A new time, a new place, a changed VideoFest. Rather than stick with approaches that proved successful in the past, we want to be as creative as the medium of video itself. This year's VideoFest has more to offer than ever before. On the one hand we offer a Core Program and Nightflight of the usual high quality (although with Nightflight repeats throughout, by the way). On the other hand we can now boast greater space for all activities - the program, installations, market, conferences, special showings, and so forth.

And - "La puissance de la création. " In our previous INFO- SERIES (may the erasing head preserve its blessed memory!) we presented individual institutions of the video scene from various countries. This year our new program ACCENTS will sketch the video culture of an entire country: France. It includes a symposium with the most important personalities of the French scene and also a number of special showings.
For this reason we would have preferred to make our catalogue tri-lingual (i.e., including French texts), but unfortunately we just didn't have the means.

Plus: expanded coverage of Latin America, the new "video continent"; a retrospective of an outsider from the US, Jem Cohen; "birthday parties" celebrating twenty-one years of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York, and Le Videographe, Montreal; one special program with unusual Brazilian TV productions and another with potentially addictive TV projects for a transnational production effort from Latin America. Lots of video.
But it was a stony path. This year we were NOT able to realize our planned encounter of different artistic disciplines under the motto of "Time - Image - Guiding Image." Ironically we didn't have enough TIME to prepare. We had to make an unexpected move to a different location, cope organizationally with a last-minute shift in the Film Festival schedule, and finally - who would've expected anything different in these German-German times? - overcome unforeseen finance problems. All this for purposes of explanation, not complaint.

Otherwise: we'll be awarding eight cash prizes with a total value of 15,000 DM five of them from the television broadcaster PREMIERE, which will also be purchasing the broadcast rights of the videos shown by it. There will also be a prize from Koppstudio in Berlin: high-tech post-production valued at 10,000 DM.

Video full up. Different from film, different from television.
Better informed and better entertained.
Sometimes irritated, but never bored - we wish you plenty of mental turbulence.

Micky Kwella, Hartmut Fiorst VideoFest / MedienOperative.

P.S.: As always we thank many persons and institutions for their support (see page 6). But there are two that deserve special mention.
On the one hand, JVC Professional. They've helped us in unprecedented fashion by offering technical equipment.
On the other, the FiEURE EXQUI- SE! distribution association. It was and remains a grandiose "ambassador" of the video culture of its country which has given us invaluable help in developing our contacts over
the course of years - without HEURE EXQUISE! this year's symposium would have never taken place. A very warm word of thanks for excellent consultation and support to Mons en Baroeul!