As the use of digital media in filmmaking has become more widespread, it is becoming harder to define what a digital film is. The school of Dogme95, led by Danish director Lars von Trier, has been making use of handheld digital video cameras to create simple but poignient, in-your-face, films. George Lucas, at the other extreme in terms of production cost, used the digital film format in the making of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. From small-budget art films to blockbuster movies, digital media is creating plenty of new potential for filmmakers.
Digital Vision: An Invisible Force (
Like previous POP Cinema events, the festival will first take place at SPOT -- Taipei Film House (
In recent years many major film festivals around the world have begun establishing digital film sections. The Rotterdam International Film Festival in Holland, the Jeonju International Film Festival in Korea, the Hong Kong Film Festival and Taipei's Golden Horse Film Festival, have all opened categories for digital film. Even in Cannes, special screenings of digital films began three years ago. The nine international films in Digital Vision have been selected from entries at these film festivals.
The must-see film, and also the closing film of the festival is The Russian Ark by Russian director Alexander Sokurov. The fantastic, grand period drama is a revolutionary filmmaking achievement -- a 90-minute film with different scenes and time periods all shot in a single take. Such an acheivement could only have been attempted with a digital camera.
Slightly bizarre is the best way to describe the story of The Russian Ark. It is an adventure story about a contemporary film producer who magically finds himself in the St. Petersburg of the early 1700s. He meets a French diplomat from the 19th century and the two men go on a time-traveling journey through Russia's turbulent past. The Marquis and the filmmaker see a panorama of the Tsarist empire: Peter the Great thrashes his general with a whip, Catherine the Great rushes around looking for a place to relieve herself, the family of the last Tsar dine together, and hundreds of dancers waltz at the last Great Royal Ball of 1913.
Director Sokurov originally wanted to use 35mm film to accomplish the one-shot movie, but a 35mm film camera weights around 20kg, making the longest handheld shot about 15 minutes, even for the strongest photographer.
Sokurov had to resort to a digital camera to solve the problem with the photographer, as well as the problem with the length of the tape. The man who handles the camera in The Russian Ark is steadicam operator Tilman Buttner of Run Lola Run fame, who completed the running scenes of that movie by running along with the actress, creating a magical, fluid sequence.
Welcome to Destination Shanghai (
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