Interest group yields experimental films

Last Saturday afternoon about 20 people gathered at CNEX Salon Cafe to mess up strips of film.

After a preliminary lecture by Belgian artist-in-residence Reinnart Vanhoe on found footage films and the godfather of experimental films, Stan Brakhage, who used scratching extensively in his work equipped with an arsenal of exacto knives, razors, paints, inks and markers, they went to the bins to find strips of old 8-mm film purchased at Panjiayuan market.

The recycled film workshop, called Scratch, was held by a Beijing film group, Electric Shadows (ES) and founded by Vicky Mohieddeen, a cheerful and retro-stylish 27-year-old filmmaker from the UK.