Film project exploring cultural differences between art and young artists in Berlin and Reykjavík Erasmus Project

Project Title

Film project exploring cultural differences between art and young artists in Berlin and Reykjavík

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

Berlin and Reykjavik are both ‘up and coming’ cities, with strong art scenes which are especially inclusive of young people. We believed it was important to document the development of today’s artistic movement and how it is affected by globalization in the two cities. We united young people with mixed national backgrounds all currently living in either Berlin or Reykjavik to learn skills from each other to produce a documentary film from scratch. Our main objectives were to explore cultural differences and similarities between artistic communities within these two cities and put young, up and coming artists and their projects in the spotlight. Our team comprised of nine young people in total – including three film makers/technicians, two artists, a gallery owner, an anthropologist, two journalists and a photographer. We learned from each other’s disciplines to widen each of our skill sets, while together learning how to make a film (from concept to end promotion/distribution) and more about the cultural movement of artists in Europe. We assigned responsibilities for all participants, in addition we assigned administrative roles to ensure tasks were completed on time and on budget. The administration had transnational meetings in both cities. Group members kept in touch via face to face meetings, online video meetings and an online discussion forum. In addition the Icelandic group visited the Berlin group for about a week and vice versa. In support of our objectives, we held a series of different workshops for participants. The workshops held in Berlin concentrated on pre-production, production and filming. The workshops held in Reykjavik concentrated on post-production, publicity, the screening and exhibition events. The added value of these workshops included skill sharing, exchange of views, perspectives and cultural knowledge and as well the the possibilities available when working transnationally in a globalized world. We also filmed together for a total of 10 days (five in Berlin and five in Reykjavik). Those participating in the project learned several new skills from the other members and put their new learning into practice during film production and post production. Given each participants’ background and aspirations, we expect these new skills to benefit them in regards to their future careers and future projects. In the end a trailer, webpage with blog posts on each interviewee, social media profiles and a pamphlet were created to publicise the film and screenings. The documentary was produced and screened at two events in Berlin and Reykjavik, attended by all participants and shown to the wider community in both cities. An exhibition featuring work from the artist interviewees in the film was also put together and there the film was also shown. This remained available for a month after the initial screening events. We have since been invited to screen the film at art initiatives in Sweden, Tel Aviv and Poland. The film is now online for anyone to view for free. We are still promoting the online version of the film on social media and we aim to get 2,000 unique views of the film online. Those who saw the finished film viewed a feature on art and young artists in Berlin and Reykjavik, perhaps inspiring them to become more involved with the developing movements or to undertake similar film projects as the one we completed. We hope that the film might also go towards changing entrenched perspectives of the young people’s art scene and build bridges between young artists, the established art scene and the wider community.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 24200 Eur

Project Coordinator

Reykjavik film group & Country: IS

Project Partners

• Berlin film group