*To read the 14th Cine Esquema Novo Catalogue, click here

An audiovisual festival consists, first of all, of audiovisual works, and an audience to watch them. Until a few years ago, all the thousands of festivals held around the world took place in person in the cinema theaters, exhibition spaces, auditoriums, on improvised outdoor screens, as well as many other unusual spaces. But since the beginning of 2020, events have had to reinvent themselves and adapt to the reality imposed by the pandemic: the impossibility of agglomerations.

Fortunately, online movie viewing technology has evolved a lot in recent years and streaming has allowed many festivals to be held remotely while the world awaits the end of the pandemic. The audience that was previously limited to the number of seats available in the cinema theater now only depends on an internet connection and a device to access it.

Although it is not possible to explore the dialogue of the selected works with the theater, art galleries or public spaces, the organization of the 14th Cine Esquema Novo - Brazilian Audiovisual Art was not satisfied to only make available a selection of works on its website so that the public could click on “play”, watch them, and then leave for the next video platform available on their mobile or Smart TV. In its quest to be always providing new experiences for its audience, the Mostra Competitiva Brasil session has expanded into the Artist's Notebooks: a space to immerse oneself in the creative universe of the directors of the selected works. 

From an invitation from the organization and built in partnership with the directors of each of the works selected for the competitive session Mostra Competitiva Brasil, the 31 artists' notebooks go far beyond the works themselves. Thanks to the generosity of these various artists, who have opened their personal archives, their notebooks and their hard drives, the audience will be able to enter these real “wormholes”. In addition to watching the film, one can spend hours jumping from one reference to another, from an interview to a review, from a poem to a playlist with the songs that served as inspiration for the writing of the script, from the script itself to photos taken during the research for the film. And after this dive into these very particular universes, it is still possible to watch a work invited by the director himself to dialogue with his own. The Notebooks have come to stay, so much so that their content, except for the films, will continue to be available on our website.

Cine Esquema Novo does so in all its editions: it also proposes other special programs, like Mostra Outros Esquemas, Mostra Artista Convidado Welket Bungué [Guest Artist Session - Welket Bungué] and Projeções Urbanas de Slam [Slam Urban Projections], providing the audience with other audiovisual experiences; activities to feed the brain, such as the seminar Seminário Pensar a Imagem ["Thinking about Image" seminar], and debates on the works in competition; as well as workshops, all in the search to offer a program that also permeates thought and audiovisual training.

Therefore, do not waste any time, as you've only got six days to lose yourself.

Jaqueline Beltrame, Ramiro Azevedo, Gustavo Spolidoro and Alisson Ávila