[spectre] 10th Aniversary of Videomedeja, Novi Sad

[Nina Czegledy]

In such a dense fog, that all flights were cancelled
for a couple days at the Belgrade airport, the
10th Aniversary of Videomedeja was happily celebrated
between 15-17th December, 2006, in the city of Novi Sad,
Serbia. The contrary conditions evoked (perhaps in a different
way) the turbulent past of this region including the capricious
history of the festival. Consequently the plain festival announcement
followed by a successful event is very meaningful for a long time
afficionada of Videomedeja, simply because the survival of this
independent festival  (among the thousands of festivals),  -is a miracle.
In addition, it is to be celebrated that this 10th edition of Videomedeja,
has received 800 submissions from 40 countries!

According to the jury mebers, Alexander Davic, Dragan
Zivancevic and Ivana Srencevic, the quality of the current submissions
were very high, consequently they had to make difficult decisions.
This professional excellence was evident both concerning
content and technological standards. In response to my
inquiry re the topics and type of submissions, I have been told that
they have received improved productions with a socio-political
content than previously, and several well-produced animations.

In Novi Sad, a city where (according to a local advertisement)
the "dwellers are characterized by a broad Pannonian
soul, they are as calm as the Danube waves, hospitable to
every well intentioned guest, willing to give a friendly hand"
Ivana Srencevic the festival director and her team completed a great
job of festival production. The public success was markedly palpable at
the opening night at the Muzej Vojvodine. Despite the impediments of
the weather outside and the heating problems inside, the place was
buzzing with a large and youthful audience. The festival also received
great media attention, both in the print-press and on TV. "I gave seven
TV interviews today, including National Television, etc" - Ivana
told me.  Altogether over the three days, 51 single channel works,
8  installations/performances and 8 net/ software projects were shown.
The program included a retrospective selection of past works shown previously
at the festival, as well as a  variety of other selections including 
"Made in Serbia"
a compilation of  recent works.

Due to flight cancellations Kathrin Becker never made it to Novi Sad
with her Contemporary Video Art from Berlin selection, however
everybody is eagerly waiting for the program next year - because
Videomedeja is alive and is planning its future.

nina czegledy