PAF Olomouc Presents Its 23rd edition

by Adela Lovric // Nov. 22, 2024

PAF Olomouc – Festival of Film, Animation and Contemporary Art returns for its 23rd edition from December 5th to 8th, 2024 to venues across Olomouc, Czechia. Over the course of four days, it will feature screenings, performances, exhibitions, concerts, DJ sets, workshops and a symposium.

With ‘Diaries’ as this year’s theme, the festival explores different forms of personal record-keeping, both with and without the aid of technology—such as typewriters, computers, smartphones, cameras, sound recorders and social media. The program delves into the multifaceted nature of diaries: as survival strategies, means of sharing, tools of emancipation, mnemonic devices, marketing strategies, sources of income, gossip channels, habit trackers, therapeutic outlets and ways to preserve history, among others.

Diego Marcon, ‘La Gola,’ 2024, film still // © Diego Marcon. Courtesy the artist; Sadie Coles HQ, London; Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York; Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève for BIM’24, Kunsthalle Wien and Kunstverein in Hamburg

A number of films and videos will have their Czech premiere, including works by Jeremy Deller, Hollis Frampton, Diego Marcon, Jonas Mekas, Ryan Trecartin and Amalia Ullman. Marie & Petr Šprincl’s ‘Satan Kingdom Babylon’ (2024) will preview with a detective story about a young girl’s disappearance, delving into conspiracy theories through narratives of hate groups in Trump’s America. Other highlights include a selection of films by Basim Magdy, whose surreal and humorous narratives explore the blurred boundaries of time and memory. Michelle Williams Gamaker, whose work critiques the fiction-making machine of 20th-century British and Hollywood studio films, will have two of her films in the screening program as well as a solo exhibition at the PAF Gallery.

Qow & Theo Alexander, live at MeetFactory, Prague, 2023 // Courtesy the artists

Honour, an anonymous artist whose work bridges Lagos, London and New York City, weaving a rich mosaic of blues, hip-hop, free jazz, gospel and Yoruba folklore, will debut a new live performance commissioned for the festival. Qow & Theo Alexander will perform ‘So Afraid to Show I Care’ (2024), a PAF-commissioned piece merging tape loop fragments, voice note poems and underwater organwork into sonic palimpsests. adO/Aptive, a collective that foments critical thinking, action, communication and Othernes, will host a workshop titled ‘PAST/POST,’ inviting participants to explore the journaling potential of social media through an exercise of collective speculation on desire.

Michelle Williams Gamaker: ‘Our Mountains are Painted on Glass,’ exhibition view, Dundee Contemporary Arts, 2024 // Courtesy the artist and DCA

This year’s edition also includes a group show at the XY Gallery, curated by A—Z (aka Anne Duffau) under the title ‘You Make Me Feel.’ The exhibition showcases moving image works by three artists⁠—Jeanie Crystal, Zein Majali and Emily Pope⁠—each relating to the festival theme of diaries and self-narratives. Crystal will present a new music video created with her band, Jeanie and The White Boys. Majali’s short, partly AI-generated videos reflect on the pervasive obsession with social media, while Pope’s work examines the life of an artist in the UK, the illusions and delusions of the political climate and the value of chosen family.

On December 6th and 7th, PAF Olomouc will host the second edition of ‘Can You Please Send Me a Link?,’ an international symposium featuring presentations and discussions on the current state and practices of the art of moving image, including film, video and digital games. Topics will include funding, curatorship, archiving, distribution and art production.