Slow Criticism 2012: Introduction

For this year’s edition of the Slow Criticism Project we have invented a game. It is called The Other Side(s) of the World and includes a lot of cinephile Wanderlust and cybernetic travel schedules. With the kind assistance of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (that made the films available trough a preview stream) we have assembled a dossier with reviews of most of the premieres in the Bright Future section.
Playing along were film critics from all over the world who embarked on a virtual journey to see a film that came from a country or film culture that was as far from their current location as possible. Or was it?
Of course there was a lot of unintentional cheating going on: The critic from Turkey happened to be living in Spain, the colleague from Brooklyn had just moved to Berlin, and others created their own time zones and antipodes. There were some delays, missed flights and people that disappeared from the radar all together. The Other Side(s) of the World serves as an alternative travel guide. Notions of cinema and travel, encounters with the familiar and the unknown, culture shocks and an uncanny sense of proximity, travelled over exploded railroads and impossible bridges, crossed the seas of time only to arrive at the endless shores of the mysterious and strange. We have collected some truly edgy and empathetic texts. They are living proof for the cinephile gift to be far away and close at the same time. Somehow it made this whole adventure an extremely personal and political one too. A critical need in these polarizing times.

Dana Linssen, editor in chief of de Filmkrant, checked in from Amsterdam and will travel to the International Film Festival Rotterdam by train.

See all Slow Criticism 2012 articles here.