INTRO

‘This program proved that Vertical Cinema is a viable art form in itself. It has its own grammar, and must be lauded for the same. It requires different approaches and ideas from artists, be they writers, directors or photographers. It justifies these impositions by providing different payoffs, and achieving some effects with more intensity than horizontal cinema may be able to.
Till then, one can only hope this project travels further and is screened for more people. If nothing else, it deserves a chance to stimulate debate.’


- Laya Maheshwari, journalist and film critic in filmmakermagazine.com

Vertical Cinema is a series of fourteen commissioned large-scale, site-specific works by internationally renowned experimental filmmakers and audiovisual artists, which are presented on 35 mm celluloid and projected vertically with a custom-built projector in vertical cinemascope. The programme premiered in 2013 and has since been screened at museums and festivals around the globe.

The fourteen experimental films made by Tina Frank (AT), Björn Kämmerer (DE/AT), Manuel Knapp (AT), Johann Lurf (AT), Joost Rekveld (NL), Rosa Menkman (NL), Billy Roisz (AT) & Dieter Kovačič (AT), Makino Takashi (JP) & Telcosystems (NL), Esther Urlus (NL), Martijn van Boven (NL) & Gert-Jan Prins (NL), Susan Schuppli (UK), Lukas Marxt (AT), HC Gilje (NO), BJ Nilsen (SE) & Karl Lemieux (CA) are screened live on a vertical monument. They are a unique blend of abstract cinema, structural experiments, found footage remixes, chemical film explorations and live laser action. The artists offer their view of ‘vertical axis art’, and the results of this challenging commission are fascinating.