„Νύχτες πρεμιέρας/Athens Int. Filmfestival”“ kindly asked me to design and create the new Trailer/Opener for their 30th edition.
new AIFF – TRAILER/OPENER (text)
The new Trailer/Opener of “Νύχτες πρεμιέρας/AIFF” draws upon primordial sensations in it conception as in its materialisation.
Scraps of light fall from above into the darkness of the subconscious. The hint of an idea, the beginning of all creativity, and the start of an event, an adventure. We are invited to follow the play of light. The first abstract idea, refracted in the granular, atomic, prismatic materiality, begins to take on forms and movements in which particles of light perform a timeless and endless ritual. In a sequence of unforeseen encounters, something becomes visible and tangible. The source of the vibrating rays of light suggests the abstraction of the film projector. We follow the rays, accompany them, because they can create all worlds.
This Trailer/Opener wants to lead us back to the archetypal cinema experience, which is older than cinema itself, before each film of the festival. An attempt to bring us, even if it’s just for 40 seconds, back to the very human capacity to see something or nothing in a simple play of mere light. And in parallel, this can also be linked to the idea of the festival, where individuals, groups or atoms come and go, find each other, unite for moments and are exposed to the diverse stories that are played out between darkness and light.
The making of this Trailer/Opener for “Νύχτες πρεμιέρας/AIFF” was in itself also a collective ritual in which atoms from different backgrounds came together:
Uli M Schueppel in close collaboration with Typical Organization (Joshua Olsthoorn & Kostas Vlachakis) & Lamda (Music/Pantelis Nikiforos), with support from Dolce films (Theofanis Dalezios), Cosmo Schueppel & Yanis Zagorianakos – as well as the help and inspiration of many others.
Athina, Sept. 24, 2024
