Ecstatic Truth V: The Age of the Absurd
27-28th April 2020 (in conjunction with Under_the_Radar, Vienna)

plus 29th April – Under_the_Radar symposium, Vienna

Call for Papers:

Ecstatic Truth is an annual symposium that explores issues arising from the interface between animation (in all its forms) and documentary (conceptualised very broadly as non-fiction), with a particular interest in the questions raised by experimental and practitioner perspectives. According to Werner Herzog, mere facts constitute an accountant’s reality, but it is the ecstatic truth (a poetic reality) that can capture more faithfully the nuances and depths of human experiences. Given that animation (or manipulated moving image in all of its expanded forms) has the freedom to represent, stylize or reimagine the world, it lends itself well to this aspirational form of documentary filmmaking.

For this, our 5th symposium, held in collaboration with the Under_the_Radar Festival, Vienna, our theme is the Absurd. George Monbiot has described our contemporary age of increasing social and economic inequality, mass extinction and impending climate breakdown as deliberate disaster capitalism in which the ultra-rich benefit as institutions, systems of taxation and democratic processes implode. Everywhere the killer clowns and kleptocrats are taking over, he argues, with ludicrous strongmen dominating nations that would once have laughed them off stage. Absurdity is what they seek in order to take advantage. Chaos becomes the profit multiplier for the disaster capitalism on which they thrive. Every rupture is used to seize more of the assets on which our lives depend.[1]

So how can we imaginatively and creatively respond to these killer clowns and the absurdity of a world being run to continuously make profit regardless of its sustainability? What is there to stand for if the world is perceived as meaningless and how to fight this complacency ? Can we use animation for activism, to re-animate our conscience? How can we creatively challenge all this doom and gloom, and use our creative practice to navigate and challenge the absurd of our everyday lives? What is the role of humour, surrealism, the historic strategies of the Absurd and Central European Existentialism? Why does animation matter?

We invite speakers to respond to these ideas in order to reflect, speculate and imagine how the animated (or expanded manipulated image) form might elicit different facets of poetic truth through its unique language. We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations, speculations, poetic reflections, rigorous questioning, even fierce creative opposition from both academic and practitioner-led perspectives. Selected papers will be published in a themed issue of the International Journal of Film and Media Arts.

The proposal should include an abstract of not more than 500 words and a short biography of no more than 200 words. Please send it to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Further details of the Under_the_Radar Festival 2020 will be released in January.

Call for papers deadline: 16th February 2020

Ecstatic Truth is organised by: Birgitta Hosea, Animation Research Centre, UCA Farnham, UK; Pedro Serrazina, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal; Tereza Stehlikova, CREAM, University of Westminster, UK

With thanks to Under_the_Radar: Barnaby Dicker, Martina Tritthart, Holger Lang

2019 UNDER_THE RADAR Confrence ( Archive): The topic of UNDER_the_RADAR_2019 is “REAL TIME IDENTITY”

This covers conceptual, theoretical, artistic and practical approaches, experiences and discussions of rather abstract terms like “time”, “reality”, ”existence”, “memory”, “identity”, “interpretation”, “anticipation”, “integrity”, “authenticity”, “factuality”, “heritage”, “community”, “projection”, “distortion” - and connected or related notions.
The connection - even in a comprehensive and open understanding - to animation and experimental media art should be clearly recognizable. Our subheading:
How the interaction with our image of the past and our ideas of the future shape the work in film, media, art, and connected hybrids at our current moment. - points out our interest in submissions that combine academic analysis and research with real-world applications and uses. A connection to documenting or documentary type (or related) work is possible and also the (re-)interpretation of historical artifacts, work, or activities.

2019 Conference Programme

Monday 1 July

Tuesday 2, July

• Kathrin Steinbacher, Austria: Below the surface. Abstraction in Animation:, An exploration of animations unique ability to visualise the experiential. PRESENTATION: Tuesday, July 2. 10:30 @ Q21 – MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Nicolas Brault, Canada:  Brain visualization and theory of mind: creation of a brain-computer interface PRESENTATION: Thuesday, July 2. 11:00 @ Q21 – MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Birgitta Hosea, United Kingdom, Live Animation: From Lightning Sketch to Lasers, PRESENTATION: Tuesday, July 2. 11:30 @ Q21 – MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Virgil Widrich & Martin Reinhart, Austria, Time Bending Media – Concept and Making of “tx-reverse 360°”, PRESENTATION: Tuesday, July 2. 12:30 @ Q21 – MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Stefan Stratil, Austria, The distorted space-time continuum between feature film and animation PRESENTATION: Tuesday, July 2. 13:00 @ Q21 MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Noel Palazzo, United States of America, Eye-Fidelity, Identity Construction in Abstract Animation. PRESENTATION: Tuesday, July 2. 13:30 @ Q21 MuseumsQuartier / Raum D

Wednesday, 3 July

• Jorgelina Orfila & Francisco Ortega-Grimaldo, United States of America, “Stayin’ Alive:”,Expanding the life of live-action characters through animation.. PRESENTATION: Wednesday, July 3. 10:30 @ MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Zsolt Gyenes, Hungary,The role of hybrid media and error in the abstract motion picture. PRESENTATION: Wednesday, July 3. 11:00 @ MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Ruth Lingford, United Kingdom, Dreaming and Animation. PRESENTATION: Wednesday, July 3. 11:30 @ Q21 MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Ramon Reichert, Austria, Transient stories. Storytelling on Instagram, Facebook & Snapchat. PRESENTATION: Wednesday, July 3. 12:30 @ MuseumsQuartier / Raum D
• Dirk de Bruyn, Australia, Identity Shifts: Migrating from Analog to Digital Practice PRESENTATION: Wednesday, July 3. 13:00 @ Q21 MuseumsQuartier / Raum D

Thursdsay, 4 July

• Nancy Denney-Phelps, United States of America, Unsung Women Heroes of Animation PRESENTATION: Thursday, July 4. 10:30 @ Filmhaus Kino
• Marie Ketzscher, Germany, Watching experimental and animation films by female authors in times of #metoo. PRESENTATION: Thursday, July 4. 11:30 @ Filmhaus Kino
• Paola Bristot, Italy, Tesla Project, PRESENTATION: Thursday, July 4. 12:30 @ Filmhaus Kino
• Anita Killi, Norway, Reality and feelings in small paper pieces. PRESENTATION: Thursday, July 4. 13:30 @ Filmhaus Kino

Friday, 5 July

• Radar Pitch / Project Slam. RADAR PITCH: Friday, July 5. 10:00 @ Filmhaus Kino
• Real / Time / Identity / Discourse PANEL DISCUSSION with Ruth Lingford and Robert Dassanowsky.  Friday, July 5. 13:30 @ Filmhaus Kino
• Laure Goasguen, France, How distribution can help you reach the next level of your career?. PRESENTATION: Friday, July 5. 12:30 @ Filmhaus Kino
• Rachel Gutgarts, Israel, Success – and then what?. PRESENTATION: Friday, July 5. 13:00 @ Filmhaus Kino