Panel Discussion: The ways of Silencing - the Means of Resistance

Thursday, 28. 9. 2023 at 14.00 / Vetrinj mansion, big hall

The speakers have authored unconventional and subversive animated films. In their careers, they have encountered various forms of control over freedom of expression – from the state's intervention to more subtle, economic forms of free speech restrictions. What’s more, they all have worked under the circumstances of the so-called declined democracy, or even authoritarianism. The panelists will be confronted with the questions about the methods of resistance they have developed on the personal but also institutional level.

The panelists
Tal Kantor (Israel)
Ana Nedeljković & Nikola Majdak Jr. (Serbia)
Karina Paciorkowska (Poland)
Nadya Svirska & Sasha Svirsky (Russia, Germany | zoom)
Geza M. Toth (Hungary, Romania)

Moderator:
Maja Pan

Maja Pan

is an interdisciplinary feminist philosopher, cultural theorist and non-formal educator. Author and co-author of "Towards trans-feminist coalitions in the post-Yugoslav space: Building feminist radical solidarities" and “Autonomous Lesbian and Queer Feminist Organising in Ljubljana".

Tal Kantor

is an award-winning independent animation filmmaker and visual artist; lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; director of the films Letter to a Pig (2022), In Other Words (2016), Under the Small Sun (2015, co-dir. Shahar Davis).

Nikola Majdak Jr.

is a freelance cameraman, animator, director and lecturer; co-director of the films: Rabbitland (2013), Untravel (2018), Money and Happiness (2022).

Ana Nedeljković

is a visual artist, director, animator and educator, she holds PhD in art practice from Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade; co-director of the films: Rabbitland (2013), Untravel (2018), Money and Happiness (2022).

Karina Paciorkowska

graduated from the Film School in Lodz in 2021. Her films discuss socially engaged subjects (among them, You’re Overreacting, 2018). When her film was censored by the Polish Ministry of Culture, she became a hot topic of pudelek.pl, a gossip platform, and that's the highlight of her career as a film director.

Nadezhda Svirskaia

curator of art-house animation programs, screenings, and lectures; producer of autorial animated films, since 2013 she works with Sasha Svirsky; Founder and promoter of the Shcha7sec – the International Nomadic Micro-Festival of Animation Films up to 7 seconds. Members of the Animators Against War collective. In March 2022 she left Russia; she is currently based in Berlin.

Sasha Svirsky

explores the possibilities of digital animation, revising its purpose as an entertainment and applied medium; director of the award-winning films: Master Of The Swamps (2023), Vadim on a Walk (2021), My Galactic twin Galaction (2020), and others. In March 2022 he left Russia; currently he is based in Berlin.

Geza M. Toth

is a PhD university professor, founder of the KEDD Animation Studio, member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Director of the films: Matches (2019), Mama (2009), Ergo (2008), and Oscar-nominated Maestro (2005).