MIEFF was established in 2016 with a strong aspiration to create a new cultural institution that would provide a presentable and close look at a wide range of experimental practices with the moving image. This approach allows to pay exclusive and thorough attention to the talents that might have previously been overlooked by the vast number of conventional film festivals which only spare a small corner for experimental categories within their programmes.
Our priority here is to showcase the best and most interesting works, hopefully giving gifted artists and filmmakers from around the world an opportunity to show their talent from all sides and allowing the audience to have a breath of fresh air over the running days of our festival. Our mission is also to create fruitful links within contemporary art and cinematic spheres and to highlight cultural areas of immediate interest.
We choose films that allow us to focus on unconventional ways of working with the audience, breaking its patterns of filmic perception and providing extraordinary filmic experience. So whether you are an emerging author or an established experienced professional – we would like to encourage you to submit if you do practise pushing the boundaries within the field of moving image.
The 5th anniversary edition of Moscow International Experimental Film Festival will take place in 2020 in Moscow and feature an international competition programme, retrospectives of world-famous filmmakers, special screenings, Q&A's, lectures and audio-visual performances. It will be an international showcase platform welcoming up-and-coming as well as experienced filmmakers from around the world and facilitating interdisciplinary dialogue within the world of the moving image.
The 4th Moscow International Experimental Film Festival happened in July 2019 and ran for 5 days in the most important cultural venues of Moscow: Illusion Cinema Theater, Stanislavsky Electrotheatre, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Richer Hotel and Dom Kino.
In 2019 the festival hosted Russian premiers of Tsai Ming-liang, Rachel Maclean and Makino Takashi among others. Moreover, as an opening film, festival showed a world premiere of AIDOL by artist and filmmaker Lawrence Lek. We held a programme of underground film pioneer Bruce Conner and two-parted retrospective screening of American avant-garde filmmakers such as Maya Deren, Michael Snow and Stan Brakhage on 16-mm film. Our competition programme featured 33 short films from 20 countries, including United Kingdom, Argentina, Thailand, France and Portugal.
In addition to film screenings, the program included an analogue film workshop, lectures, performances, artist-talks and an experimental music program.
Our jury comprises of people whose opinion is valid in a nowadays era of such varied backgrounds as contemporary art, experimental film, contemporary theatre and dance, both invited foreign guests and Russian connoisseurs. Their presence and attention will bring a wider range of audience and will offer professional and caring feedback during the course of our festival in the context of each of their representative specialised backgrounds.
* Main Award
* Special Jury Prize
* Kodak Film Prize: 20 rolls of ECN 16 400 ft film stock