FERA President Bill Anderson at two panels at Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt
22 April 2024
The 17th Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt International ran from 16 to 21 April this year, and included in its programme the 4th Congress Future German Cinema which offered panel discussions on various subjects, of interest to industry stakeholders. FERA Executive Committee Chair Bill Anderson participated in two of them: “Europe Before The Elections” and “AI: Hollywood Goes on Strike – Europe Remains Silent”.
The first panel explored what the audiovisual sector can expect from the upcoming European elections in June and the subsequent reshuffling of European institutions. Moderated by Michael Hack, the discussion also featured Juliette Prissard, the Managing Director of Eurocinema, and the Spanish Film and TV consultant Julio Talavera.
FERA Chair Bill Anderson stressed the vital importance of storytelling in promoting human connection and understanding in the face of increasing political extremism and intolerance: “As directors and citizens we try to make sense of the world as we find it in order to live better with our fellow human beings in the immediate present. But some political forces do the precise opposite: they seek to disconnect us from each other by emphasising, even weaponising the return of some mythical lost past or the promise of some utopian future – distracting us from the lives we actually live. Unlike social media, stories can unsettle as well as reinforce our values, burst our bubbles and introduce us to strangers we discover we can connect with: strangers who surprisingly understand us, strangers we need no longer fear.”
The second roundtable discussion focused on the future of screenwriters, actors, directors and producers in the AI era and a possible reaction of the European film scene. Moderated by Israelian future critic and curator Uri Aviv, the panel also featured producer-director-writer Nira Bozkurt, Kazimierz Suwała, the director of Camerimage festival.
Both Bill Anderson and Kazimierz Suwała stressed that they consider AI as a useful tool for filmmakers, but which cannot replace human creativity and resourcefulness.
Bill Anderson added: “Artificial Intelligence is brilliant at recognising the stories we liked in the past. Our historic appetites, our former choices, our previous purchases. And Generative AI learns from this data to mimic stories that recognise who we WERE, very recently. But all of us yearn to be understood by stories that show us paths into our futures – paths freshly trodden by fellow human beings who earn our trust as together we journey into the unknown. We want to be understood by stories not just recognised. To be intimately understood is the basis of being loved – that is the human connection we all yearn for: are you satisfied to be recognised by your friends, families and partner? Or do you hope to be understood by them? Generative AI cannot understand your hope, merely recognise it.”
LINKS:
– Panel discussion: Europe Before the Elections Replay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbS4WBthA8
– Panel discussion: AI: Hollywood Goes on Strike – Europe Remains Silent Replay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY1o26hvphk
– Congress Future German Cinema: Full programme Replay:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgLHttL5pLUsdln3DtcLytw