromising on quality in order to please everyone. It means understanding the fundamental creative and visual principles shared by all and building from there. Being able to trust in each other’s talent and having an awareness of how each discipline works allows for the contributors to think differently about their own way of working. As a result, this will lead to a unique and innovative production that will most likely not fit within a conventional film category. Understanding where the story lies is a vital step in the creation of valuable video content. With film generally functioning as a storytelling canvas, disciplines such as fashion and theatre become the tools to bring the story to life. Even though each discipline comes with its own narrative, the aim is to work backwards and transport the overall agreed narrative into each discipline and work with it accordingly. Fashion film is a young genre, for which rules are yet to be defined.

Act! Cut! Play! succeeded in having us explore and question our general approach to fashion film. Rather than films about fashion, adverts or a series of striking visuals, we have seen what can be achie - ved by approaching fashion film as the union of several creative disciplines. This fresh perspective should be used as a stepping stone to explore this genre through other creatives fields, such as music, dance, illustration or architecture. By agreeing on a vision, and gaining a deeper understanding of each other’s as well as our own expertise, fashion film has the potential to become an excellent tool for the creative industries looking to innovate with video content in the digital era.

The State of Fashion Film Talk

The State of Fashion Film Talk at FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival

A panel consisting of renowned fashion film makers and directors such as Raquel Couceiro, Marie Schuller, Kathryn Ferguson and Ditte Marie Lund.
Niccolo Montanari is in conversation with these professionals, to get to know more about the fashion film industry and the state of the art of the fashion film. 

Talk / Room 2 / 4 Nov. / 16:00 - 17:30 / Runtime: 90 min 
Prize €9,00. Find your tickets here 

The State of the Art of the Fashion Film
Fashion and film have been hand in hand and influencing each other for decades, for example in classics like Breakfast at Tiffany's or more recent examples like A Single Man or The Neon Demon. More and more the fashion film has become an essential part of the communication strategy of each fashion brand. In this era of e-culture, it is one of the best ways to capture a fashion narrative and to reach a wide audience via online platforms and media. Challenging the norms of traditional advertising techniques and moving fashion shoots, designers have embraced film as an art form and have moved away the use of mundane product placement.

Film as a medium is an incredible discipline to tell stories. Nowadays, the genre is highly on the rise and also embraced by major directors such as Wes Anderson, Miranda July, Martin Scorsese and David Lynch who are engaged in making fashion films. In less than ten years the fashion film broke from the off schedules through to the core of the fashion industry. The fashion films are no longer used as a means of communication but also presented as independent artworks. Big brands like Dior, Chanel, Prada and Gucci are spending loads of money on editorial campaigns and fashion films.

Undoubtingly the fashion film is here to stay. The industry has to look further than just clothes and photography. Technological developments have made fashion films more accessible; for instance, you can now film a fashion film entirely on your phone.

What is the future of fashion film and the state of the art of fashion film? 
With the FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival we invite you to discover the beauty and the potential of fashion film.

FFFF Screening at Thiessen Wijnkoopers

FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival @ Thiessen Wijnkoopers presents, a selection of fashion films co-produced by FASHIONCLASH.

still from Aspire, a film in collaboration with Strictua

FFFF Screening @ Thiessen Wijnkoopers
Date: 3 – 5. 11-2017
Time: 10:00 – 18:00
Runtime: 00:13:15
Price: free entrance
Address: Thiessen Wijnkoopers, Grote Gracht 18 in Maastricht

Tickets & Info: www.fashionclash.nl

Dutch Fashion Films at FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival

FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival 2017 presents

A selection of fashion films made in the Netherlands by emerging Dutch film makers and fashion designers.

Dutch Fashion Films – Zaal 1
Date: 4-11-2017
Time: 19:00 – 20:00
Runtime: 00:49:27
 Price: €9,00 get your tickets

www.fashionclash.nl

‘ES TUT MIR LEID!, Studio M.E.N. , Annie van Noortwijk, 00:01:55, premiere.

