Organised by the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Film Studies, this unique new event brings together some of the most important experimental film and video works from the 1920s to the present.
D I V E R S I O N S: A festival of experimental film and video will run 8 – 11 May 2008 at Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9BZ

Beginning what we hope will be a yearly focus on the most innovative and challenging, yet rarely seen, examples of alternative filmmaking, this first edition of Diversions Film Festival includes over fifty short, medium and feature-length films dealing with a dizzyingly diverse range of themes, techniques and materials.

This year’s programme has a historical slant, drawing parallels between groundbreaking avant-garde classics and contemporary practice, ranging from the French political films of May ’68 to recent film and video works from Britain, America, France and Finland. We’ve also got some great guests lined up, including experimental film historians Al Rees and David Curtis and filmmakers Frédérique Devaux, Pip Chodorov, Sami van Ingen and Peter Rose.

Programme sections:
Thursday 8th May 6pm: Outside the Box: A History of Playing with Frames
Friday 9th May 6pm: Process and Image: New Works From the UK
Saturday 10th May 3.15pm: ‘Yestoday’: Frédérique Devaux
Saturday 10th May 6pm: Peter Rose Retrospective
Sunday 11th May 1pm & 3pm: Focus on May ‘68
Sunday 11th May 6pm: Scenes from New York

For further programme details, including talks and events at the University of Edinburgh, please visit our website: www.diversionsfilmfestival.co.uk