DAFT x Swiss Experimental Shorts

Invited by the Digital Art Festival 2023 to propose an experimental short film programme, Swiss Films made some research on the curatorial theme of the DAFT 2023. Below is the introduction to how the curatorial team from Swiss Films curate this programme.

Sylvain Vaucher, Consultant Short Films SWISS FILMS and curator of the programme.
Marcel Müller, Head of Programmes, SWISS FILMS

“We discovered that the festival proposed some screenings on a “L” screen in a particular site and found the idea very original. We understand, DAFT is interested in experimental short films with few or no dialogue focusing on digital transformation. We came up with 8 short experimental films from Switzerland – all of which have a connection to the digital and/or analogue world. It was captivating to put together these special films to give the Taiwanese audience the possibility to navigate between these unique worlds. Some of them are directly linked to the theme of digitalization, such as LIMITES which opens the programme. The short film talks about the relationship between the filmmaker and “his” forest, where he used to run, and which may disappear. To not forget it, he decides to digitalize it… This short film, which mixes animation, experimental and even documentary, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival 2022. The kaleidoscopic animation film INTERSECT is a visual investigation of the interface between the real and virtual world. The film blurs these boundaries and was awarded at Annecy Animation Festival last year. The closing film of the programme is FEED. The short used a microscope to film the screen of a mobile phone while a social media channel was open. Together with its soundtrack, this short film proposes an abstract journey to and through the landscape of the smallest entities of our digital images. We sincerely hope these Swiss shorts will inspire you to keep thinking on these topics. “