FILM at 7pm
SCREENING OF THE DOCUMENTARY «STEAL THIS FILM II» WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE FILMMAKERS
A TALK: FROM CONSUMERS TO PRODUSERS: WHO WILL KILL WHO? At 8pm
(Sala Conservas, C/ Sant Pau 58, ground floor, 08001 Barcelona. Metro: Liceu)
(see Alan Toner & Pirate Cinema in the Oxcar Awards Ceremony section)
Documentary screening:
Steal this film II (documentary): From the league of noble peers (alan toner, jamie king, jan gerber, luca lucarini, sebastien lutgert). The first part of this documentary recorded over 3 million downloads on the Internet. This second part doesn’t talk about sharing films and music. It talks about free access to culture, the shrinking costs of distribution and the right to make copies and changes. Also about direct contact between creators and audiences. Essential factors for the creation of a free culture.
Steal this film II is an attempt to come to terms with intellectual property, a creative way of thinking about the future of copying and changes in the distribution of culture. In this case, you can’t say sequels are never any good.
Steal this Film is only distributed through file sharing (P2P) networks.
It will be screened at Sala Conservas on October 30.
Talk: From Consumers to Produsers, or Ceci Tuera Cela?
«And opening the window of his cell he pointed out with
his finger the immense church of Notre-Dame, which, outlining
against the starry sky the black silhouette of its two towers,
its stone flanks, its monstrous haunches, seemed an enormous
two-headed sphinx, seated in the middle of the city.
The archdeacon gazed at the gigantic edifice for some time
in silence, then extending his right hand, with a sigh, towards
the printed book which lay open on the table, and his left
towards Notre-Dame, and turning a sad glance from the book
to the church,–«Alas,» he said, «this will kill that.»‘
– Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The film industry has historically been controlled through strangleholds over the three basic levels of its commercial circuit: production, exhibition and distribution. This control has shaped the audiovisual environment of today.
Technological change has eroded control at all of these three levels. Film and editing equipment is now a mass market commodity whose price is being steadily driven down. Digital projectors are now cheap and commonplace. High speed data networks provide full global broadcast range at a price fast nearing rock bottom.
The power of the film industry now lies in its greater capacity to shape viewers habits through advertising, and their ownership of the underlying copyrights in the films, both as products in their own right, and as raw materials for works to come. This is the context of the hysterical war against piracy. Once equipped with the tools described above, consumers cease to be clients and become competitors and consequently, enemies.
This presentation is dedicated to the tools available to assist consumers in becoming produsers in the field of production, distribution and exhibition, and proposes a discussion as to whether Hugo’s prognosis, regarding the death of architectural supremacy at the hands of the printing machine, is applicable to developments around the studio system.
Participants:
www.piratecinema.org
http://knowfuture.wordpress.com
http://www.stealthisfilm.com/Part2/
ALSO ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 30, 8pm **
Presentation of the book “New Thing” and discussion with its author Wu Ming 1, followed by a jam session.
** ** at Ateneu Candela: C/ Sant Gaietà 73, Terrassa, Área Metropolitana BCN
Activity organised by por el Ateneu Candela [ateneucandela.org]
