EUROPEAN MEDIA ART FESTIVAL OSNABRUECK 2011 - Emaf

Commentary is a clever game of deception
and commentary on a contemporary viewing
regime which has, for the most part, rarely
been dealt with in cinematography: As if in
an effective final point, Cambrinus promises
a version of the film without audio commentary
as a DVD extra. The remaining credits
are accompanied by the characteristic embarrassed
sighing that’s audible on DVD
soundtracks when the person doing the
commentary has nothing more to say.
(Christoph Huber)
Robert Cambrinus, *1965 in Vienna, Austria,
lives and works in London. 1987 University of
Economics, Vienna (Magister). 1990 Erasmus
Universität, Rotterdam (Diploma - European
Studies). 1992 MIT Sloan School, Cambridge
(Master of Science).1996 University of Economics,
Vienna (Doctorate). 2002 East 15 Acting
School, London (Diploma - Media Course).
›I was a business consultant, a director of an
industrial group, and the owner of a factory. In
2000 I gave up my business career to study
film acting. In 2002 I got my first acting job in
a BBC series and have been a working actor
ever since. In 2005 I made my first short film
as writer/director - a turning point. I had
found my medium to both express myself creatively
and retain control over the outcome.
Consequently, the relationship between the
author and his work plays a central role in my
films.‹
�A / GB 2009, Video, 15:00
�Director, script Robert Cambrinus
�Camera Cheung Jun Keung
�Editing Nathan Cubitt
�Distribution sixpackfilm
SATELLITE,
AS LONG AS IT IS AIMING AT THE SKY
Nasrin Tabatabai & Babak Afrassiabi
Wir betreten die Welt der iranischen Satelliten-Fernsehsender
in Los Angeles. Das Video informiert über Geographie, Gemeinschaft
und Politik in einem kritischen Zustand. Ursprünglich als
Exil-Fernsehen konzipiert, schaffen diese Sender ein televisuelles
Mikrouniversum, das ihre (kulturellen, geographischen
und politischen) Defizite kompensiert, indem sie ständig auf
ihre eigene Produktion und den eigenen Empfang hinweisen
und davon berichten. Diese ›Selbstvermittlung‹ erzeugt ein Gefühl
von Direktheit und ›vor Ort sein‹ bei den Sendern, was sich
zu Zeiten politischer und wirtschaftlicher Unruhen noch verstärkt.
Das Video zeigt diese Fernsehsender während der Wahlen
im Iran 2009. Die politische Krise im eigenen Land geht auch
an den Sendern nicht vorbei und beschreibt wiederum auch deren
eigene Krise.
We enter the Los Angeles-based Iranian satellite TV stations.
The video is a mediation of geography, community and politics
in a critical state. Initially exile television stations, they generate
a tele-visual micro universe that compensates for their (cultural,
geographical and political) deficits by constantly referring
to and commenting on its own production and reception. This
›self-mediation‹ produces a sense of immediacy and locality
across the TV stations, which increases at times of political and
economic upheaval. The video captures these TV stations during
the time of the 2009 elections in Iran. The political crisis at
home inevitably enters these stations and, in turn, articulates
the TV stations’ own crisis.
Nasrin Tabatabai and Babak Afrassiabi are artists based in the
city of Rotterdam; they work in both Iran and the Netherlands. In
addition to their individual artistic activities, they initiated a
long-term project called Pages in 2004. The Pages project is defined
through various activities, such as the publication of a
bilingual Farsi/English magazine, video and installation works
and architectural proposals.
�NL 2010, Video, 28:50
�Realisation Nasrin Tabatabai, Babak Afrassiabi
�Distribution Pages Project/Magazine
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