‘Es tut mir leid’ features the debut collection of the new designer Studio MEN. The designers drew inspiration from rugby and played with gender. The models in the film are alienating, and at different locations they try to make contact with the audience. Body language, intense gazes and a dynamic edit and music score, take you to the desolate green fields where the collection of MEN sets foot on earth for the first time.

SOLUM, Luca Tichelman in association with Kim Karssen, 00:10:40, premiere 

A video portrait of two people in different tableaux vivants, raising feelings of stilled alienation. They seek communication, a conversation. At times share one world, but a conversation seems too complex, they stay ” together alone ”. Solo, SOLUM.

Canon Workshop - FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival

Canon Workshop - Filmen met een spiegelreflexcamera 

Het is nog niet zo lang geleden dat er alleen gefilmd werd met film- en videocamera’s. Met de komst van de Canon EOS 5D Mark II in 2008 veranderde dat. Met deze camera konden hoge kwaliteit films gemaakt worden.
Spiegelreflexcamera’s zoals de Canon EOS 5D serie (meest recente model is de EOS 5D Mark IV) hebben voor film de belangrijke eigenschap dat ze lichtgevoelig zijn.

Daarnaast beschikken deze camera’s over een grote sensor waardoor met kleine scherptediepte gewerkt kan worden (belangrijk voor focus pulls). Een ander groot voordeel van het filmen met een spiegelreflexcamera betreft het grote assortiment foto-objectieven waaruit gekozen kan worden, waaronder speciale macro- en tilt-shift objectieven.

Het filmen met een spiegelreflexcamera kent echter wel enkele kleine uitdagingen zoals:
- Audio: welke microfoon kun je het beste gebruiken en hoe leg je audio vast;
- Scherpstelling: hoe zie ik wat ik doe en wat kan ik aan de camera overlaten;
- Rigging: statief, rig of gewoon uit de hand filmen;
- Objectieven: welk objectief gebruik je voor wat;
- Intern/extern opnemen, opslagmedia en codecs.



Canon zal tijdens de speciale workshop nader op bovenstaande zaken ingaan. In het praktijkgedeelte zullen twee verschillende situaties gecreëerd worden zodat de deelnemers ook zelf aan de slag kunnen met hun eigen (EOS) camera. En heb je bovenstaande zaken eenmaal onder de knie, dan gaat er een filmwereld voor je open.

De Workshop ‘Filmen met een spiegelreflexcamera’ wordt gegeven door Jip Barth, Product Intelligence Consultant bij Canon. Jip geeft vanaf 2008 aan uiteenlopend publiek uitleg over de techniek van het filmen met EOS-camera’s.

Wil je meedoen?

Canon Workshop vindt plaats 4 november van 10:30 - 13:30 bij Lumière Cinema Maastricht.
Deelname is gratis maar er is beperkt plek. Stuur bij een aanmelding een korte motivatie en C.V. Daarbij is het aan te raden om je eigen EOS camera mee te nemen.
Je kan je aanmelden door een mail te sturen naar ffff@fashionclash.nl.

www.canon.nl

We Margiela - FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival

FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival presents We Margiela – The Documentary, as the opening film on 3 November.

Date: 3-11-2017
Time: 21:30 – 23:00
Runtime: 00:99:00
Tickets: here
Location: Lumière Cinema

Mint film office, the Netherlands, 2017, English subtitled.






We Margiela tells the untold story of the enigmatic and singular fashion house Maison Martin Margiela. For the first time, co-founder Jenny Meirens and the members of the creative team that stood at the heart of the house talk extensively about the creative processes and unique philosophies of the Maison. Their stories, told through detailed and intimate interviews, offer unprecedented insight into the genesis and unravelling of one of the most influential fashion houses of our time. The film investigates the legacy of Margiela and its relevance for fashion and authorship today.

http://wemargiela.com

About 'mint film office'

mint film office is a documentary production company based in Rotterdam. They're a collective of people that aim to make that offer compelling stories that are visually challenging and creative. At the same time, they went their films to reflect on traditions in documentary film-making and question received ideas on storytelling and visualisation.

