The Argentinean curator, artist, critic and professor recollects the lively controversies and debates pertaining to video production in the 80s, during the Festival’s early years. He discusses the rivalry between video art (which claimed radicality) and the other video genres, which peaked during Brazil’s transition to democracy. He comments on the event’s conceptual development, from its focus on Southern hemisphere production to our days, where the notions of contemporary art and geopolitical South prevail. He discusses seminal editions, such as the 2007 edition, which featured Mario Peixoto’s film Limite, a landmark of Latin American production, and the important debate between Peter Greenaway and Jean-Paul Fargier. He recalls his first encounter with Solange Farkas – now the director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil – during Manifestation Internationale de Vidéo et Télévision de Montbéliard, in 1990, when he also met the Brazilian artists Eder Santos, Sandra Kogut and Marcelo Masagão. He also comments on the Festival’s longevity, which he ascribes to the fostering of activities that transcend the event itself.
- More about Jorge La Ferla in Collection