42nd General Assembly of INTERFILM in Hannover
(vis) In Hannover, from June 7-9, 2013, the 42nd General Assembly of the International Interchurch Film Organisation INTERFILM took place. The program of the meeting included the report of the presidium on the last three years’ activities and the election of a new administration as well as a seminar on “Faith, Religion, and Film”, and ended with a reception of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hannover. On Sunday, June 9, the INTERFILM members visited a service which, with an organ recital and a Bach cantata, ended a series of concerts on the occasion of the Albert Schweitzer anniversary year.
By electing Julia Helmke, pastor and commissioner for art and cultural affairs in the Church of Hannover, for president INTERFILM has started a process of change which will keep INTERFILM busy in the next years. The international church film commitment needs to find its place in the new global communication networks. With the cues “communication and participation” Julia Helmke summarized this task in her presentation. She expects INTERFILM which builds upon honorary commitment to initiate a broader participation of its members beyond joining church festival juries.
Hans Hodel, pastor from Switzerland and INTERFILM president since 2004, did not stand for a new term but continues to serve as jury co-ordinator and contact person to film festivals – a task at the heart of INTERFILM’s acitivities. Since his retirement ten years ago his commitment in both of his duties, as president and jury co-ordinator, rested on honorary work alone. Werner Schneider-Quindeau, chairman of the German Jury of Evangelical Film Acitivities and former Film Commissioner of the German Evangelical Church (EKD), in his speech of thanks honoured him, referring to his admirable communication gifts, as a “spiderman” constantly networking and thus significantly contributing to the internal cohesion and the success of INTERFILM.
For his services to ecumenism, the Catholic World Organisation for Communication SIGNIS, INTERFILM's partner in appointing and supervising the ecumenical juries at currently 15 international film festivals, awarded him an honorary award. It was presented to him by Jos Horemans, President of SIGNIS Europe, at the end of a moving speech that testified to both the trusting cooperation between the two organisations and the friendly relationship between the two representatives of the Church's commitment to film.
The members of the INTERFILM Board, traditionally called the Steering Committee, were also newly elected. Most of them were confirmed in office, besides Hans Hodel the two vice-presidents Denyse Muller (France) and Philip Lee (USA) as well as Karsten Visarius, Executive Director of INTERFILM. They are joined by Jolyon Mitchell (Great Britain), Jes Nysten (Denmark), Angelika Obert (Germany), Gianna Urizio (Italy), Anita Uzulniece (Latvia) and Werner Schneider-Quindeau (Germany), who resigned as Vice-President. New members are Piet Halma (Netherlands) and Charlotte Wells (Sweden) as Officer for Culture in the Church of Sweden, who succeeds her predecessor Mikael Larsson.
Before the election, the candidates for the Steering Committee were asked about their favourite films. The outgoing President named "Why Bodhi Dharma Set Off for the Orient" by Bae Yong-kyun (Korea 1989) and "Cinema paradiso" by Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy 1988) - a combination that beautifully illustrates the relation of cinematic passion and religious sensitivity that INTERFILM thrives on.