MASTERCLASS Pascal Baillien - FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival

MASTERCLASS Directing 
PASCAL BAILLIEN

4 November
11:30 - 13:00
Lumière Cinema

In this masterclass, Pascal Baillien will share his 20 years of experience as a director in fashion film, music promos and corporate film. 

Are you interested to take part?

- You can sign-up by sending an e-mail to ffff@fashionclash.nl. 

- Please attach a motivation letter and C.V.
- There are limited number of places available. 

About  Pascal Baillien

Pascal Baillien is a director, writer and producer, based in Belgium and Los Angeles, USA. His strong and cinematic way of directing and more than 20 years of experience in filmmaking, make him a multi-dimensional storyteller. With his visually driven campaigns for clients in the fashion, music and corporate industry, and use of a wide range of techniques, he is able to create powerful images. He worked with high end talents such as Barbara Palvin, Charlie Sheen, Jean Claude Vandamme, Kev Adams and many more.
www.baillien.tv

Kill Your Darlings - Maarten van Mulken
During FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017 Pascal presented the RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD. The winner of this award, designer Maarten van Mulken made a fashion film with Pascal. 'Kill Your Darlings' will premiere during FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival.

About FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival 

First international film festival in the Netherlands focussing on the ‘fashion film’ genre.

FFFF showcases both emerging and established filmmakers and designers who experiment with the genre. The program contains screenings with a selection of more than 60 short fashion films from all over the world. A unique opportunity to get inspired by the world of fashion film, discover new talents and learn more about the state of the art of fashion film.

More information: www.fashionclash.nl

FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival 2017

FFFF – FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival 
3 & 4 November 2017 
Maastricht

FFFF is the first international film festival in the Netherlands that is focussing on the ‘fashion film’ genre. The program consists of short fashion film screenings, masterclasses, workshops, cross-over performances, installations and fashion talks.
FFFF Festival aims to offer a stage to emerging and filmmakers and designers who experiment with the genre and is also a platform for debate about The State of The Art of this rising film genre. The program consists of a curated selection of the relevant fashion films from the past few years and new films. The festival curatorial special focus themes are Dutch Fashion Film and Fashion Makes Sense (films that matter). Furthermore on program is the Act! Cut! Play! project screening and recap talk.
FFFF is accessible festival for everyone and a unique opportunity to get inspired by the world of fashion, discover new fashion and film talents and to enjoy the city of Maastricht. Festival program is accessible via ticket sale and partly for free. The festival program will take place at various locations in Maastricht, including venues such as Lumière Cinema, de Bijenkorf and Thiessen Wijnkoopers.

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR FFFF 2017

FASHIONCLASH invites all emerging and established filmmakers, designers and brands to submit their work via the Open Call. By entering the FFFF you have a chance to be selected for one of the official program screenings and also to be shortlisted for the FFFF Awards.
FFFF contains an award ceremony where several prizes will be announced by the appointed jury.
– Best Fashion Film: €1.500,00
– Best International Emerging Talent: € 500,00
– Best National Emerging Talent: Canon camera awarded by Canon Netherlands

You want to submit your film/films?
All films must be submitted online via FilmFreeway only. Find out the conditions and application: FASHIONCLASHFashionFilmFestival

More info: www.fashionclash.nl

Maarten van Mulken wins RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD 2017

Maastricht based designer Maarten van Mulken won the RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD 2017 by Pascal Baillien

Radikal Film is an experienced creative film studio of director Pascal Baillien. Recently nominated for the Berlin Fashion Film festival and very experienced in productions, that bring music, art and fashion together, he has a strong ability and vision to translate stories into film.

Together with Maarten they will create a new fashion film that will premiere in November during the FFFF - FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival (3 and 4 November 2017 in Maastricht).

www.radikalfilm.tv

Maarten van Mulken show at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017, photography Team Peter Stigter

Act! Cut! Play! Fashion Films

On December 16 three brand new fashion films premiered at Lumière Cinema in Maastricht, and will from now on travel the globe in the international fashion-theatre-, film- and art world.  

