The Film Criticism Conference (FCC), organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Film Commission, is an international platform for critical exchange in the region and beyond, capturing the moving image in its broadest form, from film and video to new media, artificial intelligence/ augmented reality/virtual reality, and video games.
Through screenings, panel discussions, installations, new commissions, and critical forums presented in five key cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia throughout the year, with a culminating annual Conference in Riyadh, the FCF opens up a dynamic network for artistic experimentation and discussions, linking diverse digital cultures and bringing them to audiences in Saudi Arabia.
The moving image expands our capacity to imagine alternate pasts and futures, carrying us to other worlds and challenging our understandings and convictions. It keeps us humble and curious, and our ideas and gazes traveling.
As powerful as the camera is, it cannot “see” everything, yet a film can make people see something from another perspective. We want our audience to see the moving image with which they are familiar in a different, more expansive way.
The art of the moving image cannot be dissociated from its original scientific and military purposes, and any critical engagement with film must recognize this historical and sociopolitical context, the role of the commercial film industry, and other critical junctures in media.
Our conferences, screenings, publications, and discussions are dedicated to decolonizing the image, dismantling the spectacle, deconstructing the apparatus, and defying our attention economy, among many other ferocious preoccupations!