INTRODUCTION: FeKK - #2!
In music, there is the curse of the second album; in cinema, a newcomer director will often make a great debut film and then fail at the next one; even at the universities, they talk of a sophomore slump. Luckily, as far as film festivals go, a similar phenomenon is not often heard about – and I am pleased to confirm that the Kraken short film festival – FeKK this year is, if anything, even bolder, even cheekier, even funnier, even more relevant, has even more friends and is making itself heard even louder than before – but still, it is no more caught in the (domestic) institutional modus operandi of the production of film and other cultural events. Some things, unfortunately, remain unchanged – especially the (almost) unpaid yearly labour of the festival team and volunteers and a lack of proper support from public institutions that should be supporting this kind of projects. It’s a story not unfamiliar to film festivals in their first years of existence (at least in the region), but that doesn’t mean it’s something we should settle for. The introductory texts reveal a similar story in the production of short films itself; in addition to difficulties with finding funding and proper distribution, the filmmakers, producers, programmers, curators and critics of short films have to deal with the issue of legitimacy and autonomy of the art form they work with: again and again, several of them write about the condescending way in which short films are treated within the culture and media industries and its ghettoisation to film festivals and art galleries, which are less easily accessible to the general public. This would be a good moment to thank the contributors, my dear friends Agustín Acevedo Kanopa, Ioana Florescu, Delphine Jeanneret, Andraž Jerič, Michael Pattison, Vladan Petković and Julian Ross, whose kindness and selfless help made the festival catalogue as it is possible. Thanks to Matej Bandelj and Neža Grum for offering their help with the (sometimes monotonous) editing of the materials and making it fun, and to Neža Vilhelm for helping out with the translations. And finally – thanks to the members of the Kraken society and some of my dearest friends, for wanting me to edit the festival catalogue for the second time. Here’s to many more years to come!
Tina Poglajen