The Independent
Imaging Retreat began in
the summer of 1994 as a pro-active response to the
increasing cost and commercialization of film production
programs, professional development opportunities for
artists and filmmaking workshops.
Frustrated
with federal and provincial cutbacks to education
and limited creative opportunities for independent
filmmakers, Canadian experimental filmmaker Philip
Hoffman set out to create a context in which film
could be taught and explored with integrity, innovation
and compassion.
The
workshop would place an emphasis on experimentation,
personal expression and the use of hand processing
techniques. The Retreat began with a modest budget
at Hoffman’s home in rural Mount Forest, Ontario.
With the most basic film materials, an antiquated
film processing machine, a makeshift darkroom and
screening facility, and a small group of dedicated
volunteer artists (including filmmakers Rob Butterworth,
Tracy German and Marian McMahon), the workshop facilitated
the filmmaking of six participants.
With such limited
resources,
it quickly became evident that imperfections
and surprises were to become a critical source
for creative and aesthetic possibilities and
a philosophy for the workshop was born.
From
1994 to 1998 the Retreat received institutional
support from Sheridan College in the form of
a basic administrative structure, cameras, tripods,
light meters and related filmmaking materials. |
Scott Berry
|
In 1999,
however, Hoffman began teaching at York University,
losing essential support from the institution.
From 1999 onward the Retreat has been fully and
truly independent.
|
From Deirdre Logue's
'Enlightened
Nonsense'
|
Libby
Hague
|
The Retreat
continues to operate on a not-for-profit
basis. It is artist driven and remains focused
on the development of individual artists and the
production of experimental film works.
For a decade,
the Independent Imaging Retreat has initiated
and enhanced the work of local, national and international
independent filmmakers and has expanded the traditions
of experimental filmmaking in Canada.
|
 Of the
156 participants
since 1994
92 of them have been from Ontario
22 from across Canada
37 from the USA, and
two from
Finland, and
six from
Australia, Cuba, Germany, Ukraine, Palestine and the Netherlands.
20
participants have attended the Retreat from parts of
Ontario outside of the major centers for film
production.
From Jen Reeve's ` We Are Going
Home'
|
There
have also been over 25 Ontario filmmakers
who have worked during the Retreat, in
various artistic capacities, to ensure its success.
The benefit to the public of the Independent Imaging
Retreat is realized through exclusive local, national
and international screenings showcasing the independent,
autobiographical, hand processed aesthetic of
the Retreat. |
Screenings
of participants' films have taken place at the MIX Festival in New York
City; Cinematheque Ontario in Toronto; the Other Cinema
in San Francisco, California; Blinding Light in Vancouver,
the Saskatchewan Film Pool; the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary
Art in Helsinki, Finland; the LUX in London, England
(2002); the Trivandrum Film Festival in India (2003);
and at the Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film in collaboration
with the Durham Regional Art Gallery in rural Durham,
Ontario (2003).
Critical
essays and articles about the workshop and
the films made there have appeared in numerous publications
 including LUX: A Decade of Artists Film
and Video (Toronto, 2000); Cantrills Filmnotes (Australia,
1998); Release Print (San Francisco Film Foundation,
1999); Landscape with Shipwreck — First Person Cinema
and the Films of Philip Hoffman(Insomniac Press, 2001)
; The Journal of the Moving Image Archive (2004 forthcoming);
in newspaper articles (NOW, Toronto Star) and in various
newsletters (LIFT, IFCO). In addition, the Independent
Imaging Retreat has maintained an important collaboration
with the Images Festival of Independent Film and Video
(Toronto).
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