Welcome to exground filmfest 25!
"Exground on screen – appetite for films beyond cinema and TV. A new
series of events for, by and in Wiesbaden. Appetite for seeing and
discovering. Films and videos of diverse styles, directions and
ambitions. Underground meets art, good taste meets trash, technical
proficiency meets actionism. Time for something new in the spa
metropolis. The state of u-art: in the most diverse programs all
important filmmakers get a say, who have formed New York underground-
and independent film over the past five, six years – Richard Kern, Lydia
Lunch, Nick Zedd, Michael Wolfe, Lung Leg, Cassandra Stark, Tommy
Turner, Joe Coleman and all the others. The most important works from
the US and Europe."
These were the first sentences in the program of the very first exground
filmfest (back then still exground on screen), which took place April,
19–22, 1990. In 1989, six cineasts – three of them still on board today – founded the association Wiesbadener Kinofestival e. V., aimed at
organizing a film festival for avantgarde- and underground productions
in Wiesbaden. In the beginning two times a year on four days in one
location. And we kept it up, albeit financially tough times and radical
changes in the film- and cinema-landscape. The term "art-house" didn’t
exist back then. The age of digital cinema was still far away. Since
1990 more than 250,000 people have attended the exground filmfest
events. Directors, who would later on receive the German Film Award like
Oskar Roehler and Academy Award-winner Les Bernstien presented their
films in Wiesbaden. Many films of internationally renowned directors and
actresses/actors had their German or European premiere in Wiesbaden,
among them Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson, Wong Kar-Wai, Tim Burton
and Tommy Lee Jones.
In 2012, we screen in, as for some years now, three permanent locations – and on top of that offer different events in other places like
KunstHaus and Schlachthof. By now the festival for ten days screens
films from all over the world, among them numerous discoveries as well
as underground- and independent productions. We celebrate our 25th
jubilee with a series of Festival Highlights.
A few more figures to illustrate the work of the past months: this year
we received more than 3,000 film entries from 80 countries, from Albania
to Zimbabwe – 20 % more than in 2011. All these films have to be watched
in endless hours.
We selected 250 productions from 37 countries for this year’s festival
program, among them 17 world premieres, 2 international premieres, 8
European premieres and 47 German premieres. All of them have to be
ordered and scheduled, also texts need to be written, material like
photos, trailers, posters and press-kits need to be requested. The
copies have to be ordered, all films get checked prior to screening and
need to be in the right place at the right time. Guests get invited and
attended to while here. Press and visitors get information on the
festival – in a program-guide, in the bilingual festival catalogue, on
our website and – for the first time – also on the exground-app. The
festival will be visible on numerous posters in Wiesbaden and the
Rhein-Main area, in and on busses of the ESWE transport association,
with the festival trailer in cinemas in the Rhein-Main region and, our
news this year, on wrappings in bookstores, organic food stores and others.
In order to get all this done, we need a large and (still) unpaid team,
supported by external colleagues, trainees and during the festival by
more than 100 helpers. Our thanks go to all those, who contribute to
making exground filmfest 25 possible!
Our heartfelt thanks also goes to all supporters, sponsors, partners and
friends of the festival, whose financial support enabled us to organize
exground filmfest 25 in the first place.