Experimental Film Society

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Experimental Film Society
Company typeNonprofit organization
Founded2000, Tehran, Iran
FounderRouzbeh Rashidi
ServicesFilm production, film distribution, video-on-demand service
Websiteexperimentalfilmsociety.com

Experimental Film Society is an Ireland-based film production, distribution and video on demand company specialising in experimental film.[1] It has produced over 50 feature films and 500 shorts, organised more than 150 screenings globally and has a film festival called Luminous Void: Experimental Film Festival.[2][3]

History[edit]

Founded by Rouzbeh Rashidi, the Experimental Film Society originated in 2000 in Tehran, Iran, and expanded to Dublin in 2004.[4] Initially, it was a member-based not-for-profit film collective specialising in avant-garde, experimental and low-budget filmmaking.[5] After accepting new international members, it emphasised film archiving, restoration and programming by underground filmmakers.[6] By 2011, it had initiated screenings, performances and talks worldwide. In 2017, it officially became a production and distribution company facilitating professionally funded projects. It celebrated its 20-year anniversary in 2020.[7] The group was once called "the most active, prolific and intrepid group of experimental filmmakers working in Ireland today".[8]

Publications[edit]

The book cover of Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society

Luminous Void: Experimental Film Society Documents[edit]

Luminous Void: Experimental Film Society Documents was published in 2017. The book, as suggested in the name, chronicles the history of modern underground cinema by assembling a series of writings, interviews and manifestos that examine the concepts that arise from EFS filmmaking.[9]

Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society[edit]

In December 2020, Experimental Film Society Publications published Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society, edited by Rouzbeh Rashidi, Atoosa Pour Hosseini and Maximilian Le Cain. It comments on the activities during 20 years of EFS from an external viewpoint, focusing more on criticism of the group's filmography and essays on film theory.[10]

References[edit]

Maximilian Le Cain and Rouzbeh Rashidi at the Luminous Void Exhibition, 2015
  1. ^ O'Donoghue, Patrick (2019-04-24). "Speaking with: Experimental Film Society". The University Times. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  2. ^ Abbatescianni, Davide (July 28, 2018). "The Experimental Film Society: developing production and distribution model for young Irish independent filmmakers". Radical Film Network Conference: 3.
  3. ^ Finnan, Sean (November 28, 2018). "Experimental Film Finds a Home in Ireland". Dublin Inquirer. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  4. ^ Utkarsh (May 14, 2020). "Filmmaker Rouzbeh Rashidi on developing a platform for alternative cinema". STIRworld. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  5. ^ Brodie, Patrick (2016). "Deterritorialising Irish Cinema". Nordic Irish Studies. 15 (2): 79–96. ISSN 1602-124X.
  6. ^ "The Films of Experimental Film Society". aemi. May 2, 2016. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  7. ^ "Project Arts Centre presents Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society |". Flash Art. December 21, 2020. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  8. ^ Artists' and Experimental Moving Image, (aemi) (2020). "Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society". Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  9. ^ Flynn, Roddy; Tracy, Tony (2019). Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts: Historical Dictionary of Irish Cinema (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 188. ISBN 9781538119587.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Book Launch - Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society". Project Arts Centre. 2020. Retrieved 2022-06-17.