Eleni Kamma, Casting Call: Parade Agora
Production meeting

Production meeting 27 April 2020
Present: Eleni Kamma, Ece Era, Jesse van Winden (through Skype)

Funds No answer from Filmfonds NL yet, neither from GSARA No interest in VG project Perhaps: post-production (incl some extra shooting/voice-over writing & recording) VAF 15 June or December?

Agora Parade Eleni: Preparations with various practicioners along VG Beurs. Couldn't corona be an element in terms of form and content? Shouldn't it? Many discussions in general in the arts now are about Corona of course, and it's interesting to see that much of this is about the interplay between individuality and collectivity. In ZOOM etc, visually this becomes really obvious. Different images, different voices, different colours...Everyone follows eachother's thoughts and adds to it. Record the collective thinking, follow and retrace it.
Changed perception and transformation of senses (for instance, no more smell as a symptom; no more physical vicinity), changed perception of the world.
Also, one of the first public events that will be happening again...First moment of assembling togetter physically, to discuss collectivity, indiviudality, social thematics, and ways of relating to interlocutors - it would be weird to not address corona.

How we connect ? How we relate to eachother? Corona reality as a metaphor. As a laboratory. Necessity of coming together proves to be a necessity.
First 'debrief', what the hell happened, who does it feel/work to be together now?

Technical team 9 & 10 September Laszlo confirmed, Vincent P didn't answer. -> Jesse calls him.

Texts & audio-visual material __Discussed before Ece joined, added later: different people think the Maastricht material (maybe Casting Call audiovisual material in general) would benefit from a voiceover, or something else to give a sense of who/what/why the different characters are, link them and the various episodes somehow. Now, they are various episodes which especially make sense when one knows the overall project.
-Performance with bookshopkeeper works very well.
-Migratie could have been shot very well, during these corona days. Ece was feeling very tense while watching (sound effects, droney, even if subtle). Ece uses Premiere Pro. These are large files (20gb), how can they be sent? -> Ece & Eleni look for ways to send How to coordinate this in terms of timing? Total internship: 23 or 34 days... Let's count on 14 days total for now. How about 5 days total to watch & edit the existing footage. -> Ece shares some existing work

Wandering Arts Biennial meeting tonight 19h
About how we will make our public events 'Corona proof'

Production meeting 20 April 2020
Present: Eleni Kamma, Ece Era, Jesse van Winden (through Skype)

To do's: -Eleni shares existing footage -Ece shares existing work that could be relevant to the project -Jesse shares existing texts on the project. -Jesse contacts technical team Vincent Pinckaers & Laszlo Umbreit to confirm for 9 and 10 September (done)

Report: Introduction Eleni
PiST residency in Istanbul: right at the moment of Gezi protests. Changed my life. Came to research karagöz: different voices to express and represent the people. Coexisting of different languages. Protests: humoristic ways. Ece was there, too.

Introduction Ece
French highschool in Istanbul, college & film theory in NY (8 years in total). Then back to Istanbul: 'School of life' philosophy media platform. Filming events & producing videos. Interests: philosphy & cinema, what cinema can do in the context of big questions. KASK because educational system is different, more freedom. Artistic research. Channels creativity instead of theoretical approaches.
1st year internship + thesis. 2nd year graduation film.

Internship
Part Caveat, part Casting Call.
A lot of incertainties because of corona. Let's keep each other updates as well as possible of future plans. 23 or 34 days

Introduction on Casting Call
Eleni starts collaborations through skype
Ece thinks filming and editing are equally interesting.

Introduction on Parade Agora
Performance + discussion. 2 performers + a number of other participants who are themselves - but all of them are considered performers. Dramaturg: Shila Anaraki Moderator: Philippine Hoegen DOP: Vincent Pinckaers (to be confirmed)
Sound: Laszlo Umbreit (to be confirmed)
Event will be improvised on basis of a dramaturgy. Not only documentation. Could become a film. Film as a device registring as a testimony, how people collaboratively try to articulate. Capturing dynamics creating the image. Tests in Maastricht in November: all participants part of the film. How to create something good in only 2 days without preparing a lot.
Ece: more than 1 camera, hand-held with shoulder rag.
VP & LU aren't confirmed yet.
Ece: Lars von Trier 2 moving cameras, of which one is more moving, the other more zooming. Each camera has different focuses, the one more focuses on performers, one on spectators, etc. Smartphone camera images would be possibility. Sound is a challenge. How to give everyone the possibility to articulate themselves? Central theme of the project. Event stretches over entire day, filmic time 6-7 hours.
Lavalliere microphones? To be discussed with LU.

Concrete ideas for collaboration
Exchange existing material from both Eleni & Ece. Eleni: rushes from the past could be interesting material. Ece will send some previous work that could be relevant.

Jesse will share texts. Jesse will contact Vincent Pinckaers & Laszlo Umbreit to confirm.

Ece's present projects
Documentary exercise: 3 Turkish single moms in Antwerp, interaction with kids and work. Different individuals, challenging to create a unison. Master graduation film: in Turkey. Women who are passionate about stray animals. Who does their tensions relate to Istanbul tensions East-West, human & animal rights. Suggest perspectives on broader society. Usually improvised, writing script on basis of that.

Eleni: Summary- four positions of parrhesia in antiquity:

1. political boldness > against one (the sovereign) all (the assembly) bravery of speaking up, political actor, you want to change the things

2. Socrates irony > one on one // Truth questions and answer. Ignorance of question makers. Statements can be challenged. Happens in private. Cares for others by challenging them to take care of themselves.

3. Cynic scandal (of antiquity) > as set up or situation, not as personal quality or constellation. Private in public. Performing. Breaking taboos. // Dare unlimited freedom of speech. Misconduct through laughter. Ironic anecdotes, schemas of conduct rather than through doctrines. Mode of lies and truth telling are linked to each other.

   Peculiar marginal position no possessions and obligations ridiculous surpassing what is good and what is bad

4. psychopedagogical method for teaching and helping one another in epicurean community. > a group together, students and teachers Garden of Epicureans

   all men, women, slaves

[Small note, between 2. and 3.:

Truth or Dare. Either you have to tell the truth or you are dared to do something. This is the difference between Socrates and Diogenes: there is some daring in finding and saying the truth (Socrates), but there is some truth in doing things (Diogenes). What is the medium of real truth finding—is it saying or doing? Truth or Dare connects both to the philosophical problem and to play.]