Act! Cut! Play! is a new interdisciplinary talent development project that has the ambition to lift the quality of fashion films to a higher level. Three teams existing of a designer, theatre maker, and filmmaker from either the Netherlands or Flanders, where challenged to work together to investigate the possibilities and boundaries of their disciplines and the provided ‘format’ of the fashion film. With the incorporation of a theatre maker, the three teams where challenged to make the narrative an important element within the films.

Act! Cut! Play! is an initiative of FASHIONCLASH, Flemish Arts Centre De Brakke Grond and MoMu – ModeMuseum Provincie Antwerpen.

Project format
These three interdisciplinary teams collaborated on the development of three short fashion films from start to end. Previously, fashion films were mostly used by brands as a moving lookbook for their new collections. Over the course of the last years the fashion film has been on the rise: fashion film festivals are popping up across the globe. The films are becoming more innovative and visually striking, but what stands out is that in both national as well as international fashion films the narrative is under developed, and subordinate to its visual qualities. This is precisely what makes this an excellent opportunity to combine fashion, theatre and film and mold it into the right shape.

Première & Presentation
On December 16th the three films premiered at Lumière Cinema in Maastricht.
After this the Act! Cut! Play! films will travel all over the globe starting from Amsterdam at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (26 – 29 January 2017 in De Brakke Grond 28 January 2017 in de Westerunie), Antwerp (De Studio, 9 February 2017), Cinedans (16 -20 March 2017), FASHIONCLASH Festival (29 June – 2 July 2017) and several other stages including international fashion film festivals.

The films

‘Your approval is not essential’
Scheuller de Waal (fashion designers - Philipp Schueller & Rens de Waal), Jelena Kostić (choreographer), Leen Michiels (filmmaker, MosoTheCat) 

When a chance supermarket encounter unlocks untapped passion in an ordinary woman, her grey life quickly goes into sensory overload. ‘Your approval is not essential’ sheds a colourful, whimsical light on what happens when you let go of your inhibitions and – out of the blue – start embracing life’s quirky pleasures.

Your approval is not essential
photo: Nikola Kostic

The Parallel Pyramid Platform
Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck (performer), Daniel van Hauten (filmmaker),Emmanuel A. Ryngaert (fashion designer)
"The Parallel Pyramid Platform" is a highly aesthetic and witty game show in which sixteen contestants construct a gigantic pyramid shaped sculpture, working with and against each other, in order to make it to the top first. A film that explores the friction between the individual versus the collective. A never-ending universe in which, as the sculpture grows, blue becomes red. How one can only replace the inevitable void by start building.

The Parallel Pyramid Platform
photo: Joris Hilterman

iii
Suze Milius (theatremaker, House Crying Yellow Tears) Marie-Sophie Beinke (fashion designer) Femke Huurdeman (filmmaker)

In the world of iii, senses double themselves in order to make one woman complete. It's time to reckon with this shit! 

iii
photo: Joost de Haas

The Neon Demon - Film première during FASHIONCLASH Festival

The Neon Demon film première at Lumière Cinema Maastricht during FASHIONCLASH Festival, 3 July, 20:45

Nicolas Winding Refn, France, USA, Denmark 2016, 110 min., English language, Dutch subtitles. Cast: Elle Fanning, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, Jena Malone
The new baroque horror thriller by Nicolas Winding Refn (DRIVE, ONLY GOD FORGIVES) is set in the Los Angeles fashion world. When aspiring model Jesse moves to L.A., her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has.
Jesse arrives in the City of Angels just after her sixteenth birthday with dreams of catwalk stardom. Her competitors hate Jesse, because she has ‘it’: that special indefinable quality that the whole fashion world wants. Jesse has the makings of a star, but her pristine beauty attracts portents of violence. Nicolas Winding Refn again shows an abundance of visual style in his new film, that has clearly been influenced by filmmakers such as David Cronenberg, Italian horror grandmaster Dario Argento, Chilean surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch. It’s a divisive filmn that will leave you with only two options: howl or cheer. And Refn clearly would not want it any other way.

