"THE IMAGE THAT GAZES AT US"
Filmmaking and collaborative exploration with Kumjana Novakova
May 07 - 09, 2025
This workshop is designed for visual artists and filmmakers who are interested in research-based and non-linear practices. This workshop is especially suited for filmmakers and artists working with still imagery (still photography, text as image, typography) and archive materials.
"The Image That Gazes at Us" is a collaborative and experimental film workshop that reimagines the filmmaking process by centering it around a single image. Together, we will challenge the notion of conventional cinematic thinking by introducing the possibility that each film can be seen in one image.
Through creative exercises that disrupt and enrich individual processes, we will collectively unearth the essence of each film project—beginning with one image. Envisioned as an open conversation, the workshop encourages participants to discover the core of their films. By identifying this core, we can then imagine the diverse spaces the film might inhabit, and expand from the first image to others.
Artists may be working with a new film project or a work-in-progress. Projects at all stages of development are welcome. Filmmakers will enter the workshop by sharing the one image, original or archival, that they feel is at the core of their film: the image that might hold the heartbeat of the film to be.
Dates: May 7 - 9, 2025 (2.5 days beginning with lunch on May 7)
Max participants: 8
Tuition fee: 45.000 ISK (Includes lunches.)
Additional Information
Out-of-town participants are encouraged to arrive on Wednesday, May 7 in the morning and depart on Saturday or Sunday. There will be free screenings and events as part of Ljósmyndadagar á Seyðisfirði on the evenings of May 7 & 8.
Participants may take advantage of the discounted rate on private rooms at Hafaldan Harbour Hostel. Rooms at the preferred rate are available for the duration of the festival (until May 10.)
KUMJANA NOVAKOVA is a research-based filmmaker born in Yugoslavia, also working as film-curator and lecturer. Kumjana’s research explores relationships related to power, war, memories and resistance. Her work has been presented at numerous festivals and venues, including Tate Modern, MoMA, Museum of the Moving Image, IDFA, Cinema du Reel, Punto de Vista, HotDocs and Icedocs among others.
“The question is rather how to ascertain, each and every time - in each image - what exactly the hand has done, in which way and to which purpose the manipulation took place. We use our hands for better or for worse, we strike or stroke, build or break, give or take. We should, in front of each image, ask ourselves the question of how it gazes (at us), how it thinks (us) and how it touches (us) at the same time.”
How to Open Your Eyes, Georges Didi – Huberman