Sun July 3, 8.45pm
Lumiere Cinema, Bogaardenstraat 40b.
Entrance: 6 euro
www.lumiere.nl

Fashion & Dance at Cinedans Festival in Amsterdam

13th edition of the world’s leading international dance film festival, at the EYE in Amsterdam Cinedans – Dance on Screen will run from 16 to 20 March 2016.

FASHIONCLASH co-curated a program with short films where fashion and dance are flirting with each other.
FASHIONCLASH designer Judith van Vliet designed the costumes for the campaign of the 13th edition.

Held in the EYE film museum in Amsterdam, it is the largest and most diverse dance film festival in the world. Over the course of five days Cinedans will present the very best international dance films, documentaries and installations. Besides the short films, we’ll be screening the very impressive filmed performance of JOHN (Lloyd Newson’s final production with DV8 Physical Theatre) alongside documentaries such as Jaap Flier – Solist and Thin Skin, a film about choreographer Marco Goecke. And Cinedans will also be hosting the Dutch premiere of Wim Vandekeybus’ debut feature film Galloping Mind.

Out of Fashion: Maastricht Edition

Out of Fashion: Maastricht Edition 14 May – 26 June 2011

From 14 May to 26 June 2011, NAiM/Bureau Europa is presenting Out of Fashion: Maastricht Edition. The project comprises an exhibition, a film programme and a series of events about the interaction between fashion and film. We can see how fashion houses, avant-garde designers and young, as yet unknown fashion designers utilize film, video and on-line media to give their designs form and to support their distribution and sales.

Designers agnès b. and Maison Martin Margiela have compiled a film programme of their own work especially for Out of Fashion and are showing an exclusive installation. In addition, work can be seen from designers including BLESS, Todd Cole, Prada, Freudenthal/Verhagen and Anna-Nicole Ziesche.

Out of Fashion: Maastricht Edition is the result of a collaboration between the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Premsela: the Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion, Glamcult Studio and NAiM/Bureau Europa. The project is a sequel to Out of Fashion, compiled by Inge de Leeuw for the 40th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Exhibition design is by Glamcult Studio.

The opening of Out of Fashion: Maastricht Edition will take place on Saturday 14 May at 5 p.m.

Fringe programme Out of Fashion: Maastricht Edition

Performance Painted Game

For the opening of Out of Fashion at NAiM/Bureau Europa there will be a performance by Painted, a designers' collective led by Saskia van Drimmelen and Margreet Sweerts. For this performance, Painted has collaborated with actors from the Toneelacademie Maastricht.

Saturday 14 May, 5 p.m.

Film screening Pyuupiru

Matsunaga Daishi made an intimate portrait of his friend Pyuupiru, a visual artist whose body forms the core of his work. Pyuupiru underwent a drastic gender operation. At the Out of Fashion exhibition at the NAiM/Bureau Europa, Pyuupiru will show five self-portraits.

The film is a must for everyone interested in art and fashion (93 minutes). For specific location and dates see www.bureau-europa.nl

The Perfect Cut in collaboration with Premsela, The Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion

Photographer Ari Versluis interviews Cassette Playa, i.e. English fashion designer Carri Munden.

Friday 27 May, 8 p.m. – apply for a place via kuijstermans@premsela.org

The Perfect Cut in collaboration with Premsela, The Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion Photographer Ari Versluis interviews the American fashion photographer Michael James O’Brien.

Friday 10 June, 5.30 p.m. – apply for a place via kuijstermans@premsela.org

Out of Fashion workshops in collaboration with Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht

In June, as part of Out of Fashion, two workshops will take place for students at the Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht about the interaction between fashion and film. The workshops will be led by Romy Tielman and Niek Pullens.

For precise dates see www.bureau-europa.nl

Kiki Niesten Window Out of Fashion

As part of Out of Fashion, Kiki Niesten will create an Out of Fashion window display.

NAiM/Bureau Europa

Avenue Céramique 226

6221 KX Maastricht

www.bureau-europa.nl

Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.